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American Morning
Colin Powell Crosses Party Lines and Endorses Barack Obama; McCain Calls Obama's Plan Socialism; Stocks Headed Up; McCain Counting on a Comeback; Barack Obama Responds to Powell's Endorsement
Aired October 20, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up now to the top of the hour, and here are this morning's top stories. Stocks heading up after the biggest roller coaster week in Dow Jones' history. Right now, Dow futures up almost 125 points. Asian markets also surging overnight with the Hang Seng rising more than five percent. In London, the FTSE is up close to two percent at present.
It is the first day of early voting in Florida and Arkansas. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both campaigning in the Sunshine State today and will meet later on for a rally in Orlando.
And do you believe in miracles? The Tampa Bay Rays are going to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. They beat the defending champion Red Sox 3-1 in game seven of the American League championship series last night. They will now host the NL champion Phillies in game one of the fall classic. That will be on Wednesday night.
And looking at the latest CNN electoral map, Barack Obama is over the magic number of 270, leading John McCain 277-174. That is only an estimate though based on polls and historic voting trends. There are still six states and 87 electoral votes in the tossup column.
And early voting under way today in the biggest battleground state, as we said, Florida. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigning there together later on today. Obama is coming off a record month for raising campaign cash and riding high after former Secretary of State Colin Powell picked him for an endorsement over Senator John McCain.
Suzanne Malveaux is covering the Obama campaign. She's live for us this morning in that battleground area of Tampa, Florida, on the western side of the I-4 corridor. I guess the campaign has got to be feeling pretty good today after what happened with General Powell yesterday, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, it really was a pretty good weekend for the Obama campaign.
If you look at the Powell endorsement, these were two men who really didn't know each other very well two years ago. They've come to get to know each other. Obama reaching out to Powell for counsel that they've gone back and forth. They've had numerous discussions and essentially Powell said he's watched Obama grow as a candidate, and he's really turned into a transformational figure. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (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 a 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 SENIOR 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: And the campaign announced two record breaking events that happened. September, $150 million raised that breaks all previous records in the campaign.
And then also, John, take a look at this photo. This is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. My producer Matt Hoy (ph) took this photo. Breaking all records, 100,000 people who showed up to that rally over the weekend. Clearly, John, what they're trying to do here in Florida and other places, is to get those voters to turn out, essentially, early voting starting today in Florida. They want as many people out here as possible, John.
ROBERTS: Unfortunately, Suzanne, we didn't see the photograph, but we'll certainly take your word for it.
MALVEAUX: Oh.
ROBERTS: Next time, we promise.
MALVEAUX: Maybe next hour.
ROBERTS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Tampa.
MALVEAUX: OK.
ROBERTS: Enjoy Interstate 4, by the way. You'll be seeing a lot of it the next 15 days.
CNN has reporters fanned out across the battleground states and will be covering the issues most important to voters all the way up until Election Day.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, as more states start leaning blue, the McCain campaign is doing all it can to paint Barack Obama as a big red "spread the wealth socialist." AMERICAN MORNING's Jim Acosta is live from Washington with more for us.
Hey there.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. You know, when Barack Obama went into a barbecue restaurant in North Carolina over the weekend, somebody shouted "socialist" in his direction. So there are some signs this is sinking in.
Sarah Palin put it this way over the weekend. "Now is no time to experiment with socialism." So first, it was palling around with terrorists. 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: McCain and his surrogates are warning voters 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.
And, Kiran, there is some substance to that argument there, but it's being delivered with the punch line, Barack Obama, if the beret fits, wear it. So we'll see if they continue this into the week here. It had a lot of traction over the weekend with some voters.
CHETRY: All right. Jim Acosta for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Some possible good news for a change for the stock market today. Dow futures show that stocks are headed up, way up after today's open after that whirlwind last week.
Ahead, Christine Romans with some more good news as well from the economic front. You'll want to stay around for that.
CHETRY: No house, no vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they're trying to kick you when you're down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: People who lost their homes to foreclosure face the threat of losing their right to vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We both went through a lot of lows and then for somebody to come and challenge you when you're going to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Carol Costello kicks off our series "Count the Vote." You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes after the hour. Christine Romans joins us now "Minding Your Business." And do we dare hope that maybe some good news in the economic front today?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We can hope at least in the markets because we had a week last week that was so wild. Remember? But the Dow did close up almost five percent in the week and the Nasdaq closed up almost five percent in a week. We'll put aside for now that they're down 33 and 35 percent for the year, and we'll just take -- we'll just take that first -- that first -- oh, sorry, I guess this is one of my --
ROBERTS: It's OK. Keep talking. I got you covered over here.
ROMANS: OK. I'll keep talking.
So we're looking at Dow futures up. We are looking at Asian markets up, which is really, really a relief for a lot of people who have been watching us come into a big decline. Let's talk about oil prices.
Oil prices have come down so sharply. They have come down from the high in July. They've come down from $145.29 a barrel rather, to $71.85, which is really remarkable. And so that's going to translate into your tank of gas.
We've got gas prices coming down sharply, too. They're below $3 on average now a gallon. Last month, they were well above $3 and they were, you know, about $2.82 a year ago. So if you're filling up to go to work, if you're filling up to go to the grocery store, you're going to start to notice this right away, and that I think is going to be really helpful for people. Because when we look in so many of these surveys, gas prices are the number one economic concern that they have.
Now, something that is kind of the flip side of that is that the "USA Today" has a fantastic analysis of what it's going to look like for thanksgiving travel for the airlines. They've had a weak economy to deal with and also those high jet fuel prices. So you're going to see fewer flights which is going to mean over thanksgiving, which is going to mean fuller planes and probably higher fares. So start planning for that now.
ROBERTS: So they cut the number of flights...
ROMANS: By about 11 percent.
ROBERTS: ... driving up demand for the existing flights, therefore being able to charge more.
ROMANS: Filling up the planes, right. Don't you love it, John?
Don't go anywhere.
ROBERTS: Don't go even go there.
CHETRY AND ROMANS: Just stay home.
CHETRY: Stay home and have your turkey by yourself.
Christine, thanks.
Well, the surge of the underdog. Can John McCain make the biggest comeback of his career?
It happened before, so will it happen this year? We're going to see what Ronald Reagan overcame in just a week.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 7:15 here in New York. Time to fast forward to see what stories will be making news later today.
Fed Chief Ben Bernanke will testify on Capitol Hill about the nation's economic crisis. President Bush takes part in an economic round table in Louisiana. All of it comes after one of the president's top economic advisers says some parts of the country are probably already in a recession.
Senator Joe Biden expected to release his medical records this afternoon. A spokesman says there won't be any surprises. The Democratic vice presidential nominee had emergency surgery in 1988 for an aneurysm in an artery in his brain.
Also a winter preview, a live look at Central Park where it's 41 degrees right now. Parts of the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic to New England are under freeze warnings and frost advisories this morning.
Our Rob Marciano tracking all the weather for us from Atlanta. I got to say I flipped on that switch today, officially the first day of using the heater.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, God. How did Chris make out with that? Did he start -- did he turn it right back up?
CHETRY: He was asleep. So, who knows? We'll probably wake up sweating.
MARCIANO: I didn't see much color in there -- the Central Park pick.
CHETRY: No. But right outside of New York City, the leaves are turning all different colors. I don't why it's still green. It's still bright green in Central Park.
MARCIANO: The old urban heat island effect. Maybe this -- tonight's cold air will get things to pop just a little bit.
Twenty-six degrees right now in Boston, 30 in Yonkers, 33 degrees in Baltimore. Frost and freeze warnings and advisories are out this morning, and we've got a reinforcing shot of cool air that will be sliding across the I-95 corridor.
Sunshine today will rebound temperatures quite quickly, but I think with a little bit of moisture moving across the Great Lakes, and with temperatures not so much today but tonight dropping down to around freezing, we'll see maybe some snowflakes flying across parts of upstate New York, in the Adirondacks, maybe the green and white mountains of northern New England.
Yes, 38 degrees in Boston for an overnight low tonight. Certainly get away from the city. Temperatures will be near freezing. So if it's not snowing in some of the mountains where they have ski resorts, they certainly will be making snow and that is the time of year to do that.
So here we go. Reinforcing shot of cold air will be driving down here. So temperatures will be at or below average this week as compared to what they were last week which was pretty much above average temperatures. As far as what's going on in the tropics, we do have one area of concern south of -- well, here's some snowflakes.
What do you think of the snowflakes, Kiran? That's pretty. You know, we got the -- we got the advanced graphics out today because we're that excited about the cool air moving across the country.
CHETRY: I love it. You guys have a lot of hard work to do because, you know, they say no two snowflakes are alike. And so, you guys had to make that happen in terms of the graphics. A lot of time.
MARCIANO: We'll be working all day long to find even more individual ones.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: See you, Kiran.
ROBERTS: October surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: You really only need to change three percentage points.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Comeback kid. Frank Sesno on why Obama's lead now doesn't guarantee anything in November.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now at 20 minutes after the hour. Brand new CNN poll of polls to start the week for you.
Forty-nine percent of voters nationwide say Barack Obama is their choice for president, compared to 43 percent for John McCain. Eight percent say they're unsure. And we should point out that those are the numbers we left you with at the end of the week so nothing has changed heading into this second to last week of this election campaign.
Senator McCain says he's not worried about the polls and loves being the underdog. And with about two weeks now until the election, he has got history on his side. CNN's Frank Sesno joins us live from Washington to explain.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, you're right. History does teach us that there's movement. There is some tightening in these last two weeks, but there's no clear predictor. There's no formula for who will surge and who will not.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SESNO (voice-over): Even a couple of weeks before Election Day, polls can change and they have been wrong. Most famously Dewey didn't beat Truman, though some polls gave Dewey, 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 though for a candidate down in October to prevail in November. McCain could still win one for the Gipper.
HOLLAND: 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, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you better off than you were four years ago?
SESNO: He won by 10 points. Ironic because just four years earlier, Jimmy Carter survived the late surge. His mid-October six- 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 eight points in mid-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 six-point lead, you really only need to change three percentage points.
SESNO: Every year has its own dynamic, and there's not much time left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESNO: Not much time left and the dynamic this year, John, is marked by some very different things. There is no third party candidate this year. There is no incumbent this year. What there is, is a guy named Barack Obama, who as you had just been reporting, has raised $150 million in September. He's competing virtually everywhere, so McCain is on the defensive.
That big endorsement from Colin Powell yesterday is a big shot across the bow of John McCain. So he's got an uphill battle in the last 24 hours, even it's gotten steeper still.
ROBERTS: Yes. But you know, Frank, you could look back to the year 2000, let's say, and at the end of October, Al Gore was down by seven points to George Bush and ended up winning the popular vote though he lost the election. So, you know, these polls taken across the country show sort of like a sense of where the electorate is, but it all comes down to those battleground states and how they break.
SESNO: That's exactly right, which is another thing that's going on. Whereas Obama, he's in West Virginia, he's in Florida that's supposed to be more comfortable McCain territory. That makes it tougher still.
And you know, it's interesting. The people I've talked to inside the Obama campaign -- they're nervous because they say this could break one of two ways. It could break wide open and could be a landslide. Or we could have this October effect and we'll be biting our nails until 2:00 in the morning on election.
ROBERTS: Yes.
SESNO: The day after election.
ROBERTS: Yes. You might not know until late in the night on November 4th or early in the morning on the 5th.
SESNO: Imagine that, we might have to wait to hear what the American people have to say.
ROBERTS: I got a sense this year we're going to have to.
Frank, thanks so much for that. It's good to see you.
SESNO: A pleasure, John. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Appreciate you stopping by.
No home, no vote. What would a foreclosure list be doing at a polling place? Controversy over a move to try to keep people who have lost their homes from voting.
CHETRY: Four star endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, fresh set of ideas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Colin Powell goes against his party to back Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: We have got to stop this kind of nonsense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: An extended interview with the former secretary of state on why he's voting Democrat this time around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: That kind of negativity troubled me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Just in to CNN. Barack Obama speaking this morning about getting General Colin Powell's endorsement and whether President Bush's former secretary of state will be joining him on the campaign trail. Here's what he said moments ago on the "Today Show."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM NBC'S "TODAY SHOW")
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I won't lie to you. I would love to have him at any stop he wants to participate in.
MATT LAUER, CO-ANCHOR, "THE TODAY SHOW": Did you ask him?
OBAMA: I did. And I think that, you know, this is an example of why General Powell is admired. He said, "Look, I'm not a politician and I don't want to go out there and hit the stump, that's just not what I do. I think it's best for you and John McCain to duke it out." Obviously, if he wants to show up, he's going to have an open invitation.
Here's what I can say for certain. He will have a role as one of my advisers. He's already served in that function even before he endorsed me. Whether he wants to take a formal role, whether there's something that's a good fit for him, I think it's something that he and I would have to discuss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: General Powell says he didn't take that decision lightly. He's also talking about what made him cross party lines to back Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I think that Senator Obama brings a 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, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and with a maverick approach to it. And he'd be quite good at it. But I think we need more than that.
I think we need a generational change, and I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you talk to us about when your decision was made final? When did you finally set your heart on Senator Obama?
POWELL: I have been watching, as I said in there for a long time. And then within the past couple of months, I really said, you know, you just can't keep watching, you've got to kind of settle down.
And frankly, it was in the period leading up to the conventions and then the decisions that came out of the conventions, and then just sort of watching the responses of the two individuals on the economic crisis give me an opportunity to evaluate their judgment, to evaluate their way of approaching a problem, to evaluate the steadiness of their actions. And it was at that point that I realized that in my mind, anyway, that Senator Obama has demonstrated the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem solving that I think we need in this country.
You know, we have two wars. We have economic problems. We have health problems. We have education problems. We have infrastructure problems. We have problems around the world with our allies.
And so, those are the problems the American people wanted to hear about, not about Mr. Ayers, not about who is a Muslim or who's not a Muslim.
Those kinds of images going out on Al Jazeera are killing us around the world. And we have got to say to the world, doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are. If you're an American, you're an American.
And this business of, for example, a congressman from Minnesota whose going around saying, let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro-America or not pro-America, we have got to stop this kind of nonsense, pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in other diversity.
And so, that really was driving me. And 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. It was beyond just good political fighting back and forth. I think it went beyond. And then to sort of throw in this little Muslim connection. You know, he's a Muslim and a terrorist. And it was taking root and we can't judge our people and we can't hold our elections on that kind of basis.
And so yes, that kind of negativity troubled me. And the constant shifting for the argument. I was troubled a couple of few of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis, the campaign said we're going to go negative - we're going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayers. And now I guess 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 re-distribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay it - in roads, and airports, and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there's nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more or who should be paying less. And for us to say that makes you a socialist I think is an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate. And I don't want my taxes raised. I don't anybody else's taxes raised. But I also want to see our infrastructure fixed. I don't want to have a $12 trillion national debt. I don't want to see an annual deficit that's over $500 billion heading toward a trillion. So how do we deal with all of this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: are you still a republican?
POWELL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you conveyed your position to Senator Obama?
POWELL: Calls are being made. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Well, Powell also said he was concerned with McCain's selection of Governor Sarah Palin. He said she's a very distinguished woman and she used to be admired but he doesn't believe she's ready to be president of the United States. John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Senator John McCain is also downplaying Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama for president. Powell called Obama "a transformational figure who's bringing a new generation to the American stage." But will Powell's opinion matter to voters?
Joining me now to talk about this is republican analyst and CNN contributor Leslie Sanchez and democratic strategist Lisa Caputo. Leslie and Lisa today. this great. From the category L this morning. Let's isolate just a little bit of what General Powell was saying a moment ago, particularly on this idea of the attacks that Senator McCain has been leveling at Senator Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: To focus on people like Mr. Ayers and these trivial issues for the purposes suggesting that somehow Mr. Obama would have some kind of terrorist inclinations. I thought that was over the top.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: This negative campaigning seems to be turning a lot of people off. Including this person who they were looking toward for a significant endorsement, Senator McCain. Is it backfiring on him?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: To the extent that folks, especially independent voters don't like negative campaigning, yes. I mean, pretty much that's the common wisdom in that sense, but I think with respect to General Powell, you have to look at the fact that he's a great American, a great general, but this was a personal thing to him. I know in 2006-2007, he has a very close relationship particularly - as the campaign was moving forward with Senator McCain. And you know, it's unfortunate -
ROBERTS: He donated to his campaign? SANCHEZ: He donated. They were on the phone a lot. I mean, a lot of internal campaign people would tell you that. So it's definitely disappointing but it is one vote. It's an important message, but I don't think it's going to have the impact they had hoped maybe in the Barack Obama campaign that it would.
ROBERTS: You don't think it will be much of a carryover effect with voters?
SANCHEZ: Not really. No. No because I tell you why, it looks like he's jumping on the bandwagon and looked political. The two reasons he cited he talked about Governor Palin and he talked about the economy, that maybe there wasn't the right kind of judgment or leadership with Senator McCain. That sounds like the democratic talking points.
ROBERTS: Lisa, what about this idea that General Powell back in 2003 was the one who sealed the deal on the Iraq war? He made that presentation to the United Nations Security Council. He has never repudiated his support of the war. He said yesterday on "Meet the Press" with Tom Brokaw that mistake was not going in with enough people, didn't say that the war was mistake. Do democrats just forget about all that because it does seem to be in total contrast to Senator Obama's position?
LISA CAPUTO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think with General Powell, you have to remember he's really a national servant and by that I mean that he is truly a government man, that he's very loyal. And I think it would be a far cry for him to call out against a previous administration. He just wouldn't do it. Now, I disagree with Leslie to say that this isn't going to make an impact on the election. I think it is a tad naive because Colin Powell appeals to independent voters and independent voters are key in this election. And this is huge for Barack Obama.
I think secondly, it goes to his national security and foreign policy credentials. Not only to have Joe Biden on the ticket but to now have General Powell I think is enormous. And I think you can look to see him play a role like a middle east envoy or an ambassador at large in an Obama administration.
ROBERTS: Let me just switch if I could to another topic because I want to get in an opportunity to get it in and time is short here. The McCain campaign is raising charges that Senator Obama is a socialist. Let's listen to how Sarah Palin put that yesterday in the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But Joe the plumber and Ed the dairy man, I believe that they think it sounds more like socialism. Friends, now is no time to experiment with socialism.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Leslie, I guess what triggered that is this idea of sharing the wealth. Remember back in his administration, Bush 41 raised taxes, 10 percent surcharge on the highest earners, taxes on luxury items. They didn't do too well for him in 1992, but nobody called him a socialist.
SANCHEZ: No, but philosophically I think the bigger difference is this is a candidate who is moving extreme left doctrine. It's a liberal doctrine that talks about raising taxes. He's not apologetic about wanting to do that, and I think there's a lot of concern for voters who are really not sold on the idea, let's look at the fact that you may have a democratic, you're going to have a democratic presidency, who is going to hold the bar in protecting the taxpayer against policies that basically believe you should move money from one group to another.
ROBERTS: Lisa, this is just a label that Republicans would love to have stick to Senator Obama. They have been trying to throw everything they can at him. How does he defend against this?
CAPUTO: Well, I think you heard him defend against it yesterday where he said that socialism, I mean, what is the economic bailout bill? That's a major instance of socialism here we have by the Bush administration. So I think to have Colin Powell and Warren Buffett come in and support Senator Obama is a totally far cry from socialism.
Let's remember, Barack Obama has laid out a very robust economic policy and I would argue has given all of the specifics that we haven't heard from John McCain and he wants to, yes, he wants raise taxes on the wealthiest one percent of Americans. What does John McCain want to do? We haven't heard any specifics and in fact he wasn't, he wasn't visible on the economic bailout.
SANCHEZ: Unlike him, most people see fundamentally it was the democrats raising and looking at a growing government and that's fundamentally the biggest problem here and redistribution of wealth, it's his own words. It's not the republicans.
CAPUTO: Let's not make the rich richer with John McCain.
SANCHEZ: You know, rich - small business people are not rich. They're working Americans.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: 15 days left, look forward to seeing more of you between now and then.
SANCHEZ: You got it.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Leslie and Lisa.
37 1/2 minutes now after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY (voice-over): No house, no vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they're trying to kick you when you're down.
CHETRY: People who lost their homes to foreclosure face the threat of losing their right to vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We go through a lot of lows and for someone to come and challenge you when you go in to vote?
CHETRY: Carol Costello kicks off our series, "Count the Vote." You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. With huge voter turnout expected on election day, we're looking out for your vote. All this week, we're investigating potential problems in key battleground states. It's a series of reports we are calling "Count the Vote."
And today our focus is on foreclosure victims in Michigan. Democrats in the state are claiming that republicans want to find voters who have been booted from their homes to then be booted from the ballot box as well. Our Carol Costello is live in Washington with more for us this morning. Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. You know the fear is republicans will use those foreclosures lists to prove registered voters are ineligible because their address don't match where they live now. Democrats call that unbelievably cruel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 53608 Christie Drive.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Lost your house to foreclosure? Democrats in Macomb county, Michigan, say beware, republicans they say want to make sure you lose your vote, too.
MARK BREWER, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: They've made that political calculation that by and large, they don't want those people voting because they they're going to vote for Barack Obama.
COSTELLO: The hullabaloo started when a reporter Eartha Jane Melzer of the liberal "Michigan Messenger" web site quoted Macomb county's republican chair James Carabelli - "we will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren't voting from those addresses."
Democrats fear republicans on election day will challenge voters whose addresses don't match where they live now. Like people who had been kicked out of their homes due to foreclosure. How many could that be? Macomb county clerk, Carmela Sabaugh, a democrat, adds a dot for every home foreclosed in her county. There are 5,090 of them. One of those dots represents what happened to the Monacos. We caught up with them at what was their dream home.
TONY MONACO, BANK FORECLOSED ON HOME: I can't believe it's happening.
COSTELLO: Are you going to go to the polling station?
MONACO: Yes, I am.
PEGGY MONACO, BANK FORECLOSED ON HOME: I think they're trying to kick you when you're down. It's not bad enough that you lose your home.
COSTELLO: The Wards also lost their home to foreclosure after payments ballooned.
JENNIFER WARD, BANK FORECLOSED ON HOME: You're down, you're depressed about it, you go through a lot of lows and then for somebody to come and challenge you when you go in to vote because you actually feel like that you can make a difference, I just think that's wrong.
COSTELLO: Michigan republicans say the Monacos and Wards should not worry. They say Carabelli was misquoted in the "Michigan Messenger" and they're now suing the online publication for defamation. The reporter stands by her story.
EARTHA JANE MELZER, REPORTER, "MICHIGAN MESSENGER": Right. I spoke with Carabelli myself and I have total confidence in what he told me, I have clear notes of our conversation. There's no doubt about that.
COSTELLO: CNN tried to talk to Carabelli but he did not return our calls. The state GOP declined an interview. In the meantime, the county clerk says a foreclosure list alone isn't enough to prevent someone from voting.
CARMELA SABAUGH (D), MACOMB COUNTY CLERK, MICHIGAN: You do not have to own a home to vote. So if your house is foreclosed on, you have every right to vote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: That's right. If you have been forced to leave your foreclosed home and live in a different house in the same precinct, you can vote, you are still eligible. Michigan democrats and the Obama campaign are taking no chances though. They've gone to federal court asking for a restraining order to keep republicans from using foreclosure lists alone to disqualify voters. But democrats fear republicans will still challenge voter eligibility based on address and of course that could slow the voting, forcing some voters waiting in line to give up and go home. Kiran.
CHETRY: But Carol to be clear, the republicans are saying they have no plans to do that and that this one person who claimed he was going to do that was misquoted?
COSTELLO: Mr. Carabelli said he was misquoted, but when we asked to hear more from him, he declined interview.
CHETRY: All right. Interesting piece. And we look forward tomorrow then. Carol, thanks so much.
And tomorrow, our John Zarrella is going to be looking at lost votes in Florida after the debacle of the 2000 election. This year's primary vote in Palm Beach, didn't go so well either. 3n500 votes disappeared. That's in our "Count the Vote" series tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also if you have any concerns about possible voting irregularities in your state, we want to know. You can call us toll free at 877-gocnn-08. That's 877-GOCNN-08.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): One on one with Tom Brokaw. The broadcasting legend talks about his big scoop with Colin Powell and whether he thinks the endorsement was based on race. You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Christine Romans joins us now. Part of our week-long series, we're taking a closer look at how the candidates' proposals will affect your money. We've been looking into health care today.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Your money, your vote, your health care. Three very, very important things. Health care, as we know, 46 million people in this country, lack health insurance, it's a very costly problem and we have sky rocketing health care costs. So both presidential candidates says they want to fix it but they both have very different ways of doing that. So your money, your vote. Which ideology do you agree with?
First off, John McCain wants you to be able to shop for your own health insurance across state lines and take it with you wherever you go. To give you the power of you and the free markets. Your health care cost reflect your health care needs. Barack Obama though would require insurance for all children and subsidize health care for low income families who don't get insurance from their jobs. Essentially the healthy share health care cost with the sick. And that is better for all of society and it helps keep health care cost down. Those are the two kind of ideological positions here.
How does it work out in terms of your money? Well, it's going to cost something. It's going to cost a lot fixing health care. And when you look at the ten-year cost of each plan, McCain, about $1.3 trillion. Obama about $1.6 trillion. John McCain wants to pay for it by canceling or not renewing the Bush tax cuts on those who earn more than $250,000 or more a year. McCain wants to paid for it through a slashing waste in fraud, in Medicare and Medicaid.
So again, Obama wants to pay for it by canceling the Bush tax cuts for $250,000 a year earners and McCain wants to cut all this waste and there is a lot of waste by the way in some of these government programs. So the question here is whether you want to have your own control over your health care and you want to pay for just the health care you use or whether you want mandates for children and you want an effort that is going to try to get health care to as many people as humanly possible so that that somehow helps society as a whole and helps to bring costs down.
Now, "Health Affairs," a journal, a publication that's taken a hard look at both of these, found flaws in both candidates' plans, and they say that doesn't reflect necessarily the cost to you or the cost to me or the cost to society but the fact that health scare is so broken in this country that fixing it is a challenge and that neither of these plans is perfect.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much for that.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: 49 minutes after the hour. Coming up tomorrow, we'll look at whether or not you can expect to pay more or less in taxes under each candidates' plan. Controversy on the campaign trail. We'll give you the straight answer tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Weighing in. Is your kid overweight? Elizabeth Cohen on why many doctors are getting a simple diagnosis wrong. You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It is coming up almost on 52 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. For weeks the CNN truth squad has been sifting through the tough talk and checking up on the candidates claims. Our Jason Carroll is here with us this morning examining John McCain's charges about Barack Obama's tax plan. We were talking about it just a second ago.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Man, the candidates are constantly trading shots on one another's tax plans and recently McCain is asking how Obama will pay for a tax cut that could affect 95 percent of all Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You might ask how do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans when more than 40 percent pay no federal income taxes right now? The government will write them all checks called a tax credit and the Treasury will have to cover those checks by taxing other people. CARROLL (voice-over): So, is Senator John McCain right? On his web site, Obama promises to cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. Key word being "working." Obama is offering a tax credit called making work pay, essentially a rebate on those fees that come out of your paycheck for social security and Medicare. Anyone who pays income tax would get a $500 credit to help offset the charges. People who work but don't end up owing taxes would get a check in the mail. The Obama campaign tells us they will fund the credit partly by increasing taxes on the wealthy. So what's wealthy? Couples who make at least $250,000 a year or more or individuals who make at least $200,000. So, is McCain right?
MCCAIN: The government will write them all checks called a tax credit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: So, the truth squad says this one is - you heard it there, it's true. Obama is promising tax credits to 95 percent of workers and plans to fund them at least in part by increasing tax on others.
ROBERTS: Jason, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks so much for that.
CARROLL: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POWELL: Fresh set of ideas to the table.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Respected and admired but what does it really mean? Plus, drowning in debt and desperate. They thought they found a rope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did they deliver what they promised?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they did not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did they even come remotely close?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No they did not.
ROBERTS: Before you pay anyone anything to get debt free -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are just out there scamming people.
ROBERTS: You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: I think he's a transformational figure. He's a new generation coming into the world stage, on the American stage and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It was a huge endorsement. Former secretary of state, Colin Powell endorsing Senator Barack Obama. It happened in an interview that Powell did with Tom Brokaw with NBC's "Meet the Press." Brokaw is the author of the "new York Times" bestseller "Boom!," talking about the 60s. It has just been released in paperback. There it is. Tom Brokaw joins me now. Wonderful to talk to you.
TOM BROKAW, AUTHOR "BOOM!": It's good to be here. Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Not only did I grow up watching you, but my father loved the book so much, he took it when he visited this weekend.
BROKAW: Well, I'm glad to hear that. He probably remembers the '60's very well. You know, this year is in many ways, a mirror reflection of the '60s.
We have an African-American at the head of one ticket, a woman on the other ticket. A lot of traditional feminists will say, well Sarah Palin's not what we had in mind and that's not fair. She did run for mayor, she did run for governor. And that's a result of all these moments that began in the 1960s.
And a lot of the baby boomers who are going through a tough time on Wall Street, were the people back the who said materialism -- that doesn't count. A lot of people think '60s and see a flower child dancing in Golden Gate Park, smoking a joint and hearing Bob Dylan in the background, but it was much more complicated than that. And it's instructive to remember that the election in 1968, it looked like Nixon was going to be a shoe-in and it was very, very close.
CHETRY: Yes. It's very interesting. In fact, one of the things you talk about in your book of course, is the historic nature of the 1960s, especially launching the Civil Rights movement.
BROKAW: Right.
CHETRY: And so here we are right now, the election, almost the culmination of that movement, especially if Barack Obama wins the presidency.
BROKAW: It's nothing that anyone could have anticipated at that time. Everybody thought that we needed to make the giant steps that Dr. King led the country through. He'll truly be a historic figure forever more in America and for the world, for that matter.
But the idea that an African-American man would be the head of the Democratic ticket and be in this kind of position with just three Tuesdays to go in effect, before we have election day, is pretty astonishing. And we have to say, we don't know whether he's going to make it or not because John McCain's a warrior and he believes guerrilla warfare out there on the campaign trail.
CHETRY: Right. Well, one of the things that certainly helped Barack Obama was the endorsement on your show this weekend, "Meet the Press."
How significant is this for the campaign? That Colin Powell is endorsing Barack Obama?
BROKAW: Well, I think it's symbolically very important because Colin Powell is one of the most admired and respected men. Not just in this country, but around the world. And he has this gold plated military and national security resume.
And when he puts his arm metaphorically around Barack Obama, and says he has the experience and judgment to be a transformational president, that's very helpful to Obama, who has been attacked by McCain as a man who doesn't have the experience and the judgment.
If you had flipped it, if Powell had gone for McCain, that would have been a devastating blow for Barack Obama, obviously. Does it move a lot of voters? We'll see. I think some leaners probably will be more comfortable with Obama.
CHETRY: You talk about this briefly in your interview with Powell that some will say that an African-American is supporting Barack Obama simply because he's an African-American.
Rush Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail to Politico, "Secretary Powell said his endorsement is not about race. OK, fine. I'm now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all of the inexperienced, very liberal white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."
Did Secretary Powell make the case to you that it was not about race?
BROKAW: He said if it was about race I would have done this 10 months ago. He said, I really want to take the measure of these two people. And what Rush Limbaugh does not get into is Colin Powell's indictment of what the Republican Party, he says is doing to itself.
Colin Powell showed up at the convention in 2007, and praised President Bush and Dick Cheney, saying that he thought that they would heal the racial divide in America. He thinks it contracted the Republican Party, rather than reached out to a lot of people.
He has great, great admiration for John McCain, he just doesn't think he's run a very good campaign. He's very unhappy with the selection of Sarah Palin. Doesn't think she's ready to be president in these troubled times.
CHETRY: Just quickly before we go. Senator Barack Obama ran his campaign and won the primary on his opposition to the Iraq war. Secretary of State Colin Powell led the case and laid out the case to the United Nations and still doesn't say the Iraq war was a mistake.
Does that hurt the credibility?
BROKAW: No, I don't think so. I think because the Iraq war has gone down a notch, I think that Colin Powell's endorsement transcends that in many ways. And in some ways it helps Barack Obama.
They still have some difficulty on how quickly they ought to get the troops out of there and setting a timeline. That also helps Barack Obama, probably. But caveat, we still got three Tuesdays to go and if we proved in 1968, these elections can tighten up. Barack Obama said just yesterday, and I say this to Matt Lauer, that he expects this race to tighten a lot.
CHETRY: All right. Tom Brokaw, great to talk to you. Thanks for being with us this morning.
BROKAW: Tell dad thanks for reading the book.
CHETRY: I certainly will.
