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Race to the Finish: Obama, McCain in Battleground States; New Stimulus Package?; Unemployed & Uninsured; Paulson Lays Out Application Process for Banks Wanting Federal Buy-In; Why Two Top General Aren't Voting in Presidential Elections

Aired October 20, 2008 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And the race for the presidency full throttle. Just two weeks and a day to go.

Barack Obama, the $150 million man. That's how much he raised last month alone. John McCain limited to $84 million in federal money for his presidential run due to his acceptance of public funding.

Obama now armed with the support of Colin Powell, the general who made the case for the war in Iraq, crossing party lines. Both John McCain and Barack Obama focusing in on battleground states.

Let's go to the battleground state of West Virginia right now. And our Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider, he is in the city of Staunton.

And Bill, good to see you.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you.

HARRIS: What are you thoughts on the significance of the Colin Powell endorsement for Barack Obama?

SCHNEIDER: That endorsement is very significant, because one of the questions hanging over Barack Obama's campaign has always been is he prepared to be commander in chief? And the reason, of course, is he doesn't have any military experience and he has limited experience in national security, and even in Washington. So a lot of voters who are inclined to vote for change are wondering -- they've been encouraged to wonder by the McCain campaign, is it risky to vote for Barack Obama?

Well, Colin Powell came out with his answer yesterday. He said no. He thinks Barack Obama is a safe choice.

He says he's been impressed by the "steadiness." He kept using that word, the "steadiness" of the Obama campaign, the fact that he learns very quickly. And Powell says he's been disturbed by the uneven quality and some of the nasty campaign tactics of the McCain campaign. So he had not just strong words in favor of Obama, but also against John McCain, whom he said he has known for 25 years. HARRIS: Hey Bill, if you would, take a moment and talk to us about Obama's huge fund-raising month in September. Will Obama now continue to target red states and force John McCain to spend resources defending those states?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the answer to that is yes. The battle right now is taking place in states that did go to George Bush, the red states in 2004. Some of them also in 2000, states like Missouri, Virginia.

Those are the states where Obama and Joe Biden have been campaigning. Those are the states where McCain is forced to go to defend his campaign.

About the only blue state, the only state that voted Democratic last time that McCain still holds some hope for is Pennsylvania. It's a big state and he's been there a few times. He's hoping that he can turn Pennsylvania in his direction. But otherwise, this battleground for this campaign consists of states that used to be reliably Republican.

HARRIS: And there he is, Bill Schneider for us, in Staunton, West Virginia.

Bill, good to see you.

Let's very quickly now get you to the New York Stock Exchange. We're following the numbers today. The Dow has been up pretty much throughout the morning as you can see now. Off of session highs so far, but the Dow is up 126 points.

We will be checking the numbers throughout the morning, throughout the day, with Susan Lisovicz, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And happening right now, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on the Hill, talking about our broken financial system. More on his testimony in just a moment.

A little bit of space shuttle shuffling today at the Kennedy Space Center. Heidi talked about it just moments ago. Atlantis is rolling away from the launch pad back to the vehicle assembly building. Endeavor will take Atlantis' place on pad 39A. It flies to the International Space Station in mid-November. Atlantis is to upgrade the Hubble telescope, delayed until next year because of problems with Hubble's data transmission.

The grandfather of a Las Vegas, Nevada, boy believed abducted by drug dealers headed to court today. Six-year-old Cole Puffinburger was snatched last Wednesday. He was found alone Saturday night on a city sidewalk.

Police believe he was abducted by drug dealers who have a beef with the grandfather. The grandfather was arrested Friday in California and held as a material witness. Authorities believe he may have owed Mexican drug traffickers millions of dollars. As we mentioned moments ago, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke pushing for a new federal stimulus package to jump-start the economy.

Our Allan Chernoff is in New York.

And Allan, are we talking about a second stimulus package here? That's the kind of talk we've heard most recently from congressional Democrats, isn't it?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And the Fed chairman said he's actually in favor of a second package, but he's not looking for more of the same.

Remember, earlier this year we got a big tax credit if from Congress. Well, now the chairman of the Fed is saying, look, our biggest problem in the country is the credit freeze. So Congress should take action that will actually stimulate lending.

Let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: If the Congress proceeds with a fiscal package, it should consider including measures to help improve access to credit by consumers, homebuyers, businesses and other borrowers. Such actions might be particularly effective at promoting economic growth and job creation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Now, the Fed chairman is not on a game show. That is actually the clock in the hearing room before the House Budget Committee that tells members how long they have to speak. Not a great camera angle, but nonetheless, how do we actually achieve all this?

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

CHERNOFF: Well, the Fed chairman had a few suggestions.

First of all, he said loan guarantees, federal loan guarantees, that could stimulate lending. Also, the federal government could make some direct loans. And also, he's talking tax credits. So this whole idea is to stimulate credit, stimulate lending. He's saying that is absolutely critical.

The other aspect of all of this, of course, last week we were talking about the money being given over, or being invested, rather, to major banks.

HARRIS: Sure.

CHERNOFF: Two hundred fifty billion dollars is being committed to big banks, as well as small banks. Last week we heard about nine major banks. And the Fed chairman said the idea here is to make those banks strong so that they can in turn lend, but not to force them to lend. He said we don't want them to make bad loans, we want them to make good loans -- Tony.

HARRIS: There you go. All right. Allan Chernoff for us.

Allan, good to see you. Thank you.

Tough times and tough choices to follow. More Americans are forced to choose between paying their mortgages or medical costs. Too often their health is losing out.

Here's CNN's Brianna Keilar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): William Fitzgerald is a stroke survivor with throat cancer. He's unemployed and uninsured.

WILLIAM FITZGERALD, CANCER PATIENT: I can't afford to be sick. Plain and simple. If you have something that is ongoing, requiring maintenance, like high blood pressure, such as I have, one of my medicines alone would run over $100 a week.

KEILAR: In these tough economic times, a growing number of Americans say they're going without medications doctors say they need. More say they're foregoing health insurance and doctors appointments. Experts say it creates a vicious cycle, because people who wait too long to seek health care cost more to treat.

DR. DONALD FISHER, AMERICAN MEDICAL GROUP ASSN.: When people forego the diagnostic test or the procedure, then their illnesses get much more severe. And when they present themselves to the health care doctor (ph), they're much sicker.

KEILAR: Like William, who figured his hoarse voice didn't warrant an expensive doctor visit. He now owes about $20,000 in medical bills. It could be worse. William gets medication and treatment from the Arlington Free Clinic, a facility that provides dramatically price-reduced health care for low-income patients.

FITZGERALD: It's actually been a godsend for me. It's quite literally the difference between having access to medical care and none whatsoever.

KEILAR: The clinic has seen up to 15 percent more patients this year.

NANCY PALLESEN, EXEC. DIR., ARLINGTON FREE CLINIC: I think this is just beginning. I think we're going to see more in the months to come, because more people are going to lose jobs, or be cut back their number of hours, and so forth. And then they're going to come.

KEILAR: As the slumping economy forces an increase in patients, it also threatens to cut off the private donations that fund these last resorts for health care, leaving many concerned this safety net will catch fewer and fewer people.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Race in the presidential campaign, does it belong?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The presidential campaigns are crossing the country in battleground states. This morning, Republican candidate John McCain is in St. Charles, Missouri.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... 84 percent of Americans. We need to support small businesses, not tax them.

(APPLAUSE)

After months of campaign trail eloquence -- and you certainly saw the eloquence -- but the fact is we finally learned what Senator Obama's economic goal is. As he told Joe, he wants to spread the wealth around.

He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. Senator Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than in growing the pie.

You know, that's helped explain big problems with my opponent's claim that he will cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans. You might ask, how do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans when more than 40 percent pay no income taxes right now? How do you reduce the number zero?

Well, that's the key to Barack Obama's whole plan. Since you can't reduce income taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit, and the Treasury will cover that by taxing other people, including -- including a lot of folks just like Joe.

In other words, Obama's plan to raise taxes on some in order to give checks to others, it's not a tax cut. It's just another government giveaway that the liberals have been trying to push on America for a long time.

The Obama tax increase would come at the worst possible time for America, and especially for small businesses like the one Joe dreams of owning. The small businesses Senator Obama would tax provides 16 million jobs in America and a sudden tax hike, but those businesses will kill jobs at a time when we need to be creating more jobs.

I'm not going to let that happen, my friends. And neither are you.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, America has an alternative to the phony tax cut my opponent started talking about only months ago. The McCain/Palin tax cut is the real thing.

We're going to double child deduction for every family. We'll cut the capital gains tax. We'll cut business taxes to help create jobs and keep American business in America.

(APPLAUSE)

As Joe has now reminded us all, America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by giving our money to the government to spread the wealth around. In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity for those who need jobs and those who create them.

(APPLAUSE)

And that's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States.

My friends, the next president won't have time to get used to the office. Our economy is in crisis. I'll give you some straight talk.

Americans are fighting in two wars. My friends, we face many enemies in this dangerous world and many challenges here at home. And I want to tell you, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, I'll bring our troops home, but I'll bring them home with honor and victory, and not in defeat. Not in a defeat, as Senator Obama would have for them.

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

MCCAIN: I would like to ask our veterans in the audience if they would raise their hands so we could say thank you to them. And I see "World War II." I see every war.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

We can't spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight waiting for our luck to change. We have to act immediately. And as I said at the last debate, I'm not George Bush. If Senator Obama wanted to run against George Bush, he should have run for president four years ago.

(APPLAUSE)

We need a new direction now, and we have to fight for it. I've been fighting for this country since I was 17 years old. And I have the scars to prove it.

(APPLAUSE) If I'm elected president, I'll fight to shake up Washington and take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight. I am ready for it.

(APPLAUSE)

I'm not going to be spend $750 billion of your money just bailing out the Wall Street bankers and brokers who got us into this mess. I'm going to make sure we take care of the people who were devastated by the excesses and greed of Wall Street and Washington.

I'm going to spend a lot of that money to bring relief to you. And I'm not going to wait 60 days to do it. I have a plan to protect the value of your home and get it rising again by buying up these bad mortgages and refinancing them, so that if your neighbor defaults, he doesn't have to bring down the value of your house with him.

(APPLAUSE)

My friends, it was the housing crisis that began this cataclysm, and it will be the housing values coming back up so that you can stay in your home and realize the American dream. I promise you that should be our priority, keeping Americans in their homes.

(APPLAUSE)

I have a plan to let retirees and people nearing retirement keep their money in their retirement accounts longer so they can rebuild their savings. I have a plan to hold the line on taxes and cut them to make America more competitive and create jobs here at home.

Raising taxes makes a bad economy much worse. Keeping taxes low creates jobs, keeps money in your hands, and strengthens your economy.

Senator Obama voted 94 times to raise your taxes or against tax cuts. Twice this year he voted to increase taxes on individuals making $42,000 a year. That's not what America needs.

HARRIS: Let's do this -- let's split the screen, because we have dueling events going on right now as you can see. John McCain is there in St. Charles, Missouri. Sarah Palin is in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Dan (ph), if you'll hit the button, let's go to Colorado Springs now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John served our nation in uniform for 22 years, five and a half years as a POW. Those years as a POW, he has met great adversity in his life and in service to this great country. He knows how tough challenges are overcome. He knows how to win a war. And as the mother of one of the troops in Iraq today, he's exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief.

(APPLAUSE)

So in this time of great economic hardship and worry, John and I have a plan to help keep our families in their homes and help our retirees keep their savings, their investments, and help all of us afford health care, and help our students pay for college.

(APPLAUSE)

Our plan will get this economy back on track because it's real, it's pragmatic, it's not just words. We will bring tax relief to every American and every business.

(APPLAUSE)

Speaking of every business, I know that we must have small business owners and employees here. Raise your hand. Let us see.

(APPLAUSE)

See. And you all are the backbone of this economy. You are the backbone of America, our small business owners and the employees.

We're going to let you keep more of what you earn and produce so that you can hire more people. That's how jobs are created.

(APPLAUSE)

John and I will actually lower your income taxes, and we will double the child tax deduction for every family. We're going to cut capital gains tax.

(APPLAUSE)

And business owners, we're going to cut business taxes to help keep American businesses in America. Yes, keep them right here, because you know when it comes to taxes, Americans have such a real and clear choice on November 4th.

And I want to talk about this for a minute, because our opponent is not being candid with you about his tax plan. So we've got to call him on this.

And you have to really, really listen to our opponent's words. And it is not mean-spirited and it is not negative campaigning when someone is called out on their record, on their plans, and on their associations.

(APPLAUSE)

Barack Obama claims that he will cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans, but the problem is -- the problem with that claim is that 40 percent pay no income tax at all. So how can you cut income taxes for folks who don't pay them?

His plan is to cut them a check and call that a tax credit. Where is he going to get all the money for those checks that he'll cut? It's by raising taxes on America's families and on our small businesses, on a lot of folks just like you and like Joe the plumber.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, you've really got to hand it to Joe the plumber, too, over there in Toledo, Ohio. Somehow he got our opponent to finally state his intentions in plain language. So if you ask me, that makes Joe the winner of last week's presidential debate.

(APPLAUSE)

Senator Obama says that he wants to "spread the wealth." He wants -- what that means is government taking your money and doling it out however politicians see fit. That's not good for our economy.

Barack Obama calls it spreading the wealth. Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic. Joe the plumber said it sounded to him like socialism.

(APPLAUSE)

And now is not the time to experiment with that. Our opponent's plan to redistribute wealth will ultimately punish hard work and productivity. It discourages productivity, and it will stifle the entrepreneurial spirit that has made this country unique and has made it the greatest country on earth.

(APPLAUSE)

Our opponent's plan is just more big government, and John and I think that that is the problem, not the solution.

(APPLAUSE)

Instead of taking your hard-earned money and spreading your wealth, we want to spread opportunity so people like you and Joe the plumber can create new wealth.

HARRIS: All right. We've split the screen again, as you can see. The Republican ticket now in battleground states. John McCain in St. Charles, Missouri. And Sarah Palin, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

If you're wondering where Barack Obama is today, he is holding a rally next hour, 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time in Tampa, Florida.

You know, getting a loan right now can be extremely difficult. So your personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, has some easy ways for you to improve your credit score.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's talk to Gerri Willis.

You know, lenders changing the rules for borrowers. Did you know? If you want money right now, you need an excellent credit score. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is in New York.

Gerri, great to see you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi, Tony. Yes.

HARRIS: Whoa, how have times changed here, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, quite a bit. Let me tell you, Tony, banks are getting pickier about who they're lending to.

Consider this: Two years ago to get the very best loan terms on a home, you would need a FICO score of 720 to 750. That's for a mortgage. But today, you'll need a score of 750 to 780 to get the best terms.

HARRIS: Whoa.

WILLIS: Remember, FICO only goes up to 850. And a couple of years ago people were getting loans with credit scores of 620. So times have changed.

HARRIS: That's right. Well, how do we get those stop scores, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, let me tell you. You have to understand how the credit scores work. Payment history is 35 percent of your credit score. Lenders look at your payment history as far back as seven years. But really, the older the data is, the less impact it has. They really scrutinize the last two years. And naturally, if you have a 30-day late payment on anything it really hurts your credit score.

But let me tells you what kills it, a 90-day late payment. That really hurts your credit score. You want to make sure you don't do this.

Credit mix is important. You have all kinds of different credit, right? You want a mix. A mortgage, if you're in good standing. You want credit cards. You want to have installment debt like an auto loan, and pay all of those faithfully on time. A mix of credit is the best thing for your credit score.

And then stop applying for credit. People who have credit scores in the 760 to 780 range, they're not applying for department score credit cards. They don't apply for anything.

HARRIS: Yes -- I'm sorry, Gerri. I'm just thinking out loud here. I'm working so hard to try to get debt free. I don't want to be in that system, but we've talked about that ad nauseum here.

WILLIS: Good for you.

HARRIS: Well, I'm trying. It's hard.

WILLIS: Well -- I feel your pain, because everybody makes it so easy to use a credit card that it's easy to forget that that's what you're doing. But one thing -- if you do use the credit card to keep in mind, use only 10 percent of your available credit if you want the very best credit score. Don't cancel old cards. These little tricks will help you boost that credit score.

HARRIS: That's the idea of keeping that debt to income ratio pretty low, correct?

WILLIS: Right.

HARRIS: All right, one other thing, what do people need to really watch for right now, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, we've been talking about this. Credit card issuers are out there cutting your credit limits. 62 percent have cut back the lines of credit they make available to customers. Now, when they do this, it makes your debt look bigger in comparison to your actual credit limit, and your credit score takes a hit. You may do nothing at all and take a hit to your credit score, so make sure you know what the limit is. And if it is cut back, make sure you call your credit card issuer and say, hey, reinstate the old number.

You can always ask them to lift it, because they do it across the board. It's not like they're definitely just looking at your credit card and nobody elses.

And of course if you have any questions send them to us at toptips@cnn.com. We love hearing from you. And we answer those questions right here every Friday.

HARRIS: As always, great tips, Gerri. Good to see you. Thanks again.

WILLIS: My pleasure, bye-bye.

HARRIS: And as the most serious credit crisis in decades does real damage to your finances, CNNMoney.com has some advice and some answers. Check out our special report, "America's Money Crisis," that's at CNNMoney.com.

They lead U.S. troops into war, but some generals say they refuse to enter a polling place. Military leaders who don't vote.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Right now, Treasury Secretary Paulson is delivering some remarks, and we thought we would give you just a listen here. Let's listen now to Treasury Secretary Paulson.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: ... There is now a single application form to qualify an interest (ph) publicly held financial institutions will use to submit to their primary regulator -- the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the OCC, or the OTS. These regulators will post this application form on their Web sites before the end of the day. The terms for this program are the same for all institutions that apply before the Capital Purchase Program deadline of November 14th, 2008. Sufficient capital has been allocated so that all qualifying banks can participate. Let me be clear, this program is not being implemented on a first come, first serve basis.

Second, to apply for the capital program, banks should review the program information on the Treasury Web site and then consult with their primary federal regulator. After this consultation, institutions should submit an application on the same -- to the same primary federal regulator. Treasury has worked with the regulators to establish streamlined evaluations. This means that all regulators will use a standardized process to review all applications to ensure consistency.

Third, once a regulator has reviewed an application, it will send an application along with its recommendation to the Office of Financial Stability at the Treasury Department. Once Treasury receives an application with a regulator's recommendations, we will review it and decide whether or not to make the capital purchase. Treasury welcomes the expertise of the financial regulators, and will give considerable weight to their recommendations.

Finally, all transactions will be publicly announced within 48 hours of execution. We will not, however, announce any applications that are withdrawn or denied. This sufficient process with standardized forms and standardized review will encourage banks and thrifts (ph) of all sizes to participate in the program. By doing so, they will increase their capital base so that they can provide the lending necessary to support the U.S. economy as we work through this difficult period.

Thank you.

HARRIS: OK. There you have Secretary Paulson there from Treasury, giving us a bit of an update on the federal bailout program. And I am sure his remarks had everything to do with how the application process will work for banks looking for a buy-in from the federal government. But just to make sure I'm correct on this, I'm going to reach out to Susan Lisovicz in just a couple of minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The CEO of insurance giant AIG answering criticism of the company. Ed Liddy appeared earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." Anchor John Roberts asked him about several company getaways in the face of that $85 billion bailout of the company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It was just a few days after that that the company spent about half a million dollars at the St. Regis resort in Dana Point for a retreat, a junket whatever you want to call it. There was another one that was scheduled for the Ritz-Carlton at Half- Moon Bay, which was canceled, but only under a lot of pressure from lawmakers and the media.

How tone deaf is the leadership of AIG that they would think about going ahead with these junkets while they're leaning on taxpayers to bail out the company?

ED LIDDY, CEO, AIG: The simple reality is it's a big place. We do business in 130 countries. We're very decentralized, very entrepreneurial. It takes a little bit of time to get the battleship turned. We have shut down everything we can find -- conferences, lobbying -- every single thing that we can find we've shut down. We're mad about it.

I apologize to the American people for those things. They were terribly insensitive. We're going to get our facts together. We're going to seek retribution for all of those things. And we're going to do the right thing going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well Liddy was picked by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to run AIG. Let's get a market check now with Susan Lisovicz.

And speaking of Treasury Secretary Paulson, Susan, just a moment ago he was up and he was giving us a bit of an update on the bailout plan. And it appeared to me, I surmised -- I surmised, Susan, that what he was doing is he was giving us a bit of an explanation as to how some of the struggling banks may actually apply for the government buy-in.

Did I have that close to being correct?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was pretty good actually, Tony.

He was talking about a streamlined application that banks can follow to apply for this unprecedented program. And basically, the Treasury secretary says government purchases of stocks and banks represent an investment that should eventually make money for taxpayers. And of course, that has been a major concern for millions of us, taxpayers. So he was announcing sort of the application process -- a very quick comment from the Treasury secretary.

In the meantime, another heavy hitter has been on Washington as well. And that is the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, who basically said that another stimulus package should be considered given the fact that the U.S. economy -- the possibility of a protracted downturn -- is, you know, possible. And so that was greeted pretty favorably on Wall Street. We had a modest rally at the open. But it gained momentum once his written testimony was made available.

But, you know, when he's talking about a protracted slowdown, or whatever way you want to put it, we're seeing that already. The "Wall Street Journal" is talking about how Circuit City is weighing the possibility, Tony, of closing 150 stores, which would obviously mean thousands of jobs lost in the process, as a means to avoid filing for bankruptcy. Very tough environment for retailers as we go into the holiday season. And that store, in particular, has been getting hit hard both in terms of consumer sales, as well as what it's been doing on Wall Street where it's lost most of its value this year.

But overall, good start to the week, Tony. The Dow is up 129 points right now, or 1.5 percent. The Nasdaq is weighed down by concerns about Yahoo!, which reports later this week. But right now its shares are up, or rather, the Nasdaq is up four points.

HARRIS: That's good that you remind us that we are still in reporting season right now.

Susan, good to see you. And we will see you again next hour.

Thinking about retiring at all? You know, the reality is most couples don't retire at the same time. Christine Romans shows us how one family is making their staggered retirement work in this week's "Right on Your Money."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These days, Tom Sheehan has a view of the Connecticut shore from his garden. Tom retired two years ago, earlier than he had planned, due to cutbacks after 9/11.

TOM SHEEHAN, RETIRED: How are you?

SANDY SHEEHAN, SALES REPRESENTATIVE: Good, how are you?

T. SHEEHAN: Good. How was your day?

ROMANS: His wife, Sandy, works full time.

T. SHEEHAN: There's a tremendous amount of -- I won't say guilt, but an uncomfortable feeling when your wife goes to work and you're staying home.

S. SHEEHAN: There's a financial change. We had to make adjustments for what our original long-term goals were.

ROMANS: "Money Magazine"'s Janice Revell says their experience isn't uncommon.

JANICE REVELL, SR. WRITER, "MONEY MAGAZINE": The harsh reality is that 40 percent of the time people are forced to retire long before they wanted to.

ROMANS: Tom and Sandy made it work by downsizing. They sold their house upstate, knocked down their beach cottage, and built a year-round home in its place.

REVELL: One of the things that Tom and Sandy I think did really well was that they didn't just uproot themselves and move to a brand new town that they knew nothing about. This was a place that they had spent summers in for decades.

ROMANS: When Sandy retires they'll start a new life in a familiar place.

S. SHEEHAN: The kids pretty much grew up being here.

T. SHEEHAN: Yes, and now the grandchildren.

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And very quickly now, let's get to that man right there, the man, Rob Marciano in the weather center. And Rob, I guess we're talking about snow in the Rockies -- in New England, doctor?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Doc, you ready for some crazy pictures?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HARRIS: Check this out. Have you seen this yet?

MARCIANO: I have --

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Base jumpers parachuting from the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia.

MARCIANO: Wow! Nice. Oh, and with style.

HARRIS: Come on, now. A tuck and a roll -- 876 feet.

Would you, Rob? Would you? Would you?

MARCIANO: Maybe after some prescription drugs just to kind of ease the nerves.

HARRIS: Jacked up on a little Mountain Dew, maybe.

MARCIANO: Something just to push me over -- that is fantastic. Those guys have -- they've got some stuff going on.

HARRIS: With a little -- I don't know -- Lenny Kravitz, "Ready to Fly" blasting in your ear there through the iPod.

MARCIANO: It looks like fun man.

HARRIS: Looks like fun. I want to fly away.

All right, Rob. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

MARCIANO: All right, Tony, are see you man. HARRIS: A Cinderella story continues for the Tampa Bay Rays. Fans celebrate after the Rays beat the world champion Boston Red Sox 3 to 1 last night. The Rays advance to their first World Series. The perennial American League (INAUDIBLE) basement dwellers will play Philadelphia beginning on Wednesday.

They lead U.S. troops into war, but some generals say they refuse to enter a polling place. Military leaders who don't vote.

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GEN. COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: We have two wars. We have economic problems. We have health problems. We have education problems. We have infrastructure problems. We have problems around the world with our allies.

And so those are the problems the American people wanted to hear about, not about Mr. Ayers. Not about who is a Muslim and who is not a Muslim. Those kind of images going out in Al Jazeera are killing us around the world.

And we have got to say to the world, it doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are. If you're an American, you're an American. And this business for example, a Congressman from Minnesota, who's going around saying, let's examine all Congressmen to see who is pro-America, or not pro-America. We have to stop this kind of nonsense. Pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity.

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HARRIS: Colin Powell explaining why he is backing Barack Obama for president. Powell calls Obama a quote, "A transformational figure who is bringing a new generation to the American stage."

Two of the generals Colin Powell worked with when he was in the army, aren't voting in this election. We often hear it's your duty, make your vote count. But, they have a different take.

CNN's Barbara Starr has that story.

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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks to this great General David Petraeus and the troops who serve under him, they have succeeded.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And General Petraeus has done a brilliant job.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: So, who is Petreaus going to vote for? Neither of them. David Petreaus, long ago stopped voting in presidential elections. VOICE OF GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, TOP U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ: I haven't voted in elections in some time actually. And it's because I feel that senior officers in particular, should try to be apolitical -- as I said, it's inevitable that I'm just carrying out the policy of the administration that is in office at that time.

STARR: In a "60 Minutes" interview, the general who replaced Petraeus in Iraq agrees.

GEN. RAY ODIERNO, U.S. CMDR., IRAQ: I made the decision when I got promoted to colonel that I would no longer vote in national elections because I feel it's my job to serve the commander in chief. So, I have not voted. I'm probably a bad American for not voting. But, I made that decision because of the position I have.

STARR: But with two wars, even acknowledging whether they vote at all has become sensitive at the top ranks.

ADMIRAL MIKE MULLEN, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Hi. I'm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, urging you to let your voice be heard this election year by exercising your right to vote.

STARR: Mullen would not tell CNN if he will even cast a vote, saying, it's too personal to publicly discuss. General David McKiernan, the top commander in Afghanistan, told CNN the same thing.

Some say voting doesn't mean you can't serve the commander in chief even if you didn't vote for him.

GEN. DAVID GRANCE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): It is your duty to be apolitical, especially on your advice. But I think you know, voting is a right. Voting, I believe is also a responsibility.

STARR (on camera): One senior U.S. Navy four-star admiral who is in a position right now to advise the next president of the United States, told CNN, he votes, he's always voted and he intends to in this presidential election.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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HARRIS: And remember, we have new poll numbers showing a tightening race. You will see those new numbers in minutes at the top of the hour, right here on CNN. And as always, check out our political ticker for all the latest campaign news. Just log on to CNNPolitics.com, your source for all things political.

And this just in to CNN from Little Rock, Arkansas. We're getting word that a morning anchor for Little Rock television station was found in her home early this morning, with what's described as life threatening wounds. And there you see a picture of the anchor from KATV's web site. And KATV is a CNN affiliate.

We're talking about Anne Pressly. Just 26 years old and she was found in her bed, bleeding, from again what's described as severe wounds by her mother, this morning. No suspects so far in this attack that may have come as part of a robbery. Pressly's purse, we understand, is missing as well. We will continue to follow this story and we will get you additional information as soon as we get it.

You know, if you are of a certain age, and I certainly am, then you've heard the Four Tops. Levi Stubbs, the front man for the group, died Friday. His was one of the truly amazing voices in all of music. The Four Tops sold millions of records and performed for more than four decades with the same four guys. During the '60's, the group had 20 Top 40 hits. Levi Stubbs died in his sleep at the Detroit home he shared with his wife for 48 years. Levi Stubbs was 72.

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