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Powell Endorses Obama; Raising Campaign Cash; Las Vegas Kidnapee Safe
Aired October 19, 2008 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Bill Schneider, thank you very much. I'm Don Lemon here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Tonight, unprecedented election, unprecedented developments happening right now.
Colin Powell backs Barack Obama. Are more high-powered Republicans to follow? The polls tighten. It's shaping up to be a race to the finish in a state that could decide this election.
Shattering records, $150 million raised for one candidate in one month. Your political news all this hour.
But first a story that kept a family and a nation on edge. A six- year-old boy missing for days is found wandering the streets of Las Vegas. But the story behind the disappearance of Cole Puffinburger gets stranger by the minute. A Mexican drug ring, a grandfather suspected. Tons of money. Tonight, CNN's Kara Finnstrom sorts it all out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cole Puffinburger has been found. He is safe.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four days after police say men posing as police officers stormed into Cole's house, tied up his mother and her fiance and kidnapped him, the 48-pound blue-eyed blonde has come home.
ROBERT PUFFINBURGER, COLE'S FATHER: I can't give enough gratitude to this entire city. Actually, this entire country. I mean, it's been everywhere, you know. And you didn't stop, and just thank you so much for helping me find my son.
FINNSTROM: Just 24 hours earlier, Cole's father had said he couldn't fathom the incredible circumstances of Cole's disappearance. Police saying they believe it was all triggered by Cole's grandfather who is now being held as a material witness. That he stole millions from drug traffickers from Mexico, then disappeared. And that those dealers had resorted to violence to get it back.
PUFFINBURGER: I can't comprehend why somebody would do something like this to somebody and take a kid like that.
FINNSTROM: What he couldn't know then is the nightmare was about to have an ending just as incredible.
(on camera): Saturday night detectives were out in this neighborhood passing out flyers with Cole's picture when they got a tip that a young boy had been spotted wandering around. When they got to this United Methodist Church, they found out that boy was Cole.
(voice-over): Church member Albert Van Patten (ph) had led the congregation in a prayer Wednesday that Cole would be left someplace safe. He was at the church Saturday night when an officer came knocking saying Cole had just been found right outside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As the police officer was telling me this, it just made me feel warm all over that we had been praying for him. As turn it turned out, he was safe around a church.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to give glory to God for that answer of prayer that thousands of people around the nation have been praying.
FINNSTROM (voice-over): Authorities say Cole in excellent health. Right now police are refusing to comment on whether there are any custody concerns. They do say their search for Cole's kidnappers and their investigation into the drug operation are far from over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our focus now goes on to the drug dealings, to potential extortion issues as well as other issues.
FINNSTROM: But on this Sunday, detectives, family members and all in this community who had watched and waited, paused to give thanks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boy found alive. Boy found alive. Cole Puffinburger found alive.
FINNSTROM: In Las Vegas, Kara Finnstrom for CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very emotional story. Emotional story. We've been watching this story for you all day long and we'll have much, much more an 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, we go now to the race for the White House and a surprising endorsement from a top ranking Republican. Former secretary of state Colin Powell says he will be voting for Barack Obama on Election Day. Powell said this morning on "Meet the Press" he regrets disappointing his longtime friend John McCain, then offered a host of reasons for his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities. We have to take that into account, as well as his substance. He has both style and substance.
He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world, onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Colin Powell you might remember, helped sell the Bush administration's plan to invade Iraq and you would think that puts him at odds with Barack Obama and his anti-war supporters. Powell was very candid about his role in all of that and more earlier today. You'll hear what he had to say. We'll do that for you at the bottom of the hour.
Meantime, several major papers joined the former secretary of state with their own endorsements this weekend. The "Philadelphia Inquirer," "The Denver Post" and the "Miami Herald" all came out in support of Obama's presidential campaign. Two of those three papers we should note are in battleground states.
John McCain also picked up big newspaper support this weekend. "The Las Vegas Review," "The Tampa Tribune" and "Columbus Dispatch." All three of those papers are widely read in three different toss-up states.
Whatever strategy Barack Obama pursues between now and Election Day, he is going to have plenty of cash to pay for it. Obama's campaign reports he raised a record $150 million in September. That's right, in just one month. That's about $5 million a day.
Equally impressive is that the money came from 632,000 new donors whose average contribution was less than $100. Unlike Obama, John McCain is accepting public financing for his campaign, which limits him to $84 million provided by the government.
CNN's new statewide poll of polls in Ohio finds the race there is as tight as ever. Barack Obama leads John McCain one point in Ohio, 47 percent to 46 percent. Seven percent are still unsure. Our last poll of polls showed Obama ahead by two points. Ohio voted for President Bush twice, both times by just a couple of percentage points.
So how is John McCain reacting to Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama and all this busy day's other developments? Let's check in now with Dana Bash. She is traveling with the McCain campaign in Toledo, Ohio. Now, Dana, I understand he said that this doesn't come as a surprise. Are we sure about that?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the McCain campaign and John McCain himself understood that the fact that Colin Powell is a Republican and is one of the few who hasn't gotten behind the Republican candidate John McCain, that was certainly an indication that Powell was not too thrilled with John McCain or perhaps more enthralled with Barack Obama, particularly because it's not just that he's a Republican. These are two men who have been friends, John McCain and Colin Powell, for a quarter century.
They really know each other quite well. So what John McCain is trying to do today is really put the best face on something that certainly was disappointing from his old friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I've always admired and respected General Powell. We're longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise. But I'm also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state, Secretaries Kissinger, Baker, Eagleburger and Haig and I'm proud to have the endorsement of well over 200 retired Army generals and admirals. But I respect and continue to respect and admire Secretary Powell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: But Don, you know, it wasn't just that Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. He really had some scathing criticism of his old friend John McCain on a host of issues. First of all, made pretty clear that the -- what put him over the edge for Barack Obama was McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for his running mate. He said point-blank, I don't think she's ready to be vice president, much less president. But he also went through point by point and tried to undermine a lot of the central arguments that McCain is trying to make against Obama. He says he does think Obama is experienced, he does think he's ready to be president and he said this whole idea of William Ayers and Obama's relationship with him is just not a story, an issue that the McCain campaign should be bringing up right now.
LEMON: When I said are we sure they're not surprised, I meant, I'm sure they thought maybe he would support Barack Obama, but did they think he would come out with such a strong endorsement and such strong language and words there?
BASH: Exactly. That's exactly right. No. They certainly were hoping that would not happen. But you know McCain probably knows Colin Powell well enough to know that he knows how to make a splash and that when he's going to do that he's going to put all his cards on the table. I'll tell you what they're hoping, Don. What they're hoping -- you mentioned this in the intro -- the fact that Colin Powell isn't without some chinks on his armor particularly with regard to the Iraq War.
He was the public face at the United Nations making the case for war and that clearly backfired. What they're hoping, hoping, is that that means that his influence with those independents who are going to decide this election, maybe it won't be as great as perhaps it would have been otherwise.
LEMON: All right, Dana Bash, take cover because I hear them breaking down behind you at that event.
BASH: Story of our lives.
LEMON: We appreciate it. Thank you, Dana, so much for that.
It has been a pretty big day for the Obama campaign from a big money announcement to a big-name endorsement. Let's bring in our senior political analyst right now Mr. Bill Schneider to talk about all of that. OK, all of these endorsements, all of this big announcement, how is this playing out for the Obama campaign, Bill? BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think they feel a sense of momentum here. A lot of these big-city newspapers have endorsed Barack Obama. "The Los Angeles Times", his hometown papers in Chicago, papers from Philadelphia, Denver, some key states there, and of course the Colin Powell endorsement.
As Dana said, very important for him because all along, all year along, he has been at a disadvantage to McCain on certain qualities like experience.
Whenever we ask people in a poll, which candidate do you think has more experience, it's always John McCain because he's been in Washington for so long. Barack Obama is a fairly new senator. Who do you think would handle a foreign policy crisis better, military matters, international affairs? That is where John McCain has held the advantage.
Well, for Colin Powell to endorse Barack Obama really sends a message to a lot of people who might be thinking, I'd like to vote for Obama but he might be a risky choice, Colin Powell is saying, I think he's a safe choice, I think he can handle national security, I think he can handle the job of commander in chief. So that endorsement makes a very powerful statement.
LEMON: Here's what's interesting because you know, Bill, you never can count John McCain out. He is known in politics as a comeback kid. But the question is, with this high ranking of a Republican, can he really overcome this, plus the polls?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it is a lot to overcome. But the biggest problem that McCain has to overcome, McCain has to overcome President Bush. President Bush's job rating now is about 24 percent, one of the lowest on record. People want change. McCain is the -- he's not Bush. He says that in almost every rally. But he is the standard bearer of President Bush's party.
LEMON: All right.
CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Bill, we appreciate that.
We know them for their very vocal anti-war protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: We are voting, we are voting ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You've seen them disrupting political events, but Code Pink now has a new mission -- to save your home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, with the economy weighing heavily on everyone's minds, an anti-war group has found a new mission -- stopping foreclosures. Here's CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An American flag flanks front door of this Queens home belonging to Jocelyn Voltaire.
JOCELYN VOLTAIRE, FACED FORECLOSURE: I look at him every day and night.
BALDWIN: Voltaire's oldest son who had served in Iraq died suddenly in January. This month Voltaire faced foreclosure.
VOLTAIRE: I know I already lost my son, but my roof, I have to sell my roof now.
BALDWIN: Turns out Jocelyn's roof will be saved. Just days ago on the eve of her court-mandated house auction, an unlikely savior swooped in.
VOLTAIRE: Code Pink is best known as women's anti-war group. Many call them controversial. Most recently these activists interrupted presidential nominee John McCain at the Republican National Convention.
Now these protesters say they are shifting strategy from the war to the economy.
MEDEA BENJAMIN, CODE PINK: This is the first time Code Pink has ever done anything like this.
BALDWIN (on camera): Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin has been leading this charge to save Voltaire's home. She sent a message to members Friday. Since then, they have raised more than $30,000, enough to remove Voltaire's home off the auction block.
BENJAMIN: Our heart went out to her. We said, we're going to go to the courthouse with you tomorrow and try to stop this.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Benjamin says this isn't the end of war protest for Code Pink. Just a wave of new demonstrations aimed at the economy.
BENJAMIN: Hillary Clinton once said it takes a village to raise a child. I feel right now it takes a village to stop a foreclosure. We want to show our government, this is the way you should be doing it. Not bailing out Wall Street.
VOLTAIRE: They dry the tears on my eyes and give me a napkin. They said, don't cry. They said, we swear you're not going to lose that house.
BALDWIN: At a time of uncertainty, it's a gesture that has gone a long way to help this mother heal. Brooke Baldwin, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON Well, time is ticking. Do you know who you're voting for?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've voted already. I've made my decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, she knows who she's voting for, but there's still some undecideds out there. I was at one of the largest debate viewing parties in the country and you're invited.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It is a very ugly side of beauty. A pretty 12-year-old who wears a size 4 is convinced she's too fat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have the nerve to call me obese.
Obese? OK. Let's see here. When i walk, my legs don't even rub together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That little girl, now a teenager, she joins me live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Got a question for you. Do you know which candidate you're voting for? A lot of you do, but some of you still aren't so sure. I was at one of the largest debate viewing parties in the country where thousands of people gathered to see the candidates battle it out one last time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Less than three weeks, two candidates and one searing hot-button issue.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Talking about the economy.
MCCAIN: I'm going to give a new direction to this economy.
GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The economy.
SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The economy.
LEMON: And the question on most Americans' minds?
BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Why is your plan better than his?
LEMON: People are listening. Thousands of them, in fact, turned up at New Birth Church in suburban Atlanta to hear the candidates talk issues. MCCAIN: I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees.
OBAMA: I mentioned health care earlier. If we make investments now so people have coverage that we are preventing diseases, that will save on Medicare and Medicaid in the future.
LEMON: New Birth Pastor Bishop Eddie Long opened the doors for his church for a nonpartisan panel and debate viewing party.
(on camera): You had several thousand people out here in the middle of a school night with kids and jobs and whatever. What does that say about people's involvement in this election?
BISHOP EDDIE L. LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: The citizens are concerned. I think we're going to see a largest turnout we've ever seen. We have a sector that we haven't heard from, which is our youth. First-time voters, those who have been registered. The whole community, everybody is really, really, really involved in this. With the economic situation the way it is, people are concerned and they want to see who's going to lead us out of this.
LEMON: While the economy is clearly issue number one, race has also been a focus. Ambassador Andrew Young defended comments made by Georgia state representative and civil rights leader John Lewis who said that the McCain/Palin campaign was sowing the seeds of hatred and division. What do you think about all the mud slinging? John Lewis got involved in it. What do you think?
ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER AMBASSADOR: John said that John was concerned about what he calls toxic speech. And I think we have a right to be concerned.
LEMON: But even after 90 minutes of heated back and forth between the candidates, some voters are still undecided. Nothing's changed your mind in this debate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really, no. With Obama I think he's a great speaker and really charismatic. But I feel the way he votes is totally different than what he said. With McCain, on the other hand, I think he's the same old politics.
LEMON: While others came with their minds made up.
CHERRY CHILDRESS, OBAMA SUPPORTER: I've voted already.
LEMON: And some left feeling John McCain left himself feeling more down to earth and relatable than Barack Obama.
JOHN GRAY, MCCAIN SUPPORTER: I was connected more ironically to what Senator McCain said because he's not a polished speaker. He had to fight to speak. He loses the debate every time. He's not a professional speaker. He doesn't know how to look into the camera. He's awkward and he's human. And I bought him.
LEMON: With the race in the home stretch and no more debate, time is ticking for the undecided.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): Well, you know what? Some young entertainers are trying to help folks decide. They have a lot to say and sing about as the election year reaches its climax.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey Mr. President tomorrow, I'm paying my rent, my fuel is running low
LEMON: Entertainers on politics. Your kids listen to them and you'll hear from them right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, hot off the campaign trail, former Secretary of State Colin Powell has made his choice for president known.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of ideas to the table. I think that Senator McCain, as gifted as he is, is essentially going to execute the Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and with a maverick approach to it, and he would be quite good at it.
But I think we need more than that. I think we need a generational change and I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A very interesting endorsement frankly whose stance on the war in Iraq at one time mirrored Barack Obama's opponent John McCain. When asked about it, here's what Powell had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: The Iraq War is the Iraq War. We now see that things are a lot better in Iraq. Maybe if we had put a surge in at the beginning it would have been a lot better years ago. But it's a lot better now, and we can see ahead to where U.S. forces will start to come out and so my concern was not my past or what happened in Iraq but where we're going in the future, my sole concern is where we're going after January 20, 2009, not what happened in 2003.
I'm well aware of the role I played. My role has been very, very straightforward. I wanted to avoid a war. The president agreed with me. We tried to do that. We couldn't get it through the UN. And when the president made the decision, I supported that decision. And I've never blinked from that, I've never said I didn't support the decision war. And the war looked great until the 9th of April when the statue fell and everybody thought it was terrific. And it was terrific. We had done -- the troops had done a great job. But then we failed to understand that the war really was not over, that a new phase of the war was beginning and we weren't ready for it and we didn't respond to it well enough and thing went very, very, very south.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, this endorsement certainly has everyone talking. We're going to take a closer look at Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. It's sure to be a top topic on talk radio in the morning. Make sure you join us tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Warren Ballentine (ph) and Martha Zoller (ph) from the left and right will join us to talk about what is happening on the radio. And our political editor Mark Preston will weigh in on this as well.
The CNN truth squad today has two misleading claims from the presidential candidates. CNN's Josh Levs us now with the specifics. Hey, now that's the way you get people interested in the story. What's misleading?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: See, I'm telling you. Today we're doing something a little different. We're starting off with what the claim is itself. Let's take a look at it and while we hear what was actually said you'll see the ruling.
OBAMA: Senator McCain has voted against protecting Medicare 40 times. Forty times he's failed to stand up for Medicare.
LEVS: All right. Well, here is how we arrived at that ruling. Let's go to the graphic here. I want to show you what it is. We'll break it down for you. The Obama campaign sent us this list of 40 votes. Here's what it says. When the truth squad managed to crack down on it, piece through these, this is what we found. Some of them are fairly straightforward decisions on Medicare funding. But several really are not. What they are are bills that in and of themselves they would not automatically change any funding. They kind of express the Senate's opinions on various issues.
Also some votes were from mass budget bills with Medicare cutting inside of them. Then there were some procedural votes, for example, voting against Democratic amendments to Republican-sponsored bills. When we put all of that together, the truth squad determined that to call all 40 of them straight-up against Medicare was misleading.
LEMON: OK, Josh. Well, from mccain's side you're looking at an attack over, I don't know, fining parents, fining them if they don't enroll their kids in health care? What's that all about?
LEVS: This is interesting because this is one of the big points in the health care dispute that is going on. This is something John McCain just went after again today. Let's take a look there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: If I'm elected president, I won't fine small businesses and families with children as Senator Obama proposes to force them into a huge new government-run health care program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: It's interesting. Again, we arrived at misleading on that one. Here's how we got there. Obama says that he will require that all children have health care coverage. He says parents may have to prove health care coverage, for example, before they can enroll their kids in school, for example. When he lays out the plan on his Web site, he doesn't say anything about there being any fines. But take a look at this graphic, last year, Obama was quoted by the "Des Moines Register" as saying parents will not have an option and I would fine parents if for some reason they refused.
Well, when we asked his campaign about the possibility of fines, the campaign said there were no plans for any. And that they don't believe any will actually be necessary.
So when it came to the verdict on this one, here's what I did. We have it in our dot com story. I made it big point so you can see it here. We want to make this point. We called it misleading. Obama's health care plan leaves open the option of private insurance while it mandates coverage for children it does not force them into a new huge government-run health care program.
That's how we got to misleading on that one. Don, let me tell you, every day we're breaking records. On dot com -- having trouble getting it out - on dot com with millions of people checking out the fact check screens on cnn.com and cnn.com/politics. We definitely encourage to keep checking it out because we're updating it every day.
LEMON: We're breaking records but you're breaking the touch screen.
LEVS: Why didn't it work? There you go. I got it.
LEMON: Ah!
LEVS: You have to make fun of me for not being able to make it work? It'll work faster.
LEMON: You've got the magic touch. Can you take a day off, please, Josh?
LEVS: ISSUE NUMBER ONE, you've got to work a lot these days. I'm going to take a day off from truth squadding before the election? Come on.
LEMON: Go home, will you?
LEVS: See you tomorrow.
LEMON: You know what? I've been talking to entertainers of all ages genres and races about the youth vote in the upcoming election. You may not know this next group of people, but there is a good chance your children do. And you should probably learn about them as well.
They are the hottest new artists on the scene. And they're influencing young people, your children, your family members, to go to the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHARRELL, SINGER, PRODUCER: I just encourage people to vote because let's not be mad at what happens. Just at least say to yourself, you know what? Whatever happens, I put my energy into it and obviously there was not much more I could do.
JANELLE MONAE, SINGER: Hey Mr. President, tomorrow I'm paying my rent, my fuel is running low but I've got places to go, quit slowing me down.
D.A., SINGER, CHESTER FRENCH: It's a pivotal election, obviously not that any of them aren't. But this has been a particularly inspiring one and it's great to see a lot of people in our generation get re- engaged.
LEMON (on camera): You know, you are very busy and all of these artists are very busy. You know, you've got a concert every night, you've got a performance, to make appearances. And you are going to find the time to vote. What do you say to other people, especially young people who say, I'm busy, or I can't get it there or it's not important?
COMMON, HIP HOP ARTIST: I feel like, you know, people should know that this is very much a crucial time for us to take a step and let your voice and let what you feel be acknowledged and be heard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, off the music stage and onto the political stage, we'll continue our conversations with entertainers on politics. More to come on that subject.
And we'll start another conversation with Harvard freshman Alexander Heffner, co-founder and editor in chief of scoop08.com. CNN named him a young person who rocks for his work in journalism and politics.
Before I ask you what's the scoop, you know what's interesting because you friended me on Facebook. People all the time the say, is this the real Don Lemon or is this the real site? You actually friended me. You started sending me information. I found it interesting. So here you are, sir. So give me the Scoop08.
ALEXANDER HEFFNER, COFOUNDER, SCOOP08.COM: Sure. Well, Scoop08 is a network of student journalisms who have been reporting on the race for the White House since we launched the site in November of 2007.
And we've been covering interesting angles concerning young people and the election. And we're seeing now that young people are really going to be fuel to the polls in record numbers. We saw that during the primary campaign and I think it will be very visible on Election Day as we analyze the results that young people really do care.
LEMON: All right. You know, in prior elections we hear all about the youth vote and then it doesn't turn up. You think it's going to happen this time. Especially because you hear these entertainers talking about it in their concerts.
I heard all of them mention, go vote. Register.
HEFFNER: Right. You've heard entertainers before, Don and you've heard teachers and students and their families. But you haven't seen the same pressing issues that really are urgent and demand our attention.
LEMON: When you talk about the issues, give me some specifically that your peers are concerned about.
HEFFNER: Well, if you had asked me two months ago, I wouldn't say there was a chief among young people. But really issue number one for America's youth today is the economy. These tumultuous waves that have hit the financial market are affecting the real lives of children, endowments of colleges and universities are in jeopardy. So it's a real issue.
LEMON: Alexander, real quickly here. I have to ask about the Republican side, to be honest, a lot of the entertainers we get in contact with, we try to reach out to, they're supporting the Democratic side. Have you found that among entertainers and young people that they are supporting one side than the other?
HEFFNER: I think that's typically the case. You see a lot of country superstars and other the entertainers on television supporting John McCain. So typically the balance favors the Democrats but there are some stars who support the Republicans. But this issue of the economy is really pressing so I hope we'll be able to discuss it in the future, Don.
LEMON: And you know it's very admirable of you, Alexander to get young people involved and get them to know about the election and informed. Thank you for friending me and continue to send me information.
HEFFNER: Of course. Thanks, Don.
LEMONS: Thank you, sir.
I also want to hear from you. Will you vote? Will your friends show up at the polls? Send your comments, twitter.com/donlemoncnn, go to Facebook, MySpace, iReport and also cnn.com. We'll get your comments on the air. You might even end up on the air like Alexander Heffner.
All right. If you use movies and TV to judge your own beauty, you might have a problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first thing I did was I interviewed 200 women, one of the questions I asked all of them, is, do you feel attractive? Only two said yes. So it hit me it's possible that 99 percent of women just walking the streets randomly aren't feeling good about themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop fixing your body. It was never broken. And I think capitalism, particularly works on this idea, that something's wrong with us. Because otherwise we wouldn't consume products.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You know, we hear a lot about this unattainable standard of beauty, and now someone is doing something about it. It is a new documentary about the rise and fall of a teenage model is exposing the ugly side of the fashion and beauty business. Take a look at what CNN's Kareen Wynter found out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beauty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going to put someone ugly on our cover. It's not going to sell.
WYNTER: Body image.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I weigh 130 pounds. I've already been told I have to lose 15 pounds.
WYNTER: America's sometimes unhealthy obsession with looking good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you going to employ? You're going to employ the good looking guy.
WYNTER: The new documentary "America the Beautiful" examines the ugly side of beauty and lengths some will go to achieve it.
DARRY ROBERTS, PRODUCER: The first thing I did was I interviewed 200 women, one of the questions I asked all of was do you feel attractive? Only two said yes. So it hit me it's possible that 99 percent of women were just walking the streets randomly not feeling good about themselves.
When you see those images, how does it make you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ugly.
WYNTER: Producer Daryl Roberts says the women blamed the skinny images on fashion magazines for their flaws so he began to wonder if pretty people in fact have it all.
Part of his documentary profiles a then 12-year-old rising model who booked runway shows from New York to Paris. Then it all ended.
GERREN TAYLOR, MODEL: People had the nerve to call me obese. Obese? Okay. Let's see here. When I walk, my legs don't even rub together.
WYNTER: Roberts, who filmed Gerren Taylor over four years said little did he know he was actually documenting her downfall. Gerren, now 18, says she was labeled fat when she began fitting into a size 4 so she starved herself.
TAYLOR: Because of the industry and I was trying to get back to a certain weight and size.
WYNTER: Roberts says she's an example of how unrealistic beauty standards can chip away at a young girl's self-esteem and career.
ROBERTS: We need to get it in check because we're entering a state of moral decay. If we don't.
WYNTER: Gerren Taylor still dabbles in modeling but says her focus now is to become a role model for others.
TAYLOR: If I do do a fashion show, I'm going to be walking for the empowerment of women, not just a clothes hanger walking down the runway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Very interesting. Joining me now is Gerren Taylor herself from Los Angeles. Hello.
TAYLOR: Hello.
LEMON: And by the way, you look very beautiful.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
LEMON: And the producer of "America the Beautiful" Daryl Roberts joins me right here on set.
ROBERTS: How are you?
LEMON: I'm doing well. How are you is the question - Since I have you right here, Gerren, I'm, going to get to you in just a second.
You told me a very interesting story. That you -- the inspiration behind this was that you found the woman of your dreams but she wasn't a supermodel so you missed out on the love of your life.
ROBERTS: Actually, there were two of them, two relationships with beautiful women who were with beautiful on the inside. But I was under the misguided notion that I could find someone just like them who looked like a supermodel. And it never happened.
LEMON: Who do you blame for this? Is there blame to be placed?
ROBERTS: I think I was a victim. I believe I was inundated with images from the beauty industry of the type of woman I should be with, of what's beautiful. Because I didn't come up with that on my own from birth. You know, I was taught that by the beauty industry. LEMON: I can understand that a little bit growing up, you know, I'm older than I look, but growing up, there were very few images of African Americans in magazines. So you didn't think that you were attractive because you didn't see people like you as a standard of beauty.
ROBERTS: Right.
LEMON: So I can understand that. So that question i send that now to Gerrin. Gerrin, you didn't think you were attractive. You thought you were fat, you were a size 4. I mean, look at you, honey. You're beautiful.
TAYLOR: Thank you. Yeah, well, it all started because when I was in New York I was modeling, like, back to back to back. Then all of a sudden they said I was obese at a size 4. So at first when I went to New York I was, like, well, okay, whatever, I'll just go to Paris and see if they embrace, you know, the bigger women. So I went and they were, like, no, honey. You are way too big. We want a size zero.
LEMON: But did you learn anything from participating in this documentary? What was the final outcome of your experience?
TAYLOR: The final outcome was basically just to love myself and to know I'm beautiful no matter what. Because I went to South Africa, I went to Paris, I went to London. And all the teens of their society have the same views of beauty. It's not just American teens. So they really helped me. I learned to cope with what I was going through just by other teens telling me that they go through the same things as I do. It's not just models in the industry.
LEMON: And you're 18.
TAYLOR: I'm 18 now.
LEMON: When I said honey to you, I didn't mean it in that way. I meant you could be my daughter. I talk to you -- my niece is 21. Here's the thing here. Are the women you're seeing on the runways, fashion models, have they learned anything from you, or is this something that is too pervasive to even fix?
TAYLOR: Actually, the girls I have been talking to recently about my problems and about what I'm going through is just everyday life teenagers, my friends at school, my friends at church. Yes, they go through the same things that I go through. They look in the magazines and say, oh, my God, I feel like crap because this girl is so skinny and beautiful. And I can contribute to them telling them that a lot of this stuff is fake. It's a fantasy because a lot of this stuff is Photoshopped, airbrushed and a lot of girls don't know that. So me telling them that is making them feel better about themselves, which makes me feel better about myself.
LEMON: Gerren, you're doing something very constructive and very beautiful. Sometimes I think even more beautiful than the modeling industry.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
LEMON: So I'm going to give you the last word, Darryl. What do you want people to know?
ROBERTS: I want people to know that I believe the beauty industry is assaulting the self-esteem of the American public. We have to learn to love ourselves as we are. MTV is coming out with a new show called "Model Makers" where they take 15 girls, lose as much weight as you can and whoever loses the most weight gets $100,000 and a modeling contract. I'm scared somebody is going to watch that, diet, get an eating disorder and die. So I sent out an e-mail to parents of organizations. We've been writing MTV to get that show not to air.
You know what? We're going to leave it at that. I think it's not that the beauty industry is bad. Maybe we need to change the focus of that on other things. Thank you very much for joining us. Gerren, thank you.
TAYLOR: Thank you so much.
LEMON: Enjoy your life and you are beautiful, again. Darryl, thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
LEMON And for more on this documentary and the filmmaker, logon to americanthebeautifuldoc.com.
It was the biggest audience in years for "Saturday Night Live." Did you see it? We hope you were watching us. But if you weren't, it's OK. We'll show you why.
Plus, 106 years old and making sure her vote counts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ain't got time to die because I've got to see a black person ...
LEMON: You want to see a black president?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
If you need any motivation to go to the polls no matter who you support, Ann Cooper will give it to you. I promise you. You'll meet her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you see this kind of thing on television. Now, check out a real high-tech fighting crime tool. CNN's Deborah Feyerick brings us tonight's "Edge of Discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): TV shows like "CSI" make crime solving look so simple.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's here's a match. Your John Doe is Vincent Bartley.
FEYERICK: But in the real world.
DONNA ROSKOWSKI, INDIANA STATE POLICE: Science takes time. We don't solve crimes generally in half an hour.
FEYERICK: Well, crime scene investigator listen up. Purdue University's Dr. Graham Cooks believes he's on the brink of making TV fantasy a reality.
GRAHAM COOKS, PURDUE UNIVERSITY: What we're trying to do is get the chemical information which is captured in a fingerprint.
FEYERICK: He took these big machines called mass spectrometers and turned them into lightweight portable chemistry labs. They're used with a technique called deci (ph) which involves spraying a solvent onto a fingerprint. The droplets that splash up from the print are then analyzed.
COOKS: They could be drugs, they could be explosives and they could be other compounds. Those compounds are lifted off by the spray and they are sucked down this pipe here.
FEYERICK: Cooks says it cannot only identify who made the fingerprints but also what they've been touching.
COOKS: This methodology could be used for day-to-day crime fighting and terrorism and arson cases.
FEYERICK: But the system is experiment and would require extensive training by law enforcement so it might be a while before it's used at a crime scene near you. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: One of my favorite stories that it have ever done. I met an Atlanta woman who's seen a heck of a lot. And no wonder, she is 106 years young. But there is one thing she didn't think she'd live long enough to see, that this is potential for an African American president. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It's nice to meet you, pretty lady.
(voice-over): Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper loves to laugh and to joke.
ANN COOPER, 106 YEAR OLD OBAMA SUPPORTER: What is your name?
LEMON: My name is Don Lemon. Lemon.
COOPER: Lemon?
LEMON: Yeah.
COOPER: That's an odd name.
LEMON: It's an odd name?
COOPER: Yeah. Lemon.
LEMON: In fact, she says humor is her secret to living 106 years.
COOPER: I don't know how it happened but I think being cheerful all the time might have a lot to do with it. I've always been a happy person, a giggling person.
LEMON: The last year has been tough on the former socialite. A broken hip, two heart attacks and four blood transfusions. But her caregivers say she hung there in to vote early for Barack Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to go inside and vote.
LEMON: Not many people are greeted at the polls by the mayor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you today?
COOPER: I'm fine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look pretty today.
LEMON: And a horde of cameras.
COOPER: No matter what, you get out and vote. Vote your choice.
LEMON: Profound words from a woman who hasn't always had a lot of choices.
COOPER: I couldn't vote because I was black.
LEMON: But she and her late husband, a prominent dentist managed to raise four children and witness a parade of history. Wars, the Depression, men on the moon, the civil rights movement. She remembers being threatened by a white man on a city bus.
COOPER: I sat down with my little Davison (ph) packages. Don't sit down in front of me! I see that hasn't been too many years ago.
LEMON: But she prayed one day things would change.
(on camera): What do you think now that you have a black person who could be the president, Barack Obama.
COOPER: Yeah. That's right. Yes. I'm going keep up - I ain't got time to die because I've got to see a black person ...
LEMON: You want to see a black president?
COOPER: Yeah. I got to watch that.
LEMON: That makes you happy?
COOPER: Yeah. I was almost ready for it.
LEMON (voice-over): She can't recall the first time she voted or who for, but this time, if her candidate wins, she'd like to go to his inauguration.
COOPER: Yeah.
LEMON (on camera): You do?
COOPER: Wouldn't that be something?
LEMON: Can I be your date?
COOPER: Please.
LEMON (voice-over): One woman's dream. Decades in the making, spoken from the same home she lived in since Dr. Martin Luther king junior was a close friend and not just the name of the street she lives on.
(on camera): Thank you. God bless you.
COOPER: They're so beautiful.
LEMON: Just like you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Wow. Isn't she fantastic? Right? She is amazing.
She is amazing. OK. The clock is ticking. That story makes me smile. The clock is ticking as decision day draws near. Watch it all unfold with the best political team on television and watch it on CNN worldwide networks and cnn.com.
By the way I am talking to the people in the studio here and you as well. All right. You think your day at the office is tough? I want you to take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been shot at me numerous times, had knives pulled on me, baseball bats, chains, dogs, every type of dog, big dogs, little dogs, it doesn't matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It is one of the fastest growing business is in this down economy. It's a repo man. We're running with him but we're also telling the personal stories behind all that property they collect.
That's tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, here on CNN. I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here in three hours. LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK, rights after a break, everyone.
