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Fed Chairman Calls for Congress to Consider Second Stimulus Plan; Tracing the History of Black McCains; Did Palin's 'SNL' Appearance Help Her Politically?
Aired October 20, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Remember "Dewy Defeats Truman"? Do we await a November surprise? A look at the odds and history of presidential comebacks.
A unique perspective on progress and the race; and African- American family of McCains whose link to the candidate goes back generations.
She was live from New York on Saturday night. But what happened Sunday morning? Candidates want to be in on the joke. Could all the comic relief relieve them of some votes?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Two weeks and a day until Election Day. Where do we stand? We know where they stand. Barack Obama is traveling the I-4 corridor in Florida. He rallied last hour in Tampa. Next stop, Orlando with special guest campaigner Hillary Clinton.
The latest Poll of Polls in Florida shows Obama with a 3-point edge over John McCain. The Republican candidate is heading east to west through Missouri where polls show the race is in a dead heat. We expect to see him later this hour in Columbia.
Now, nationwide the race may be getting a little closer. Obama leads McCain by 5 points in the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. A couple of weeks earlier, Obama's lead was 8; our latest poll of polls, an average of the latest surveys, shows that Obama is up by 6, with 6 percent still undecided.
Now, polls can be wrong and voters can change their minds, or not vote at all. You don't have to look far in history to find presidential races that surprised the pollsters.
Here's CNN's Frank Sesno.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Even a couple of weeks before Election Day polls can change and they have been wrong. Most famously Dewy didn't beat Truman. Though some polls gave Dewy, the governor of New York, a double-digit advantage right up to Election Day. That was as much about unsophisticated polling as politics.
If John McCain is hoping to confound the polling this time, he better get moving. There is precedent thought for a candidate down in October to prevail in November. McCain could still win one for the Gipper.
KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Ronald Reagan was down in the polls before the last debate that he had with Jimmy Carter on October 28th. He wound up winning the election in large measure because of that debate.
SESNO: That debate just a week before Election Day was crucial. When Reagan uttered those famous words.
RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
SESNO: He won by 10 points. Ironic because four years earlier, Jimmy Carter survived a late surge. His 6-point lead over Gerald Ford narrowed to almost nothing.
HOLLAND: Many people say that if the election had another week, Ford might have actually won in 1976.
SESNO: In '68, saddled by LBJ and the war in Vietnam, Vice President Hubert Humphrey was behind 8 points in October. He distanced himself from Johnson. Got a late endorsement from anti-war Democrat Eugene McCarthy. His surge wasn't enough, but it was close. Final result? Nixon, 43.4, Humphrey, 42.7. Leads have a way of eroding in the final weeks. Bill Clinton saw that happen to him in '92. That was the year of maverick. Yes, maverick Ross Perot.
As for this year --
HOLLAND: when you're talking about, say, a 6-point lead, you really only need to change 3 percentage points.
SESNO: Every year has its own dynamic. There's not much time left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And we did mention the Powell factor. Later this hour, more on Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, the force and the fallout.
We've been counting the days until Election Day for months now, but guess what. Election Day is here. Florida and Arkansas are the latest two states to open polls, but no matter where you live, you can beat the crowds on November 4th, either by voting in person or by absentee ballot. And nationwide about a third of the electorate is expected to vote early up from 22 percent in 2004. The White House may be warming up to a another economic stimulus package depending on the details. It had stalled (ph), the Democrats efforts to pass a stimulus bill, but this morning there was Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifying before the House Budget Committee. His main focus was the bailout and how soon it will help the economy. Short answer, might be a long time coming, and a stimulus deal could help speed things up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture seems appropriate. Should the Congress choose to undertake fiscal action, certain design principles may be helpful. To best achieve its goals, any fiscal package should be structured so that its peak affects on aggregate spending and economic activity are felt when they are most needed. Namely during the period in which economic activity would otherwise be expected to be weak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: After 9/11, they scrambled to reorganize. Now the FBI is scrambling again to address the financial mess. Fraud cases piling up at the Bureau.
And U.S. troops in Iraq, how much longer before they're all pulled out? We'll have details of a draft agreement now being reviewed by the Iraqis.
But first, let's check in with Susan Lisovicz. See how those numbers are doing on Wall Street as we continue to focus on "Issue #1", our pocketbooks.
Hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
Here's a headline for you. Stocks have been moving in one direction today. Let me repeat that. Stocks have been moving in one direction, and that is higher.
The major averages remaining solidly higher for most of the session thanks to those comments from the Fed chairman. And although the Fed chief didn't give an outright endorse to a second stimulus plan, he was very clear on the fact that Congress should at least consider it. Bernanke did offer some caveats, though. Saying the plan should be well targeted and it should make it easier for consumers and businesses to obtain credit.
Investors seem pretty keen on the idea. They also like remarks from Henry Paulson saying that a large number of banks are interested in the Treasury's recapitalization plan, that is in which the government would buy shares, outright, to help bolster their capital situation.
Right now, the Dow certainly in the green, up 239 points, or nearly 2.75 percent. Coming off the best week in five years for the blue chips. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is up 1.75 percent -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Wall Street looking good. What about Main Street?
LISOVICZ: Oh, Kyra, there's the disconnect. Part of it, of course, all of the news that we've been disseminating. A new "Associated Press"/Yahoo! news poll shows the public's concern over the slumping economy is rising and rising sharply. About one third worried about losing their jobs.
Unfortunately, those fears are not unfounded. "The Wall Street Journal" reports today that Circuit City may close 150 stores to and cut thousands of jobs in order to avoid filing for bankruptcy. The company has come out with a statement saying it doesn't comment on speculation.
Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch expects to see thousands of positions lost as it folds into Bank of America. And Yahoo!, also planning major cost-cutting measures including lay-offs. There's real expectation that the unemployment rate at 6.1 percent will move higher before it ever comes back down. Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Susan, thanks.
More from CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, despite word of a possible major announcement from North Korea, there's no end to the mystery over the country's mysterious leader, Kim Jong Il. Japanese newspapers had said that the Communist North Korean government was planning an important report, possibly on Kim, but South Korean officials say there's been no unusual activity in the North today. There's been widespread speculation, as you know, that Kim's health since he disappeared from public view in August was at stake. The North insists there's nothing wrong with him.
U.S. combat troops out of Iraqi cities by July of next year, and out of the country entirely by the end of 2011. Those are the marching orders in a draft copy of the Status of Forces Agreement that's been obtained by CNN. And it's being reviewed by Iraqi lawmakers right now. The draft also allows for an earlier withdrawal, or an extension of U.S. forces. In addition, the Iraqi government could Washington to keep certain forces there for training and support purposes.
A frightening example of home-grown terrorism, or a baited government sting operation. Opening statements are under way in the trial of five Muslim men accused of plotting to kill soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey. A prosecutor says they were inspired by Al Qaeda. Those suspects are accused of turning paintball games into terrorist training sessions back in 2007. But there was no attack and the defense says there was no plot. It says that the government paid informants to get the suspects just to discuss one. Piece by piece, American International Group's new CEO says that the company will start selling parts of itself off by the end of the year. According to Edward Liddy, that will let the insurer pay back its $85 billion government loan. AIG's rescue came last month at the height of the nation's financial meltdown. That crisis was sparked in part by shady deals and fuzzy math.
Now, the numbers aren't adding up for the FBI. The bureau is swamped with new fraud cases and not enough agents to handle them. A complication of the big counter-terror push after 9/11.
Harold Copus spent 10 years with the FBI working white-collar crime. He now heads up Copus Security Consultants, right here in Atlanta.
HAROLD COPUS, FMR. SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: You know, it seems like it's like this shuffling game. Instead of hiring more agents, they shuffle around and then other areas suffer. So is that what happened? 9/11 hit, more agents went to the counter-terrorism unit, which was lacking in the past, and now the white-collar division has lost agents and look at what's happening on Wall Street.
And what happens now is there's probably less than 750 agents overall, out of 12,000, working white-collar crime cases. You've got five major cases. Probably take at least 100 agents to work each one. Where do these guys come from and how do you reallocate?
PHILLIPS: OK, for example, let's say AIG, as an example. How many agents does it take to investigate something like that? How many agents would it have taken to prevent something like that?
COPUS: Well, probably my guess now would be close to 100 agents. That's a lot of man power.
PHILLIPS: Just to work the AIG investigation?
COPUS: Just to work AIG. And if I were running that, I'd tell you I'd have to have to work that. And it would probably take me nine months to a year.
PHILLIPS: Well, out of 12,000 agents, how many are working in white-collar crime? Are there even 100 agents?
COPUS: 600 or 700, I guess, at this time.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
COPUS: And remember this is just the tip of the iceberg. The bank failures haven't hit yet. When that goes, no telling what will happen.
PHILLIPS: So if there were a number -- I guess there's, what, 12,000 agents, right?
COPUS: That's right. PHILLIPS: If there would have been more, could this whole economic disaster been prevented with regard to fraud in these companies?
COPUS: Well, it's possible. The reason I say that is -- and I don't want to hedge -- is that you're working cases. But if you don't have the manpower, then you obviously have not paid any attention to them. You have to put your attention to something else. Work these things two or three years ago, we may have prevented some of this today.
PHILLIPS: Well, but back in 2004, we found this in our research that FBI officials had warned that mortgage fraud posed a looming threat. That's you guys, OK?
COPUS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: The Bureau had repeated asked the Bush administration for more money to replenish the ranks of agents handling non-terrorism investigations. But each year the requests were denied, with no new agents approved for financial crimes, as policymakers focused on counter-terrorism. This is straight from the "New York Times" -- true?
COPUS: Partially. They brought one more on.
PHILLIPS: One more?
COPUS: One more. So we're hurting. We need more agents. You have to have agents to fight this. You've got at least five major cases going right now. Countrywide, Fannie, Freddie, Lehman Brothers and AIG. It takes you about 100 agents or so each. That's 500, that's at least 50 percent of the guys working those cases. Big problem.
PHILLIPS: So bottom line, what do you do? I mean, in this situation right now, there's got to be a push for more agents, right?
COPUS: Push for more agents. The Bureau has always had to do more with less. That's just one of the things that they do. What I suspect will happen, is we'll probably see something that they do in other areas now, they'll form a task force. They'll go to the local police and say, listen, can you help us? We have to have some people and experience and bring those in.
So, about the only way they can turn this thing around. It's going to take two to three years to get these agents up to snuff if we could get them on right now.
PHILLIPS: So let me throw something at you. I don't know if you can answer this or not. So, 9/11 happens. We found out the counter- terrorism unit at the FBI was just brutally underfunded. Not enough agents, OK? Then look at 9/11, what happened.
Now we're finding out not enough agents, the area in white-collar crime totally underfunded, not enough individuals. Look at what's happening on Wall Street. What are you predicting? What is the next disaster? Where do the agents need to be? COPUS: I predict two things could happen to us. We're going to see bank fraud hit at levels that you can't believe; and that's going to require -- and anything else -- here's the thing that scares me. We take away from counter-terrorism to work this, and then we leave holes in that area and we could get exploited. Major problem. We've got to do something to get more agents assigned to the Bureau.
PHILLIPS: We'll stay on top of the story. And we'll follow up.
Harold Copus, you seem to make all the right predictions. That's for sure. Appreciate your time.
COPUS: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Movie mission for NASA. It means the space shuttle is going back to the hanger. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So, moving day at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Shuttle Atlantis heading back to the garage at a snail's pace. The Atlantis mission to the Hubble telescope has been delayed at least until February. The Hubble team needs more time to make a repair part for the telescope. And NASA needs the launch pad for Shuttle Endeavor's trip to the space station next month.
One minute it was summer. Now cooler temperatures are swooping in on part of the nation. Just how cold it is going to get?
Chad Myers, what do you think?
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Well, could you see this guy paling around with Barack Obama as the campaign counts down? Colin Powell, he says he likes and respects his friend John McCain, but hey, he's not voting for him.
And meet the McCains, the ones you probably haven't heart of. They and the candidate go way back. Way, way back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Well, just about an hour ago, we brought you Barack Obama speaking in Tampa, Florida. Winning Florida would be a big ray of sunshine for either candidate actually. Its 27 electoral votes makes it the fourth-richest campaign prize. And the latest CNN Poll of Polls, there, shows Obama ahead 49 percent to 46 percent. But how about those Floridians that are still on the fence? Could a big endorsement push them over?
Here's CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLIN POWELL, FMR. BUSH SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator Obama has demonstrated the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem solving that I think we need in this country.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama . Saying he respects John McCain, but thinks Obama is what the country needs.
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, but I think we need more than that.
MALVEAUX: Powell, who also served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, took a swipe at Sarah Palin, saying he doesn't think she would be ready to take over the presidency if something happened to McCain. He says he's also concerned about negative attacks the McCain campaign has launched against Obama .
POWELL: We have got to stop this kind of nonsense, pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity.
MALVEAUX: For his part, John McCain played down the endorsement's impact.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This doesn't come as a surprise, but I'm also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state, Secretary Kissinger, Baker, Eagleburger and Hague. And I'm proud to have the endorsement of well over 200 retired army generals and admirals.
MALVEAUX: But some analysts say Powell's words could help with undecided voters.
DAVID BERGEN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Colin Powell has given voice, I think, to the disillusionment that a number of moderate Republicans, and some others, have had with the negativity of the McCain campaign, that they've been muttering about, but they're afraid to give voice to.
MALVEAUX: Obama welcomed the news.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a great soldier, a great statesman, a great American has endorsed our campaign for change.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I have been honored to have the benefit of his wisdom and his counsel from time to time over the last few years.
MALVEAUX: Susan Malveaux, CNN, Tampa, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well if the race were based on newspaper endorsements instead of votes, you could put a fork in this election season right now. A trade paper that covers the newspaper industry has John McCain getting 33 endorsements so far, and Barack Obama 106.
In 2004, John Kerry barely beat President Bush in the endorsement department, 213 to 205. And Obama has won over his home town paper, "The Chicago Tribune." It hasn't endorsed a Democrat in its entire long history. Other papers supporting him, "The Houston Chronicle," "Denver Post," and "The Salt Lake Tribune." All of them supported Bush four years ago.
Now "The Columbus Dispatch," "San Diego Union-Tribune," "Dallas Morning News," :Las Vegas Review" and "Tampa Tribune" are among the papers supporting John McCain.
When a candidate runs for president, all aspects of his life, and family, come under the spotlight. And John McCain's family tree has some interesting roots. That's what "The Wall Street Journal"'s Douglas Blackmon found when they want to Mississippi and, in short, he found the African-American McCains. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a family of McCains who resisted the Ku Klux Klan, led the civil rights movement and voter registration efforts in the 1960s, who integrated public schools, and changed this part of Mississippi forever. Those McCains are African-American descendants of the slaves owned 150 years ago by the white ancestors of Senator John McCain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy was very active in civil rights movement. Mamma used to be up, always concerned as to whether he was going to come back, concerned if he was going to be OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Joining me now, "Wall Street Journal" Atlanta bureau chief, Douglas Blackmon. And in Detroit, Lillie McCain, she's a descendant of slaves owned by John McCain's ancestors.
Great to have you both. Let's start with the story. How did you get on to this? How did you find out about it? Did you believe it when you first heard about it?
DOUGLAS BLACKMON, ATLANTA BUREAU CHIEF, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well I wrote a book that came out a few months ago that was about the early 20th century treatment of African-Americans. And a reader of that book e-mailed me a few weeks back and suggested that I take a look into the background of Senator McCain's family. And that got me curious about whether there were living descendants, black McCains today, and what their perspective would be on this historic election, in this particular moment in time.
PHILLIPS: All right. And we're going to talk about that in a minute.
But Lillie, I want to get straight to you and just ask you, have you ever met Senator John McCain? And if not, I know you've met his brother. Tell me what that relationship is like, what you do together. Do you see each other on a regular basis?
LILLIE MCCAIN, DESCENDED FROM MCCAIN FAMILY'S SLAVES: We've had the pleasure of meeting Joe McCain, and he attends the reunions at Tiak. The families come together every other year. We were together July 24th this year. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend that reunion, but I attended two years ago and it was certainly my pleasure to have met him. He was very cordial, warm, extrovert. He's really an energized personality, Joe McCain I'm speaking of.
I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Senator McCain.
PHILLIPS: Do you think it could make a difference with regard to diversity issues, issues of race, if John McCain did participate?
L. MCCAIN: I think it probably could. It would give him an opportunity to know us.
I e-mailed him back in 2000 to remind him of his ties to Tiak, Mississippi. I heard him say on I believe it was "Meet the Press," that his ancestors owned no slaves. Well, I certainly have carried the name McCain from the beginning of my whole life, and I've known of the ties to John McCain and tried to get him to communicate with me about that, but he has been unwilling, at least, to date.
PHILLIPS: Well he found out in 2000, to be fair to the senator there, and he did come forward and gave this quote -- "How the Tiak descendants have served their community and, by extension, to their country, is a testament to the power of family, love, compassion, and the human spirit." And then he added in the statement, "an example for all citizens."
But, Doug, why doesn't he acknowledge this more and visit with the family members and -- and take part in these reunions when his brother does?
BLACKMON: Well, the McCain campaign told me when I talked to them about this that he hasn't been at any of the family reunions simply because of scheduling conflicts, that there's not a decision not to do that.
But the important thing to me about this story is that it's not about whether the fact that his family owned slaves 150 years ago says something about John McCain today, what this is really a story about is the triumphal way in which the black McCains, who descended from slavery, have achieved so much over the last generations -- fighting off the Ku Klux Klan, integrating the schools in this place in Mississippi where things were really tough for a very long time. Lillie McCain and her siblings are just tremendous people.
And so, these are the kinds of folks who changed America, but also the way that the white McCains have broken from that legacy as well. Without both of those things happening, we wouldn't be having the historic events we're seeing this year.
PHILLIPS: Well, interesting, as we look at the family tree here, the black McCains, the white McCains, Lillie, do you -- from the history that you know and -- and what you've been able to find out through family members, originally the -- the black McCains and the white McCains, what do you think the black McCains took away from the white McCains years and years ago, if anything? Was there some sort of relationship or influence that led the black McCains to be such civil rights activists, strong people, doing amazing things for the black culture as Doug has mentioned?
L. MCCAIN: Maybe that sense of determination to not only develop our potentials put to somehow contribute to the stability and the growth of this country. My father was a World War II veteran, my brother served in the military, I served in the military, as did my sister. And as was mentioned earlier, and we are so indebted to Douglas Blackmon for having conducted the research to complete the history and bring this to a revelation, it was so important for us to just do what we're capable of doing to make a difference.
The civil rights era, as Doug mentioned, I was involved in marches and so forth and did, in fact, graduate from Jazey George (ph) high school, one of the first African-Americans to have graduated back in 1969.
PHILLIPS: Well, you definitely have an amazing family, Lillie. That's for sure.
Doug, is there a biological connection, and have DNA tests ever been done between the families?
BLACKMON: I don't know of any DNA tests. I'm very confident there haven't been any, at least not as relate to --
PHILLIPS: And Lillie says no, too.
BLACKMON: -- Lillie McCain's family. Right.
PHILLIPS: OK.
BLACKMON: It's certainly the case that it's the oral history of the African-American McCains, that they are related going back to slavery times. The white McCains that I talked to generally said if that's the case, they never knew that. And also say does it really matter? That's the question that many readers of the story, many people listening right now probably are saying to themselves -- does that matter? And there are a lot of different answers to that question.
L. MCCAIN: Yes --
PHILLIPS: Lillie, go ahead.
L. MCCAIN: Given the way that the slave masters interacted with the slaves, it would be uncommon that we are not biologically related. However, we are neither discounted nor -- nor are we ashamed as to whether that connection is real or not.
The important thing, as was mentioned earlier, is that we have come so far in such a short period of time. When I consider that I am the fifth generation from slavery, that in fact, my grandfather's grandfather was a slave, that is just tremendous that we in this country have come so far. So I'm just elated that we are able to celebrate together, the McCains in Greenwood have been willing to come forward with us, to reune with us and to just celebrate life and we're just delighted.
PHILLIPS: Do you have a message to John McCain, Lillie?
L. MCCAIN: It would be, I think, a credit to him if he were willing to acknowledge the reality of the relationship that we hold, realize that it's really not something that we're able to discount because he's failing to acknowledge it. Reality is reality, that's history. We've come to a point where people are able to be judged by the content of their character, as Dr. King said so long ago, and I'm just so pleased to see us do that. And to have him come onboard and operate in that way would be just tremendous. I would have greater respect for him.
PHILLIPS: You and your family and what you've done, it's a tremendous honor to be associated. I think you give that name so much honor.
L. MCCAIN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Doug, you could have a pretty fascinating follow-up story.
BLACKMON: Well, we'll see.
PHILLIPS: And we will continue.
Douglas Blackmon, Lillie McCain --
L. MCCAIN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks so much for your time.
L. MCCAIN: You're so welcome.
PHILLIPS: 2:37 now. Here are some other stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The Fed chairman says that Congress should consider another stimulus plan, and that apparently stimulated Wall Street. Take a look now, the Dow Industrials up 201 points. It's been well into positive territory today by the way.
And in Zimbabwe, opposition parties who support Morgan Tsvangirai have boycotted a summit on the country's political crisis. Opposition leaders say that the meeting in Swaziland was too limited to -- quote -- "knock sense into Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe."
And Election Day here, sort of, for some voters. Florida and Arkansas are the latest two states to open polls. Nationwide, about one third of the electorate is expected to vote early, up from 22 percent in 2004. Straight ahead, an innocent young kidnapping victim found safe and sound. Now the legal wrangling begins, and his grandfather heads to court.
And she was outraged when she was children literally living in trash, now she has changed their lives. You're going to meet our CNN hero of the week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Well, maybe not this time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures now from our affiliate, WABC, out of New York. This is actually Newark, New Jersey. Live pictures as emergency workers are working on some students with some injuries from a school bus that has overturned. It happened at Interstate 78, the ramp there in Newark. It was the eastbound lanes of the Exit 57 ramp to Route 21 -- for those of you that know the area may know what school bus this is, may be concerned possibly about students on board.
We're told at least 25 of them were reported on the bus. No serious injuries immediately reported. But we can see from moments ago the number of paramedics that have come to the scene and started working on those students. We also are not sure to what school district this bus belonged. We're trying to work that information as well. Live pictures from our affiliate, WABC. We will be working this. More details for you, let you know as we get more information.
A grandfather is California is headed to court in just a few hours. The abduction of Clemens Tinnemeyer's grandson actually set off alarm bells last week. Authorities believe that the 6-year-old boy was snatched from his Nevada home because his grandfather here owed Mexican drug traffickers millions of dollars. Cole Puffinburger was found in Las Vegas Saturday night, four days after he was kidnapped. His father is pretty relieved and grateful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT PUFFINBURGER, COLE PUFFINBURGER'S FATHER: It's undescribable. I just -- I thank this whole community. I can't thank you enough. This police department is -- like he said earlier, they have worked non-stop. And -- I can't give enough gratitude to this entire city, actually, this entire country. It's been everywhere. You know? And you didn't stop.
Just thank you so much for helping me find my son. We had stopped passing out flyers for tonight because we wanted to catch some news and stuff like that. And we're just sitting down and just got the call -- they said we got him. And I said, you got who? Your son.
I was like -- all right. Then I just booked it.
I'm just glad he's safe and he's back home and in the right hands. And I can't wait to see him. Cole's home. Cole's back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, authorities are now looking for this man, his name is Jesus Gastelum. He is wanted in the connection with that kidnapping. The Mexican national is believed to be in Las Vegas or Southern California.
Well, a fire truck speeding to an emergency crashes into one of its own. The accident happened more than a week ago in Missouri as two fire engines here were heading to a blaze in north St. Louis. City officials are examining the video now, captured by a red light surveillance camera. They hoped that the public wouldn't see it until their investigation was complete, but it was posted on YouTube. Despite massive damage to one truck, the eight firefighters involved suffered only minor injuries.
Well, Burke Jensen (ph) answered a call to duty without sprucing up his yard. That apparently outraged the head of his homeowners association. Now, the Army reservist's neighbors in Washington State are answering their own call.
KREM's Will Pitts explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't get the sod here fast enough for us to lay.
WILL PITTS, KREM REPORTER: Thousands of square feet of sod, new plants, new landscaping, all to save a reserved soldier from his homeowners' association.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that'll work.
PITTS: When he bought the house, Jensen was required to landscape it. He says his landscaper skipped town right before he was called to active duty. The developer and homeowners' association president, Chick Edwards, told the local paper he would sue. Here is what he said: "I really don't give an expletive where he is or what his problem is." When Edwards was told you can't sue an active military member he said, "this clown gets to do what he wants and I'm mad as hell."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. You know, there's something wrong with this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he could have just said it nicer, you know. But he was so, so mean about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't believe it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in shock that anybody would do that when our -- you know, here he is over there fighting for us. And then he comes out with something like that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was encouraged to come here and at least redeem himself and offer a little bit of support. But we haven't seen him.
PITTS: We went to Edwards' house and left messages. We never saw him either.
But for all the outrage, Edwards' comments brought all these people together. They got everything donated in a few days for a soldier who can't even see it for a year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing that he asked for was a flag pole, and I happen to have two.
PITTS: So the finishing touch went up, a flag pole within sights of Edwards' house.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you can hear more about the Jensen story tomorrow actually. The Army reservist and his wife will be our guests right here on CNN.
Well, she was inspired by a group of kids reacting to a chicken bone. Rather than allow them to dig through the trash, she changed their lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The real Governor Palin meets fake Governor Palin. Now we've finally seen both of them in the same place at the same time -- Tina Fey and Sarah Palin, or is it Sarah Palin and Tina Fey?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, they help the homeless, prison inmates and storm victims. They're CNN heroes, and you've been nominating them for months. And now a blue ribbon panel has narrowed the list of heroes for 2008 down to 10. They're amazing people. And on CNN NEWSROOM, we're going to bring you to each one of them. You're going to hear their stories and you're going to see a live interview.
And today, I want you to meet Phymean Noun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VOICE OF JAMES EARL JONES, NARRATOR: This is is CNN Heroes.
PHYMEAN NOUN, CNN HERO HONOREE (through translator): We're standing on the victim site. The scavengers are collecting cans, plastic bags and other things that can be sold to buy rice. There are a lot of children here. They work here for about 10 to 12 hours a day, and they make about $1.30. Sometimes they don't make any money at all.
One day at lunch, I was eating chicken and when I threw it away, 10 children ran straight to the trash to collect the bones. I wanted to do something to help them.
My name is Phymean Noun. I recruit children from this dump to attend school at my organization. I want them to have an opportunity to learn.
Good morning. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Fine, thank you.
NOUN (through translator): Some kids in my school collect trash until late at night, and they fall asleep in the classroom. If they don't have an education, some kids will collect trash until the day they die.
These children are our next generation, and our country depends on them.
JONES: Vote now at CNN.com/heroes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now earlier I had a chance to speak with Phymean Noun about how these kids love and embrace her. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Phymean, you look at the pictures of those kids at the trash dump and then you see them in the school that you built. What a contrast. They must love you. Do they come up to you and want to be with you and talk to you?
NOUN: Yes, I went (INAUDIBLE) because the first time when I stopped at the school, I went up there to talk with the people, talk with the children, all the children, they worked like 12 hours, 10 hours. They earn less than a dollar. I explained to them how important -- and about my life, too, how I fight (INAUDIBLE) to finish my education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And if you'd like to help the champion of children, you can find out more at her Web site, peopleimprovement.org.
And don't forget to vote for your favorite hero at CNN.com/heroes. There are some amazing choices. And here on CNN NEWSROOM, we will continue to profile each one of them until the big night. Anderson Cooper will announce the winner at an all-start tribute right here on CNN, live Thanksgiving night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well if you can't laugh at yourself, don't do a guest spot on "Saturday Night Live," that's for sure. If you're running for president or vice president, you may not even want to watch "Saturday Night Live." But millions of viewers are, especially last Saturday when Sarah Palin came face-to-face, well, with that face like hers. Alina Cho was there
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra, you know they're calling it the Fey effect. There's no denying that Tina Fey's spot on portrayal of Sarah Palin is funny and wildly popular, but is it good for Palin? The two look so much alike that many confuse them. And when you're trying to win an election, is that really what you want? Some believe the fake Sarah Palin could be hurting the real one.
(voice-over): The fake Sarah Palin.
TINA FEY, ACTRESS, PLAYING SARAH PALIN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": First off, I just want to say how excited I am to be in front of both the liberal elite media as well as the liberal regular media.
CHO: Tina Fey is back, but this time the real Sarah Palin is looking on. Even Alec Baldwin --
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Hey, Lorne. Hey, Tina.
CHO: -- is confused.
BALDWIN: This is the most important election in our nation's history and you want her, our Tina, to go out there and stand there with that horrible woman? What do you have to say for yourself?
LORNE MICHAELS, CREATOR AND PRODUCER OF "SNL" Alec, this is Governor Palin.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, there.
BALDWIN: You are way hotter in person.
CHO: Then the moment of truth.
FEY: The real one? Bye.
PALIN: Live from New York, it's Saturday night!
CHO: "Saturday Night Live" saw its best ratings in 14 years thanks to Palin's highly anticipated guest appearance.
AMY POEHLER, ACTRESS, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": My name is Sarah Palin you all know me, vice prezy (ph) nominee of the GOP --
CHO: Good for "SNL," but is it good for the governor?
(on camera): To a certain degree, you do influence the way people feel about candidates.
SETH MEYERS, "SNL" HEAD WRITER: I think when people actually get into a voting booth, there are a hundred things on their list before what they saw on "Saturday Night Live."
CHO (voice-over): Not so fast.
CHEVY CHASE, ACTOR: My fellow Americans --
CHO: In 1976, Chevy Chase famously played Gerald Ford, a likable guy, but a bumbling buffoon.
PROF. JERALD PODAIR, LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY: I think that Chevy Chase cost Gerald Ford the presidency.
CHO: And Chase and Ford looked nothing alike. Some believe the Fey effect, as it's called, is real.
PODAIR: She could be worth a million votes, or lose a million votes, for a political candidate like Sarah Palin.
CHO: A recent independent study finds Palin's favorability rating drops when viewers watch Fey's parody of her.
MATT COOPER, "PORTFOLIO" MAGAZINE: This imitation can't help. It does portray her as a lightweight at a time when the country doesn't need lightweights.
CHO: Fey's take, she tells "TV Guide" if McCain and Palin are elected -- quote -- "I'm leaving Earth!"
FEY: You have to be able to goof on the female politicians just as much. Sarah Palin is a tough lady. She kills things -- big -- she kills animals.
CHO: As one pundit says, politics makes for great comedy and great tragedy, too.
PALIN: I'm Sarah Palin. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
CHO (on camera): What you didn't see on camera is that after the show, Tina Fey and Sarah Palin actually hugged each other. And Palin, always the politician, shook hands with members of the audience on her way out. Now many pundits believe that Palin's appearance on "SNL" will help her. The big question, Kyra, is will it help her get votes -- Kyra?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Alina, thanks.
Rick Sanchez, you laugh at yourself, right?
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I always wonder -- I mean, is negative as good as positive? I know it works in showbiz, but does it work in politics as well?
PHILLIPS: Well, I could mimic you.
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's because you're so fond of me.
PHILLIPS: (SPEAKING SPANISH).
SANCHEZ: I love when you do that.
PHILLIPS: Take it away.
SANCHEZ: We will.
