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American Morning
Colin Powell Endorses Obama; McCain Attacks Obama's Economic Plan, Calls It Socialism; Stocks Headed Up; Same-Sex Marriage Battle Rages in California; The Impact of Colin Powell's Endorsement
Aired October 20, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Four star endorsement.
GEN. COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of ideas to the table.
ROBERTS: This morning, General Colin Powell tells us why he went against the party.
POWELL: We have got to stop this kind of nonsense.
ROBERTS: And the campaign being waged for --
ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW": Hi, I'm Ellen DeGeneres.
ROBERTS: And against.
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Vote yes on Proposition 8.
ROBERTS: Same-sex marriage. The fight for equal rights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With this ring I thee wed.
ROBERTS: The battle over personal beliefs on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Good morning, thanks very much for joining us. It's Monday. It's the 20th of October, 15 days left until Election Day. Getting close.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Unless you're in Florida what it is today, and you're voting today, right? Early, early voting taking place.
ROBERTS: A lot of people can vote early.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: But we won't know the results for another 16 days, I guess. So -- CHETRY: Yes. The "Most Politics in the Morning" continues and as we said, early voting starts today across Florida, one of six remaining toss-up states. There are 27 electoral votes up for grabs. Florida is the largest of the battleground states. Voters have until November 1st to cast an early ballot.
Barack Obama is holding a rally in Tampa and Orlando today, and John McCain also heads to the state later this week.
Barack Obama also scoring a huge endorsement from a major Republican, former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The retired general says that he broke party ranks because Obama is a "transformational figure" and has acted the most presidential in the final weeks of the campaign. Powell also went on to say that John McCain appeared unsteady in dealing with the recent financial crisis.
One of the president's top money men, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, heads to Capitol Hill. He'll be testifying before the House Budget Committee on the state of the economy as well as the health of the credit and stock markets.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama kicking off a two-day swing through Florida this morning. And with just 15 days left until the election, a shining endorsement and record cash count for the Obama campaign.
Last month, it raised an astounding $150 million. And yesterday, Senator Obama won the endorsement of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was endorsement that also included a blistering critique of the McCain campaign.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux was following the Obama campaign in Tampa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Words John McCain did not need to hear.
GEN. COLIN POWELL, FORMER 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.
MALVEAUX: 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 fresh set of eyes, 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, Secretaries 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 GERGEN, 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 they're afraid to give voice to.
MALVEAUX: Obama welcomed the news.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A great soldier, a great statesman, a great American has endorsed our campaign for change. I have been honored to have the benefit of his wisdom and his counsel from time to time over the last few years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: John, this endorsement really comes as a result of two years of culminating a relationship between these two men. Initially, Powell and Obama really didn't know each other very well. But Powell said that as he got to know him he saw this candidate grow as really a transformational figure and that is what enabled him to give that critical endorsement. This also comes, John, at a time when they announced within hours they had broken a record of all their campaign financing, their fund-raising. Last month, they raised $150 million, and obviously, John, they're going to be spending a lot of that money in places here like Florida and other key states to try to put this over the top -- John.
ROBERTS: An extraordinary cash haul there on the part of Senator Obama. What about Colin Powell, though? What about the general?
He said yesterday that he wasn't seeking out a position in the administration should Senator Obama win the election on November 4th, but that he wouldn't certainly rule it out. What's the word from the Obama campaign? Would they look to bring him on the team if they won?
MALVEAUX: Well, they're certainly not talking about any kind of role with Colin Powell but certainly in an informal sense. These two men have been talking and Obama has sought his counsel on various issues from time to time, so it's not surprising that obviously they would continue that relationship, that he'd continue to give him that kind of advice, the kind of counsel.
And we already heard from Obama yesterday defending himself saying his association with Colin Powell and Warren Buffett certainly means that he's not a socialist. That is something that John McCain has accused him of. So obviously, he's already looking to his relationship and his association with Powell to give him some more credibility and also to be a part of the administration but not necessarily in a formal way.
ROBERTS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning in the battleground city of Tampa. Suzanne, thanks very much. We'll check back with you a little bit later on.
CHETRY: We also have a brand new CNN poll of polls to start the week. Forty-nine percent of voters nationwide say that Barack Obama is their choice for president compared to 43 percent for John McCain. Eight percent still say they are unsure.
And John McCain is opening up a new line of attack against his rival, comparing Barack Obama's economic policies to socialist programs and that comparison is making its way on the campaign trail. One McCain supporter yelled at Obama this weekend in North Carolina.
Jim Acosta is live in Washington this morning. He's been tracking the campaign. How did that exchange go over? You could hear someone yelling in the background "socialist" when he was shaking hands at that restaurant.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. That was at the Cape Fear BBQ and Chicken restaurant in North Carolina, Kiran.
You know, Sarah Palin put it this way over the weekend. "Now is no time to experiment with socialism." So first, it was palling around with terrorist, now according to the McCain campaign, Barack Obama is flirting with socialism.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): From the sound of it, John McCain is running against a Euro-style socialist.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He believes in redistributing the wealth. Senator Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than he is in growing the pie.
ACOSTA: Ever since Barack Obama defended his tax plan to plumber Joe Wurzelbacher --
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for it. But listen --
ACOSTA: And Joe the plumber's comeback --
JOE WURZELBACHER, JOE THE PLUMBER: That's a very socialist view.
ACOSTA: McCain has been seeing red, accusing the Democratic nominee of pursuing socialist economic policies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 'FOX NEWS SUNDAY")
MCCAIN: He said it himself, we need to spread the wealth around. Now --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that socialism?
MCCAIN: That's one of the tenets of socialism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: It's red meat that may be connecting with some red state voters. Florida senator and McCain supporter Mel Martinez likened Obama's economic plan to that of Castro's Cuba.
SEN. MEL MARTINEZ (R), FLORIDA: Where I come from, where I was born, they tried that wealth redistribution business, it didn't work so good down there, let me tell you. We don't want it here in America. That's called socialism. That's called communism. That's not what Americanism is about.
ACOSTA: It's a label Obama says won't stick.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lately, he and Governor Palin actually accused me of socialism. It's kind of hard to figure how Warren Buffett endorsed me. Colin Powell endorses me. And John McCain thinks I'm practicing socialism.
ACOSTA: But political analyst Larry Sabato says there's just one big $700 billion problem for McCain.
DR. LARRY SABATO, UNIV. OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLICIES: The fly in the ointment for this socialism argument is the recent Wall Street bailout. That's the most egregious example of socialism probably in all of American history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: There is some substance to McCain's argument. McCain and his surrogates are warning voters that Obama's plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans is just that, a plan. They say with the Democratic Congress, there would be no stopping Obama from raising taxes on everybody else -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Jim Acosta live for us this morning in Washington. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour now. The battle over equal rights in California intensified. Both sides pumping millions of dollars into the fight over same-sex marriage. And what happens in California could be felt where you live.
CHETRY: Plus seeing double, Tina Fey and Sarah Palin sharing the "Saturday Night Live" stage this weekend. Are the comedy show skits having an impact on the election? It's eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Christine Romans is with us this morning "Minding Your Business" today. How are you doing?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm doing well and so are the markets overseas. The Asian markets are doing well.
CHETRY: I love to hear that.
ROMANS: That's right. And there's actually some good news to start this week. You know, the Dow had a really wild week. I mean, last week we sat here and talked about the ups and downs of the Dow. You're forgiven for being confused and concerned about what's been happening in stocks here, but the Dow did close higher on the week. So that's some good news.
And also, one of the things we've been watching is, you know, the unintended consequences I guess of all of this weakness in the economy or concerns about weakness in the economy, and that is lower oil prices.
Take a look at what oil has done since July. Look at that.
In July, Kiran, $145 a barrel for oil, now down to $71 a barrel. You're going to see lower gas prices probably for the weeks to come. We're already seeing it, although some would complain that it's not falling -- gasoline prices -- as quickly as oil.
It always works that way. Food prices for some reason don't ever fall as quickly as they rise, too. But this is where we are, $2.92 a gallon on average.
Look at what that is from last month. It's still a little bit higher than a year ago, but we have seen a real cooling in gas prices. So we could take a little bit of solace, I think in all of these concerns about weakness in the economy and then at least at the pump for people who are having to fill up to go home, to take their kids to school, to drive to work, that it is going to be a little bit cheaper here to fill up the gas tank.
CHETRY: And I know you don't have all the answers, not to put you on the spot. But theoretically speaking, are we going to see things at least on the fuel surcharges last year, we saw airline prices go up...
ROMANS: That's the other thing.
CHETRY: ... are we going to start to see that drop as well?
ROMANS: You never really see the extra charges and fees go away as quickly as they tack them on. And that, I don't know, somebody has probably written, you know, their dissertation on that somewhere. For why, but never really happens that way. We'll watch and see if maybe some of the airlines -- they've got all kinds of other problems. I don't think they can give up their fuel surcharges just about right now.
ROBERTS: Those prices go up on the end of a rocket booster and they come down on a parachute, don't they?
ROMANS: That's right. Food and gas are the two things that don't come down quite as quickly as they go up.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks for that.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
ROBERTS: Is it Tina Fey or is it Sarah Palin? Could Fey's dead on impression of Governor Palin be impacting voters? A look behind the scenes of this weekend's "Saturday Night Live."
Plus, Rob Marciano is watching some cold weather across the south this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John. Hope you had a great weekend. A little frost on the pumpkin on this Monday morning. We got a reinforcing shot of cold air. And some folks in the northeast will see their first flakes of the season.
The "Most News in the Morning" will be right back.
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ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes after the hour. A live look at Charlotte, North Carolina, where it's clear but chilly. Thirty-seven degrees right now. Looking a little bit that configuration like the Cinderella's castle of the banking world. Going to be sunny and 68 degrees a little bit later on today, but a beautiful picture perfect, almost Disney-like shot of Charlotte, North Carolina this morning.
Let's check out on what's going on across the south and the rest of the country as well. Rob Marciano is here.
Look at those temperatures behind you, Rob. My goodness.
MARCIANO: A little chilly. You know those lights in those buildings just seem to pop a little bit more when you've got that cold crisp air coming at you.
All right. Temps this morning definitely on the chilly side, a little frost and freeze advisories really from the northeast all the way down to the spine of the Appalachians. So we've got some chilly air. Temperatures in some places below freezing, so bundle up the kids out there.
Good news about this time of year is once the sun comes up, it's still pretty strong so we tend to recover fairly rapidly. So the afternoon should be quite nice. But we've got a reinforcing shot of cold air, and actually a pretty strong storm system moving across the Pacific Northwest that will impact those folks.
Check out some of these high temperatures expected today. In D.C., it will be 67, 61 degrees in New York, 56 degrees in Boston. Again, not too shabby but again the reinforcing shot of chillier air will be rolling down the pipe and we could very well see cold enough air to where at least the northern part of New England will see some snowflakes.
As a matter of fact, we've got a little e-mail from my friends in Mount Hood. They're pumping out the snow machines up there. So, John, it's always an odd thing to see when the leaves have changed completely, New England get their snow on the ski mountain because they've been making snow and that's how cold it's going to be. It will be cold enough for that, maybe even a few natural snowflakes flying tomorrow morning especially.
ROBERTS: Nice little contrast there.
MARCIANO: Yes.
ROBERTS: The white snow, the colors of the leaves.
Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: Yes.
ROBERTS: We'll check back with you a little bit later.
CHETRY: Issue number one.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator McCain and I have real differences on this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: McCain versus Obama. Christine Romans looks at what the candidates' health care plan will mean for your budget.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll bring down the skyrocketing cost of health care with competition and choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Ellen DeGeneres spending $100,000 of her own money to keep same-sex marriage legal in California. And what voters decide in November could set a precedent for the rest of the country. Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands. TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, because California is not a swing state, we're not getting bombarded by the presidential television ads. Here, it is all about Proposition 8.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With this ring I thee wed.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Gay marriage is legal in California because the state Supreme Court ruled it so last May. Opponents vowed to fight back and now the battle has come down to Proposition 8, which if passed will outlaw same-sex marriage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW": Hi, I'm Ellen DeGeneres. I got do something this year that I thought I'd never be able to do. I got married.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres not only appears in an ad against Proposition 8, she's putting up thousands of dollars of her own money to broadcast it on television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEGENERES: Please, please vote no on Prop 8.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: That's just one of the ads many Californians will likely have memorized by Election Day. There's also the bride who gets tripped walking down the aisle. There's an ad about a little girl learning about gay marriage at school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Teaching children about gay marriage will happen here unless we pass Proposition 8.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: And San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who supports gay marriage is featured in an ad opposing it.
MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO: It's going to happen whether you like it or not.
ROWLANDS: The upcoming vote has the attention of people from across the country. Millions of dollars have been pumped into the state for both sides in an attempt to sway the vote. USC law professor Kareen Crayton says what happens here could have significant ramifications on the issue in other states.
KAREEN CRAYTON, USC LAW SCHOOL: So you'll see in future debates, I think whether they're in the legislature or in future ballot measures in other states, a turn to California as a basis for saying well, they did it this way, we should as well.
ROWLANDS: There's also a campaign being waged on the Internet on sites like YouTube.
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NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Vote yes on Proposition 8.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Messages range from a well-produced statement by Newt Gingrich for Proposition 8 to people just spouting off on both sides.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: Over the past year, the polls have fluctuated with both sides leading at times. It is expected to be a very close vote on Election Day -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Ted Rowlands reporting for us this morning. Ted, thanks so much for that.
Colin Powell crosses party lines, endorsing Barack Obama for president. And Powell says part of the reason was John McCain's choice of a running mate.
Twenty-two and a half minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." Barack Obama picking up the endorsement of long-time Republican and retired four-star general, Colin Powell. Pollsters say that endorsements rarely make a difference, but is Colin Powell's an exception?
Joining me now from Washington, Tara Wall. She is a CNN political contributor and deputy editorial page editor for the "Washington Times." And from Denver this morning, David Sirota, nationally syndicated columnist and author of the book "The Uprising".
Good morning to both of you. David, you look particularly awake given the fact that it's 4:00 a.m. there in Denver.
But, David, let me ask you, first of all, the significance of the Powell endorsement. Here's a guy who is good friends with John McCain, contributed to his campaign, gave him money, now going for Senator Obama?
DAVID SIROTA, FMR. CAPITOL HILL AIDE & DEM. STRATEGIST: This is a rejection, I think, of John McCain more than it is a reward for Obama. Remember, Colin Powell gave one of the most irresponsible speeches in American diplomatic history in front of the United Nations before the war. So I don't necessarily know how much it helps Obama who ran against this war and who many people are supporting because of his opposition to this war, but I certainly do think that the repudiation of John McCain by such a high profile Republican certainly hurts John McCain.
ROBERTS: What about those two points, Tara Wall, particularly this idea of the repudiation of the negative attacks by the McCain campaign? He singled out Sarah Palin saying that Barack Obama was palling around with terrorist, as well as Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who suggested that the media should do an investigation of all 535 members of Congress to see which ones are anti-American?
TARA WALL, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, I do think -- I think it is significant, not surprising though given that Colin Powell is more of a moderate Republican and you've had these warring factions within the Republican Party between the moderates and the conservatives and it's gone back and forth. And quite frankly, McCain was criticized early on by many of the conservatives, as you know, because he has more moderate positions. And so, he took the calculated risk of putting Palin on the ticket to pacify the conservatives, and it did re-energize the base.
So I think for that reason, obviously, you're going to have some of those moderates within the party feel a little, you know, disenfranchised. That was the case, I believe, with Colin Powell. So it is significant. I think it does send a message somewhat to Republicans but not surprising.
ROBERTS: Let me come back to the point you were making just a second ago, David. Let me preface it by saying here's what Alex Castellanos, Republican strategist, CNN contributor said about this whole thing. He said, "Powell is a glass of warm milk and a cookie for those who can't sleep worrying about the lack of experience of a President Obama."
So, people are suggesting that maybe he bucks them up a little bit on this foreign policy side, bucks him up a little bit on the military side. But again to the point that you made that Colin Powell was the one who sealed the deal in the case for war with Iraq. I was there at the U.N. Security Council watching him make that presentation. Powell still will not say that the war was a mistake, says it was based on bad intelligence.
Do Democrats just forget about that and say oh, well, Colin Powell did so many other great things that he's a perfect fit for Senator Obama?
SIROTA: Well, you hope that Democrats don't forget about that. I mean, I don't think that Obama should have rejected, for instance, the endorsement. And I think, you know, anybody who endorses the campaign within reason is a good thing, especially somebody who does have a long governmental career like Powell.
But I think you're right. I think the question that we should be asking moving forward if there is an Obama administration is who is Obama listening to? You've got Colin Powell, I think, and a lot of other people are going to start flocking to his campaign as they think that he is going to become the president. And so the worry is, if there is a worry, is that we want to make sure that Obama lives up to his campaign promises and obviously one of his main promises is to get us out of this war, a position that Colin Powell certainly does not, I don't think support.
ROBERTS: Tara?
WALL: Yes. That is quite the dichotomy, and that's why I think I would question the significance of what kind of role Colin Powell play. They actually do have some significant differences here.
And one of the things you have to remember, Colin Powell did say was that he and McCain, again, are good, good friends. They both would make good presidents, he believes. It was just the positioning of where the party is. I think on the foreign policy points that were made, there are strong disagreements there. Colin Powell said he didn't agree with the time line for example.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told our paper just last week the same thing. She didn't agree with the time line. So I think that there are going to be some lingering questions about a role that he would play and whether Barack Obama would heed the advice of more temperate positions in that regard such as Colin Powell.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll find out because he'll probably continue to advise him over the next 15 days. We'll see if it has any effect on November 4th.
Tara Wall, as always, thanks. David Sirota from Denver this morning, good to see you, buddy.
SIROTA: Thanks for having me, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks for coming in. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: And we're coming up on 30 minutes after the hour right now. Wall Street gearing up for an early rally this morning.
Dow futures up almost 200 points. Overseas markets in Asia rebounding after a wild week as well. Hong Kong closed up more than five percent. Japan more than 3 1/2 percent. And in Europe, most are in positive territory.
Experts warn struggling retail stores may be adding insult to injury by cutting sales help this holiday season. They say by scaling back holiday staffing, shoppers may have little patience for long lines and limited sales help. According to the government, retailers have cut more than 251,000 jobs already this year.
And the Tampa Blue Rays going from worse to first in the American League. They beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 last night, and now head to the World Series for the first time in their 11-year existence. They'll play their first game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. And lots of buzz this morning about Sunday's huge political headline -- Colin Powell crossing party lines to endorse Barack Obama. Powell saying that he was concerned by McCain's negative attacks on Obama and his choice of a running mate. Dana Bash has more.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, John McCain is trying to downplay the news that his long-time friend, Colin Powell, endorsed his rival, saying the two are just going to have to agree to disagree. The problem for McCain, though, may be in specifics -- what Powell disagrees with.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): It's not just that Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. It's his list of reasons why that could be most damaging. His most searing criticism aimed directly at McCain's judgment in picking Sarah Palin for his running mate.
GEN. COLIN POWELL, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president.
BASH: And point by point, Powell is trying to shred McCain's central arguments against his rival like that Obama is not experienced.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The next president won't have time to get used to the office. He'll have to act immediately.
POWELL: He has both style and substance. He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.
BASH: Powell also criticized McCain's charge that Obama's relationship with William Ayers should give voters pause.
MCCAIN: Senator Obama said that Mr. Ayers was a guy in the neighborhood when in reality Senator Obama's political career was launched in Mr. Ayers' living room.
POWELL: To focus on people like Mr. Ayers, these trivial issues, for the purpose of suggesting that somehow Mr. Obama would have some kind of terrorist inclinations, I thought that was over the top.
BASH: And even disapproves of McCain's closing argument against Obama on taxes.
MCCAIN: We finally learn what Senator Obama's economic goal is as he told Joe, he wants to, quote, "spread the wealth around." Spread the wealth around.
POWELL: The message this week is we're going to call him a socialist. Mr. Obama is now a socialist because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have. Taxes are always a redistribution of money. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: General Powell is remarkably popular and gives Obama a five-star Republican stamp of approval. The question is whether or not Powell's frontline role in selling the Iraq war, which Obama calls a reckless debacle, is enough to varnish his standing with those independent voters who will probably decide this election -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Dana Bash reporting for us this morning.
Dana, thank you.
And vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says that she would have no problem using the "palling along with terrorists" line again when describing Barack Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers. She defended her remarks to David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I would say it again. I would say it again. Because, again, according to the information that we have, the association that he's had with Bill Ayers wasn't just one or two times sitting on a board together. No, there's been quite a few associations and events and meetings and discussions and e-mails and calls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Palin went on to say that she never heard comments like "kill him" at her campaign rallies. And if she did, she would have said that they were unacceptable.
With huge turnout expected on Election Day, we're looking out for your vote. All this week, we're investigating potential problems in a series that we're calling "Count the Vote."
Still ahead -- no home, no vote? What foreclosure lists are doing at polling places.
CHETRY: All right. Well, who has the better health care plan -- Barack Obama or John McCain? Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business."
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Where they agree is that there is something wrong with American health care. The 46 million uninsured is just unacceptable. Where they differ is how to fix it. And we'll tell you what it could mean for you and your paycheck.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: You know, you can always count on the floor crew to be hanging on your every word. On Monday morning, that's sometimes a problem. I know that they're the Tampa Bay Rays, I said Blue Rays accidentally. But you'll forgive me, right, Christine?
ROMANS: I forgive you.
CHETRY: Well, health care is going to be top priority topic in the general election. Both candidates offering radically different approaches. So what will their health plans cost you? Well, Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" and she has a breakdown for us.
Good morning.
ROMANS: Let's first start about what the problem is here. They both agree that there's a big problem; that Americans are spending too much on drugs and doctors; that health care costs are spiraling out of control; that at 16 percent of our economy, the health care system just simply costs too much.
They both agree that we should have electronic medical records that will help cut down errors. They both agree that Medicare -- the government shouldn't be paying for medical mistakes and for infections that are the result of just sloppy doctoring. They all agree that we need to cut down on waste in Medicaid, Medicare and government programs.
But beyond that, there are some big differences. Obama wants to get as many people possible insured and their health insurance. And if your company doesn't cover you, he wants other companies to have to pay for part of the fee to have to pay to get people insured. And he wants insurance for all children. That is mandatory. No question about that. So, as broad health insurance as possible. And that's going to be expensive.
McCain proposes a refundable tax credit for people, $2,500 per person or $5,000 per family. He wants competition. He wants people to be able to shop around for their own health insurance and he wants people to be able to shop across state lines. So, kind of de-linking your health insurance with your job. He wants health insurance to be portable. So, as you switch your job, you still have the same policy. It follows you.
So, let's talk about what this is going to mean in the very short term. In the very short term, if you already receive health care from your employer. Say it's $50,000. Say this is a family.
Under McCain, your benefits of $12,680 will be taxed. So your taxable income is now $62,680. Under Obama, it stays at $50,000. And then McCain gives you this $2500 rebate for individuals and $5,000 rebate for families. Now, that's the short term.
The long term will cost you other tax implications. Obama's is more expensive. This is according to the Tax Policy Center, Health Affairs, Kaiser Family Foundation, a lot of different numbers to look at. McCain's, over the past 10 years, is going to cost about $1.3 trillion. Obama's $1.6 trillion.
Now here's something interesting. Health Affairs did this great analysis of both candidates' plans, had all kinds of experts looking at both plans and found flaws with both plans. Found that Obama is not going to be able to hold down the spiraling costs of health care. And that McCain might actually have more people without health insurance 10 years out than he plans.
They say it's not a knock on either candidate. They say it has nothing to do with the candidate, the flaws in their plans, but the fact that our health care system is so broken that it's really hard to find a coherent solution. You know, both of these solutions have flaws.
ROBERTS: Seems every day we're finding something is more broken than something else.
ROMANS: I know, I know. The other problem is...
ROBERTS: Just so much to fix these days.
ROMANS: And you know, this was -- health care was such an important priority before the economy blew up and it goes along with the economy. You know, people are going to be suffering on their health insurance if they're losing their jobs, right? So this is going to be an important story for next year, of course.
But it's not quite at the top of the list anymore because we have so many other things that we're doing. So, we'll see if there's an appetite to spend tens of billions of dollars. The Obama is $60 -- his campaign says it's $50 billion to $65 billion a year. And let's say it's going to be $65 billion a year to get all these people insured that he wants to get insured. That's a lot of money. But $65 billion -- you know, six months ago, $65 billion seemed like a lot more money than it does right now, right? When we're talking about --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Because of all the bailouts as well.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: (INAUDIBLE), 85 for AIG and this and that. So, we'll see.
CHETRY: Christine, thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Well, tomorrow we're going to take a look at whether you can expect to pay more or less in taxes under each of the candidates' tax plans.
ROBERTS: The Fey effect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do influence the way people feel about candidates. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Sarah Palin might be playing along but is she hurting her own cause?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She could be worth 1 million votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Alina Cho goes behind the scenes at "Saturday Night Live." You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." Barack Obama taking some tough shots at John McCain in his support of Medicare. Our Jason Carroll and the "Truth Squad" this morning checking out Obama's claims.
Good morning to you.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. You know, Senator Obama is really going after Senator McCain on this issue. Senator McCain claiming that he would make drastic cuts to Medicare according to Obama, and Obama has been criticizing McCain repeatedly for voting against Medicare.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: Senator McCain has voted against protecting Medicare 40 times. 40 times, he's failed to stand up for Medicare.
CARROLL (voice-over): So is Senator Barack Obama right? His campaign provided us with a list of the 40 votes in question. But a CNN analysis shows that only a handful are a clear-cut bills on Medicare funding. One, a 2005 bill did cut spending on entitlement programs including Medicare but many votes were on what are called "Sense of the Senate Resolutions," which are not at all binding. Others were procedural votes and a handful were on massive budget bills that included some Medicare cuts. So was Obama right?
OBAMA: 40 times, he's failed to stand up for Medicare.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: It says this one is misleading. Some of the votes could be considered votes against protecting Medicare, but others are not as clear-cut. For example, there are many that would have no practical impact on Medicare at all.
ROBERTS: You've got to wait for the sound effect. People want the suspense there.
(CROSSTALK) ROBERTS: All right, Jason, thanks so much for that.
15 minutes now to the top of the hour.
CHETRY: One-on-one with Sarah Palin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: I think it's troubling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: David Brody asked the candidate about linking Barack Obama to terrorists?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK with the "palling around with terrorists" line or do you want to rein that back a little?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA FEY, ACTRESS, AS GOV. SARAH PALIN: You, guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. At a rally in North Carolina this week, you said that you like to visit the quote, "pro-America parts of the country." Are there parts of the country that you consider un- American?
FEY AS PALIN: You know, that was just my lame attempt at a joke. But, yes, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, California. But also, too, you have states like Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida, which could be real, real anti-American or real, real pro-American, it's up to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." And after weeks of wondering, Sarah Palin did make an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend with Tina Fey, but Fey's spot-on impersonation of the Palin some say maybe has hurt the candidate a little bit. Others say maybe it helped. Our Alina Cho was at SNL's live broadcast this morning and joins us with more this morning.
What a treat on that, right?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. In fact, I was sitting in those seats where they had those fake reporters, they moved us out for the top of the show and moved us back in. I've been to SNL many times over the years, this was really something else. Good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody.
They're calling it The Fey Effect. There's no denying that Tina Fey's pitch-perfect portrayal of Sarah Palin is funny and wildly popular. But is it good for her? The two look so much alike. Many confuse them. The lines are blurred. So, 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): The fake Sarah Palin.
FEY AS PALIN: 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, Lauren. Hey, Tina.
CHO: ...is confused.
BALDWIN: I mean, 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?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alec, this is Governor Palin.
PALIN: Hi, there.
BALDWIN: You are way hotter in person.
CHO: Then the moment of truth.
FEY AS PALIN: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Sarah Palin, you all know me. Vice president 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 MYERS, HEAD WRITER, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I think when people actually get into a voting booth, there are hundred things on their list before what they saw on "Saturday Live."
CHO (voice-over): Not so fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fellow Americans.
CHO: In 1976, Chevy Chase famously played Gerald Ford, a likable guy, bought bumbling buffoon.
PROF. JERALD PODAIR, LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY: I think Chevy Chase cost Gerald Ford the presidency.
CHO: And Chase and Ford looked nothing alike. Some believe The Fey Effect, at it's called, is real.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She could be worth 1 million votes or lose 1 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 things. She kills animals.
CHO: As one pundit says, politics makes for great comedy. And a great tragedy, too.
PALIN: I'm Sarah Palin, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Really was something to see. Now, what you didn't see on camera was that after the show, Tina Fey and Sarah Palin actually hugged each other. There was a kumbayah moment. Palin, always the politician, shook hands with members of the audience on her way out and when she arrived at the hotel after the show, there was a crowd waiting for her, Kiran, cheering her on.
And so, if you believe the pundits, they all believe that Palin's appearance on SNL will help her in terms of favorability. As to whether it will help her win votes, well, that's an open question.
CHETRY: We certainly know it's helped "SNL." As they said, their highest ratings in, what, 14 years.
CHO: 14 years. More than 14 million people watched and millions and millions more will watch on the Internet.
ROBERTS: Certainly helped Tina Fey, too. Hasn't it?
CHO: It does. It's made her one of the hottest stars in Hollywood. CHETRY: And Tina Fey -- every time she's in an interview, she sounds like she doesn't like Sarah Palin. I mean, she said she's leaving earth if they get elected.
CHO: She's made her politics pretty clear. Yes, she has. But she is incredible playing Sarah Palin. (INAUDIBLE), I'm confused.
CHETRY: You can't tell him apart.
CHO: You can't tell him apart.
CHETRY: You were there in person.
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: Alina, thanks. It's 52 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: The power of Powell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator Obama brings fresh set of eyes.
OBAMA: A great soldier, a great statesman, a great American, has endorsed our campaign for change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Is it a slap in the face to McCain?
Plus, lose your house, lose your vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like they're trying to kick you when you're down. It's not bad enough that you lose your home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Foreclosure lists at polling places.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do not have to own a home to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: No home, no vote?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not be intimidated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: But Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairy Man, I believe that they think that it sounds more like socialism. Friend, now is no time to experiment with socialism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, from average Joe to everyday Ed, Governor Sarah Palin found a new friend on the campaign trail this weekend in Roswell, New Mexico, as she hammered home the latest attack against Barack Obama.
Palin was referring to someone in the crowd of 10,000 supporters, who was holding up an Ed the Dairy Man sign, and Governor Palin has been leading this charge as the McCain campaign turns up the heat on Barack Obama.
CNN contributor and Christian Broadcasting Network senior correspondent David Brody sat down with Governor Palin during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania this weekend and he joins us now from Washington with more.
Great to see you this morning, David. Thanks for being here.
DAVID BRODY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, sure, Kiran.
CHETRY: What were your impressions? You spent just under half an hour with Sarah Palin.
BRODY: Yes, you know, she really kind of comes across as regular folk. You can tell. I mean, I've interviewed plenty of politicians. She doesn't really come across at all as a politician. Just very matter of fact, if you will.
She seems to be kind of taking all of this in -- this experience, and it's really interesting. And you know, we had a chance to sit down and really get in to some of those faith-related questions. When she really started to open up about God and faith, it was really interesting because it got her off any sort of political talking points.
CHETRY: It came up at the last debate between John McCain and Barack Obama that some in the crowds at some of the McCain rallies shouting things in the crowd. One of the them was "Kill Him," I guess, speaking about Barack Obama.
What did Sarah Palin tell you about whether or not some of the campaign rhetoric is to blame?
BRODY: Yes, well, I actually asked her about that. As a matter of fact I asked her directly does she feel a responsibility to speak out when she hears these angry comments directed at Barack Obama? Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Absolutely. But what we have heard through some mainstream media is that folks have hollered out some pretty atrocious and unacceptable things like "kill him" or something. We have not heard that. If I ever were to hear that, standing up their at the podium with the mike, I would call him out on that. And I would tell this people, no, that's unacceptable. Let's rise above that, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRODY: And you know that answer went on for quite a bit of time. In other words, she was pretty passionate about that. She felt like she -- there was no way that she would stand for any of those line, yet we have heard some of these lines at least in some published reports and there's been some video links elsewhere. So, there seems to be a little dispute as exactly what is being said but clearly she was concerned about it.
CHETRY: So one of the things that she said that maybe has sparked some of that discussion was a stump speech in which she said that Barack Obama was quote, "palling around with terrorists," or reference to his links to '60s radical Bill Ayers. What did she say about that? About whether she would say that again?
BRODY: Right. It's interesting. I just went straight to her and asked her simply, you know, David Pluck, the campaign manager -- Barack Obama's campaign manager basically called those comments beyond the pale so I asked her. I said, you know, "is she going to rein these type of comments in -- the palling around with terrorists line." Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: No, I would say it again. I would say it again. Because, again, according to the information that we have, the association that he's had with Bill Ayers, wasn't just one or two times sitting on a board together.
BRODY: No.
PALIN: No, there's been quite a few associations and events and meetings and discussions and e-mails and calls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRODY: And you get the sense that Sarah Palin is indeed going to continue to go on the attack, but at the same time, there seems to be obviously a lot of positive message as well in these next couple of weeks. So it's going to be a combination, it seems, of both.
CHETRY: I think it's fair to say there's sort of an undesirable moment on the campaign trail when Sarah Palin in her interview with Katie Couric wouldn't name any newspapers that she reads when Katie Couric asked her that, as though it was a trick question. That some of the things that the campaign had been complaining about. What did she say about that exchange?
BRODY: Yes, it's real interesting. I wanted her to clear that up because there's been a lot of talk about that in the media. No one quite understand exactly why she didn't just answer it. You know, she pretty much for the most part paraphrasing here, but kind of blamed it a little bit on the media in the sense that, you know -- hey, look, she felt like any answer she gave, whether she said she read "The USA Today" or "The New York Times" that was going to be spun somehow and make her look a certain way. And she wanted to stay away from it. She wanted to talk about the real issue, and so she wanted to in essence punt on the question.
CHETRY: All right. David Brody, great job, getting a chance to sit down and talk to Sarah Palin. Thanks for being with us this morning.
BRODY: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, you can see more of David Brody's interview on the 700 Club, Tuesday, if you check your local listings.
