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American Morning
Colin Powell Backs Obama for Presidency; Big Battle Brewing in California over Same Sex Marriage; McCain Attacks Obama's Economic Plan; Interview with AIG CEO, Ed Liddy
Aired October 20, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: One and a half minutes after the hour now, and here are this morning's top stories.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will appear before the House Budget Committee to testify on the state of the economy. He could send a signal on interest rates. Bernanke has left the door open for further rate cuts. However, he will likely warn again that no quick fix is in sight.
World markets trending up this hour. Japan's Nikkei average rose more than 3.5 percent overnight. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged more than 5 percent. In London, the FTSE is trading up more than 1.5 percent right now. And here at home, Dow futures are up almost 150 points.
And happening right now in Florida. The Space Shuttle "Atlantis" is being rolled back from the launch pad. It's October the 10th. Launch was delayed after unexpected problems developed with the Hubble Space Telescope. A new target launch date is now under review.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Barack Obama is kicking off a two day swing through Florida this morning. And with just 15 days until the election, the shining endorsement and record cash for the Barack Obama campaign. Now, last month, that raised an astonishing $150 million. And yesterday Obama won the endorsement, as we've been talking about this morning, of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It was an endorsement that also include a blistering critique of the McCain campaign. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live in Tampa this morning for us with more.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kiran.
Obviously, a good weekend for the Obama campaign. We heard from Powell. He said that he knew John McCain for some 26 years or so. Barack Obama just the last two. But he has really gotten a chance to get to know and test these two candidates. The final exam over the last six or seven weeks, he said he looked at how they handled the financial crisis, who they picked as their running mates, the tone of the campaigns and ultimately, Powell concluded that Obama was the transformational figure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: 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 is 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 happen 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 Haig. 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 disillusioned -- that a number of moderate Republicans and some others have had with the negativity of the McCain campaign that they've been muttering about but they're afraid to give voice to.
MALVEAUX: Obama welcomes the news.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A great soldier, a great statesman, a great American, has endorsed our campaign for change.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I have been honored to have the benefit of his wisdom and his counsel from time to time over the last few years.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX: And over the weekend, good news they announced record breaking when it comes to the money they raised in September. Last month, $150 million and also, Kiran, if you got this shot, that's an incredible. This was a rally in St. Louis, Missouri. My producer Matt Hoitz (ph) took it at the Gateway Arch, 100,000 people who attended that rally. It was the biggest ever so far. So, obviously, what are they trying to do? They are trying to use a lot of that money they have to put it in those swing states like Missouri, like here in Florida to turn out the voters, to make sure they show up in a couple of weeks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, it is quite a shot. Your producer has a second career if he wants as a photographer.
MALVEAUX: Very talented.
CHETRY: Suzanne, thanks.
ROBERTS: And John McCain has a new line of attack saying that his rival Barack Obama is borrowing from socialist ideology with his economic policies. Our Jim Acosta has been tracking the campaign. He joins us live from Washington this morning.
Jim, good morning to you.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Barack Obama walked into a barbecue restaurant in North Carolina over the weekend. He was not greeted with sweet tea but with the "S" word, socialist. Sarah Palin put it this way, "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 socialists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): From the sound from it, John McCain is running against a Euro style socialist.
MCCAIN: 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 --
OBAMA: I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for us. But listen --
ACOSTA: And Joe the Plumber's come back --
JOE WURZELBACHER, JOE THE PLUMBER: That's the very socialist view.
ACOSTA: McCain has been seeing red, accusing the Democratic nominee of pursuing socialist economic policies.
MCCAIN: He said himself we need to spread the wealth around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that socialism?
MCCAIN: That's one of the tenets of socialism.
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 American. 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.
OBAMA: Lately he and Governor Palin actually accused me of socialism. It's kind of hard to figure how Warren Buffet endorsed me, Colin Powell endorsed me. And John McCain thinks I'm practicing socialism.
ACOSTA: But political analysts Larry Sabato says there's just one big $700 billion problem for McCain.
DR. LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: The fly in the ointment for this socialism argument is the recent Wall Street bailout. That's the most and greediest 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 Larry Sabato said it best yesterday, John. He said this is all about firing up those red states. Of course we're talking about North Carolina and Virginia not China and North Korea.
ROBERTS: All right. Jim Acosta for us this morning. Jim, thanks so much for that.
ACOSTA: You bet.
ROBERTS: CNN, by the way, has got reporters fanned out across the battleground states. We'll be covering the issues most important to voters all the way up until Election Day.
There is a big battle brewing in California over same sex marriage. And Ellen DeGeneres is right in the middle of it and she's throwing lots of her own money at the issue. Will it help?
CHETRY: Also, if you were drowning in debt and desperate, would you pay to get it all wiped away. What you need to know about those companies that take your money and claim to get you debt free. It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 11 minutes after the hour now. Christine Romans here "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm here to tell you that the credit freeze is thawing. We've been using that metaphor so much. But that is signs that the credit market is a little bit better than it has been in recent weeks and that's one reason why you're seeing futures for the Dow up. More than 100 points right now.
About 167 points higher for the Dow futures. So we could see a rally at least in the early going. One of the things that people are encouraged about, South Korea and the Dutch government also have been making moves to shore up their financial systems and that helped Asian markets and has helped European markets.
European markets, stock markets up 3 percent to 5 percent overnight. So, that was helpful there. Fed Chief Ben Bernanke is going to speak at about 10:00 this morning. So we're going to hear more about the conditions for the U.S. credit market and for the labor market and for the economy, and so we'll know more about what's happening for us and going forward. Of course, you know, last week we've told you that one of the regional fed presidents have said the United States probably is in a recession right now. And a lot of folks had been trying to see if Bernanke shares that opinion.
He wouldn't bite last week when reporters tried to get him to give a more near-term characterization of whether or not we are in a recession, John and Kiran. But we'll see what he has to say about that today. Oil prices continue to come down. Gas prices are coming down. Gas prices where you live might be below $3 a gallon. So that's been a little bit of relief for people and what has been a pretty, pretty rough in the couple of days.
ROBERTS: It might be good news if we weren't expecting the economy hit the wall later on this year.
ROMANS: Minor details.
ROBERTS: Yes. You got to keep focused on that, though.
ROMANS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much for that. Can an impression sway an election? Sarah Palin appears on Saturday Night Live alongside the person she does the impression of, Tina Fey. But -- wait a minute. That was totally backwards. Sarah Palin was on "Saturday Night Live". We're going to have the story for you. Could it be hurting the candidate or helping her?
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A shot of the White House this morning at 15 minutes after the hour. It's a nice day in the D.C. area, the capital region, if you like it cool. Sunny and 42 degrees right now. Frosting all the pumpkins down there. Today is going to be sunny with a high in the high 60s. Rob Marciano is tracking all of the chilly temperatures not only in northeast but all the way down into the south. He's here with us this morning.
Good morning to you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: California's other campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN DEGENERES, TV TALK SHOW HOST: Hi, I'm Ellen DeGeneres.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The million dollar fight over gay marriage that's playing out on TVs across California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEGENERES: Please, please vote no on Prop 8.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Ted Rowlands looks at what the big vote could mean for the rest of the country.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Same sex marriage has become a major issue in California. And that could be just the beginning. Because when celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres throw their own money into the ring, people sit up and take notice.
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 MALE: With this ring I'd be wed --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With this ring I'd be we --
ROWLANDS: 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.
DEGENERES: Hi, I'm Ellen DeGeneres. I got to do something this year that I thought I would never be able to do. I got married.
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.
DEGENERES: Please, please vote no on Prop 8.
ROWLANDS: That's just one of the ads many Californians will likely have memorized by Election Day. It'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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Teaching children about gay marriage will happen here unless we pass Proposition 8.
ROWLANDS: And San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who supports gay marriage, is featured in an ad opposing it.
GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR: 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 has 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, 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote yes on Proposition 8.
ROWLANDS: Messages range from a well-produced statement by Newt Gingrich for Proposition 8 to people just scouting (ph) 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: The credit caught.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did they deliver what they promised?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they did not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A look at how some Web sites offering to help with debt are just making the problem worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your credit is going to be absolute trash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning."
We first introduced you to 16-year-old Noah Gray last week. His project, Virgin Voting, aimed at first-time voters and documenting what they did in the first time in a voting booth. Well, Friday Noah went to a John McCain rally in Miami and he took his video camera with him. Noah joins us now from his classroom at Palmetto High School in Miami.
Good morning, Noah. Good to see you. And right behind you, two of your classmates are doing the news.
NOAH GRAY, FOUNDER, VIRGIN VOTING: Yes, we're actually going through a run-through right now for a broadcast at 8:30. Those are a couple of my classmates here.
CHETRY: All right. Well, you were at a John McCain rally. It's at Florida International University, Friday. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRAY (voice-over): Appearing on the stage with wife Cindy McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman, John McCain focused on the economy and how he would fight to make this country stronger if he were elected president.
MCCAIN: My friends, I got to give you some straight talk for a minute. If I'm elected president, I won't raise taxes on small businesses. If I'm elected president, I will fight to take America in a new direction from my first day in office to my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, my friends, I'm ready for it.
GRAY: Young voters attending the rally on this diverse Miami campus were energized by hearing directly from their candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a big fan of John McCain. I always have been.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a student for McCain. I'm part of my college Republicans group at my school. He is the way -- his direction is what we need in this country.
GRAY: Most of the young McCain supporters felt he addressed the issues important to them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Security, energy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cut in taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm really, really passionate against abortion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wants to lower taxes on everybody. He's got a strong foreign policy. He wants to make sure that this country succeeds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And as somebody who's going to be joining the navy next year, definitely like my safety and the safety of the country is what I'm most (INAUDIBLE). So, whoever candidate will be selected president, they (INAUDIBLE), you know, this is my future and this is something that I take really seriously.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, there you have it. What was your overall impression, Noah, of the intensity of the young people at the McCain rally?
GRAY: There were a lot of young people at the McCain rally. Obviously, there were not as many as at some of the Obama rallies. But I would have expected a little bit more considering it was on a college campus. But there were definitely -- the youth definitely had a presence there.
CHETRY: I think it's interesting, over the last week, the McCain campaign and RNC have flooded some of the battleground states like Florida, where you are, with some of these automated phone calls. They call them robo-calling and they tied Barack Obama to '60s radical Bill Ayers. How is that playing with young people, especially since we're talking about somebody from the 1960s, decades before most of you guys were born?
GRAY: Exactly. Now when I spoke with some of the young people, they said that they want to hear more about the issues more than the name calling and which reminds some of them of bullying, which happens at a young age, and obviously a lot of teenagers don't like that.
So, I mean, kids really -- some of the people whom I spoke with at the McCain rally, obviously I didn't include them in the piece because it was more about the rally than their opinion on Barack Obama. But they, I think, are just repeating some of the Republican talking points, I would say. But a lot of people just want to focus more on the issues than the actual name calling.
CHETRY: Are you confident that a lot of the people that you spoke with are actually going to head out to the polls. That's always the big question with young voters. Will they show up on November 4? GRAY: I've been speaking with a lot of young people. They said they're going to show up. Early voting starts today here in Florida as well as in so many other states. So, I think there's a really good chance that they are going to go to the polls and, obviously, we talked a couple of days ago the video contest which will give them another incentive to go to the polls.
CHETRY: All right. Noah Gray, the founder of Virgin Voting and our special correspondent. Great to have your input and your take on some of these rallies and what's going on in the political process. It's not just for the old people like us.
Noah, thanks.
GRAY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: 28 minutes now after the hour. And here are this morning's top stories. As Noah just mentioned, it's the first day of early voting in Florida, the biggest toss-up state left. Also, early voting in Arkansas. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both campaigning in the Sunshine State today. They meet later on today for a rally in Orlando. They'll be on the stage together.
Stocks heading up after the biggest roller coaster week in Dow Jones history. Right now, futures are up around 200 points. Asian markets also surging overnight with the Hang Seng rising 5 percent. In London, the FTSE is up close to 2 percent today.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify on Capitol Hill today about the nation's economic crisis. This comes after one of the President's top economic advisers said some parts of the country are probably already in recession.
Well, if you were drowning in debt and desperate, would you pay to get debt free? Our Deb Feyerick is here now with a warning about companies that make promise that, well, they don't seem to keep.
Good morning, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, you know so many people simply want to get out from under their crushing debt. That makes them especially vulnerable. And some of these debt settlement agencies are taking full advantage of that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys get your homework done?
FEYERICK (voice-over): $25,000 in debt and struggling to make ends meet, Debra Hurley went online looking for help. There were plenty of choices.
(on camera): What are some of the words that jumped out at you that really kind of enticed you?
DEBRA HURLEY, VICTIM OF DEBT SETTLEMENT SCAM: That I would be debt free.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Hurley contacted a Florida company that promised to deal with the creditors and settle her debt for pennies on the dollar. She would pay $600 up front plus $25 a month in fees then deposit some of her paycheck into an escrow account for the company's use.
(on camera): Did they deliver what they promised?
HURLEY: No, they did not.
FEYERICK: Did they even come remotely close?
HURLEY: No, they did not.
FEYERICK: That's got to be so hard for you?
HURLEY: Yes. You can't put your trust in people.
FEYERICK (voice-over): In the last few years, the number of debt settlement companies around the country has exploded. So too has the number of complaints, up more than 60 percent this year in Florida alone, where some two dozen companies are under investigation by the state's Attorney General.
BILL MCCULLOM, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: They are just out there scamming people and taking their money and then walk away. You just never hear from them again.
HURLEY: They are telling me that if creditors calls, use caller I.D..
FEYERICK: Hurley said the debt relief agent told her to stop paying her creditors and avoid taking their calls while he negotiated with them to accept less money. But the creditors kept calling, the interest and late fees kept growing and she fell deeper in debt.
GERRI DETWEILLER, CREDIT.COM: Some creditors will not work with debt settlement companies and your credit is going to be absolutely be trashed while you're in the program.
FEYERICK: But Robby Birnbaum of the Association of Settlement Companies says there are many reputable firms that you just need to look carefully.
ROBBY BIRNBAUM, THE ASSN. OF SETTLEMENT COMPANIES: What they don't see are the good companies in the industry. The ones that are protecting consumers. The ones that are charging fair and reasonable fees. The ones that are actually providing very important and crucial services that help keep consumers out of bankruptcy.
FEYERICK: Too late for Debra Hurley who says she shelled out nearly two months salary with nothing to show for it.
HURLEY: I had to declare bankruptcy without my creditors coming in and taking everything I own. (END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now these companies are not licensed and there's no federal regulation. So if you want the accounts, you really need to do your own research. Ask the company to provide proof of the number of debt settled, check with the better business bureau for complaints against the company and go to Web sites like credit.com, get tips on the most common traps because there are many of them -- John.
ROBERTS: Deb, Debra Hurley, was she able to settle any of her debt?
FEYERICK; She was. But the hard thing was not through this particular company. She basically cut her own deals with creditors, in one case settling a $625 credit bill for about $450. But these settlement companies do not pay out the debt. They will not be the ones writing out the check. If they promise that they're going to do that, be careful.
ROBERTS: Deb Feyerick, some good things to watch for in this economy. Thanks so much for that.
FEYERICK: Of course.
CHETRY: Well, the Las Vegas kidnapping case is now shifting to a drug investigation. Police say six-year-old Cole Puffinburger was found over the weekend. He was in good condition after he was abducted at gunpoint by three suspected Mexican drug dealers. Police say think the abduction was a message to the boy's grandfather who is accused of stealing millions of dollars from a drug cartel.
And hundreds of daredevils from across the world showed up at Virginia's largest one-day festival for bridge day where 400 base jumpers braved this 876-foot jump off of New River Bridge. It's once a year they shut that bridge down so they can fling themselves into the gorge. It takes eight seconds by the way to drop. And people come from 15 different countries, all of them doing the same thing. Flinging themselves over a perfectly good bridge.
And they are celebrating in Tampa Bay, the Rays beat the Boston Red Sox in game seven to advance to the World Series for the first time in the team's history. They will now face the National League champion Phillies on Wednesday. It's game one of the World Series.
Making his case, his company got billions in bailout money from taxpayers while executives pocketed big bonuses and lived it up on company retreats. In an exclusive interview, CEO Ed Liddy explains why the company needs billions more.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up now at 36 minutes after the hour. It was a controversial bailout that still has taxpayers fuming. Insurance giant AIG got a huge handout from the federal government but how much more does it need before it's solvent. Ed Liddy was appointed by the federal government last month as the CEO of AIG. And he joins me now.
Good to see you, Mr. Liddy. Thanks for coming in this morning.
ED LIDDY, CEO OF AIG: Good morning, John. How are you?
ROBERTS: So the initial loan, $85 billion, another $37.8 billion from the federal government. I know that you haven't used all of that money yet but a good portion of it has been used. And taxpayers are sitting at home and saying how much more money does this company need?
LIDDY: Well, I think we have just about everything we need. I wouldn't confuse the 85 billion and the other 37 billion, a kind of different buckets. The $85 billion loan should be enough. Our intent is to sell assets and repay every single penny of that to the American taxpayers. The $37 billion really is just because credit markets are frozen. There's no CPs. It's more of a liquidity fund. I would not add those together.
ROBERTS: All right. But it's still an awful lot of money that the taxpayers have handed AIG.
LIDDY: We were in one heck of a mess. We really were for a variety of reasons. Part of it was us. Part of it was the overall financial condition. But I think we're making progress and given time, I think we can repay every single penny we have to borrow.
ROBERTS: Because you came on September 18th, it was just a few days after that the company spent about half a million dollars at the St. Regis Resort in Dana Point for a retreat, a junket, whatever you want to call it. There as another one. It was scheduled for the Ritz-Carlton at Half Moon Bay which was canceled but only under a lot of pressure from lawmakers and the media. How tone deaf is the leadership of AIG that they would think about going ahead with these junkets while they're leaning on taxpayers to bail out the company.
LIDDY: You know, the simple reality is it's a big place. We do business in 130 countries. We're very decentralized, very entrepreneurial. It takes a little bit of time to get the battleship turn. We have shut down everything we can find, conferences, lobbying, every single thing that we can find. We shot down. We're mad about it. I apologize to the American people for those things. They were terribly insensitive. We're going to get our facts together. We're going to seek retribution for all of those things. And we're going to do the right thing going forward.
What's really important is AIG is a vital part of the economy. It's a vital part of the solution to the economic crisis. That's there right now. Our entities, our insurance entities are very strong. We want to keep them strong and vital and protect our policyholders.
ROBERTS: It's a vital part of the economy which is why the Treasury Department didn't let it go under. But you had not long after you came in as head of the company you had a meeting with Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general of New York state, who was leaning heavily on you to make sure that you adhere to fiscal discipline and you agreed after that meeting to give up these junkets and also to review executive compensation. Why did it take a meeting with him for you to say maybe what we're doing isn't the right way.
LIDDY: Well, we have stopped those junkets long before that. It's just it takes a while for all that to get out in the system. Now the attorney general has been looking at payments made in the past to some of our retiring executives. I also questioned those. I'm not sure if they are appropriate or not. Working together we're going to look at whether they are in the best interest of our shareholders and the taxpayers.
ROBERTS: One of the one's that being examined is this $10 million severance package for Steve Benson, who is the former CFO. What do you plan to do about that? How much of that 10 million will he receive?
LIDDY: We're not going pay it right now. We're going to work at the attorney general and see - we're not going to pay any of it right now and we're going to look and see what the facts are and determine if any of it should be paid.
ROBERTS: There's also ex-CEO Martin Sullivan. His compensation has come into question as well as Joseph Casano, former head of your financial project, products division. He received some $280 million since 2000. Will you go back and maybe seek to recoup some of that money?
LIDDY: We will look at clawing back if it's appropriate. It's difficult. Sometimes these are contracts. On the other hand, given what's happened to the company since those individuals left you really have to look at it and decide is that appropriate? We will be doing that.
ROBERTS: But you fully understand the anger of the taxpayers out there, the shareholders?
LIDDY: Oh, it's not just taxpayers. It's the AIG people. It's me. It's our current leadership saying was this correct? Do we need to do something about it? That's what we're looking at.
ROBERTS: Tough position that you're in. But we thank you for coming in this morning and talking about it. Ed Liddy, good to see you.
LIDDY: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: 40 minutes after the hour.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
CHETRY: No house, no vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like they are trying to kick you when you're down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: People who lost their homes to foreclosure face a threat of losing their right to vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We went through a lot of lows and then for something to come and challenge you as 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: This week we are looking out for potential problems in key battleground states. It's a series called "Count the Vote." And today we turn to Michigan where some Democrats say Republicans want to find voters already evicted from their homes and evict them from the battle booth as well. Our Carol Costello is live in Washington with more.
Carol, what is this all about?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, you know the big 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 FEMALE: 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 think they're going to vote for Barack Obama.
COSTELLO: The hullabaloo started when 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: You bet. Yes, I am. 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: And you do indeed. If you have been forced to leave your foreclosed home and you now live in a different house in the same precinct, you are eligible to vote. So go to the precinct and vote. 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, lose their patience and go home -- John.
ROBERTS: But again, this fellow from the Republican Party says that he was misquoted but he has not elaborated at all on what was said, what wasn't said during this interview.
COSTELLO: No and I wish I could get more from him but he declined an interview.
ROBERTS: And what about this idea to, I mean for voters who have had their properties foreclosed on and they have moved out of the district.
What do they have to do?
COSTELLO: They're perfectly fine as long as it hasn't been 60 days. That's the number. If it's more than 60 days and you haven't changed your address and you live outside of your old precinct, you are not eligible to vote but if it's below 60 days, you are.
ROBERTS: All right. Carol Costello for us this morning. Important information for voters out there in Michigan.
Carol, thanks so much for that.
And tomorrow, our John Zarrella turns to Florida. After the debacle of the 2000 election, this year's primary vote in Palm Beach, didn't go so well either. 3,500 votes just gone. That's in our "Count the Vote" series tomorrow here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Kiran.
That's right, here's a check of what we're working on in the NEWSROOM.
World markets gets the week off to a positive start. Yes, positive. We're watching to see if Wall Street picks up the vibe. We hope so.
Election countdown, just 15 days to go. How will Colin Powell's endorsement play with voters?
Plus the toughest choice, uninsured Americans deciding on medicine or mortgage? We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Heidi, thanks.
ROBERTS: 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." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
You know, realizing your child is overweight is sometimes harder than you think. According to a new study from Australia, as many as half of parents might be missing the mark. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta.
You're a mother of four. Is it just that parents don't want to acknowledge that their child is overweight or they're really not sure?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Kiran, part of it is parents don't want to acknowledge it. But part of it is these days so many kids are overweight that if your kid is overweight they kind of just fit right in. And so you look and think oh my kid is fine. He looks like everybody else. But the reality is that one-third of American kids are overweight and parents need a reality check of what a healthy weight is. So take a look at this.
We're going to tell you this is what the average child of an average height should weigh at different ages. Your average height five-year-old should weigh 40 pounds. Your average height eight-year- old should weigh 55 pounds. And your 10-year-old who's of an average height should weigh 70 pounds maybe a little bit more if actually that child is a girl. So those are sort of some rules of thumb to go by if you're trying to figure out if your child is overweight.
CHETRY: If parents are not aware their child is overweight what about when they go to doctor visits. Do you think that the pediatrician would say hey maybe they need to exercise a little more, eat a little less.
COHEN: You know, Kiran, unfortunately studies have shown that pediatricians sometimes don't bring that up with parents. They don't say hey your child is overweight and needs to lose a little bit of weight. It's up to the parents sometimes to bring it up and say, hey, take a look at that growth chart. Is my kid on track as he or she should be?
Also I want to give you some rules of thumb. If your kids fit into these particular categories, you should be thinking about whether or not they are overweight. If your wild is sedentary, doesn't do much exercise, if your family eats out at restaurants a lot, especially if fast food restaurant, if you have a family history of people being overweight, those are all kind of bells that should go off in your head that you should go to your pediatrician, and get them weighed in and put that weight on the growth chart and see how they look.
CHETRY: Very interesting. It's funny because when they are little, you know, you are so happy when they weigh a lot because you think they are doing the right thing. And then somewhere along that line that shifts.
COHEN: Right. A chubby six-month-old is cute, a chubby six- year-old is a cause for concern.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Tina Fey and Sarah Palin shared the "Saturday Night Live" stage this week. Did it have viewers seeing double? A behind the scenes look at "SNL" election impact.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA FEY, ACTRESS, AS SARAH PALIN, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": You guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. At a rally in North Carolina this week you said that you liked to visit the quote, pro American parts of the country. Are there parts of the country that you consider un- American?
FEY: Well, you know, that was just my lame attempt at a joke, but, yes. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California.
(LAUGHTER)
FEY: But you have states like Ohio and Pennsylvania and Florida which could be real anti-American or real pro American. It's up to them.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, that was Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin but Sarah Palin's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend gave them their best ratings in years. Tina Fey, of course, has been doing the spot on impressions of Palin. But is "SNL" hurting or helping the candidate? Our Alina Cho was at the show's live broadcast this weekend and she joins us now with more this morning.
Hey, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there. Good morning. They really brought down the house, Kiran. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.
You know, they're calling it the Fey effect. There's no denying that Tina Fey's spot on portrayal of Sarah Palin is funny and wildly popular. But is it good for Palin? You know the two looks so much alike, many confuse them. And when you're trying to win an election is that really what you want? Well some believe the fake Sarah Palin could be hurting the real one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHO (voice-over): The fake Sarah Palin -
FEY: 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 is confused.
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: 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?
Alec, this is Governor Palin.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi there.
BALDWIN: You are way hotter in person.
CHO: Then the moment of truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The real one?
SARAH PALIN: Live from New York, it's Saturday night!
CHO: "Saturday Night Live" saw it's best ratings in 14 years. Thanks to Palin's highly-anticipated guest appearance.
AMY POEHLER, COMEDIAN: My name is Sarah Palin and you all know me vice president nominee of the GOP.
CHO: Good for "SNL," but is it good for the governor? To a certain degree, you do influence the way people feel about candidates.
SETH MEYERS, HEAD WRITER, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I think when people get into a voting booth there are a hundred things on their list before what they saw on "Saturday Night Live."
CHO: Not so fast. In 1976, Chevy Chase famously played Gerald Ford, a likable guy but a 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, as its called, is real.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She could be worth a million votes or lose a million votes for a political candidate like Sarah Palin.
CHO: A recent independent study finds Palin's favorability rating dropped when viewers watched 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 "I'm leaving earth."
FEY: You have to goof on the female politicians just as much. Sarah Palin is a tough lady. She kills things. (LAUGHTER) She kills animals.
CHO: As one pundit says, politics makes for great comedy. And great tragedy too.
PALIN: I'm Sarah Palin, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: that was the end of the show. What you didn't see on camera is that after the show Tina Fey and Sarah Palin actually hugged each other. Palin always the politician shook hands with members of the audience on her way out. And when Palin arrived at the hotel after the show, Kiran, there was a crowd waiting for her cheering her on.
You know, a lot of people have been talking about this impression so much because the two look so much alike. I mean, Fey is really a dead ringer and she has even used Palin's own words against her. So that's -- when you talk about the Fey effect, you know, it's real a lot of people say and especially, Fey said I can see Russia from my house. A lot of people think Palin said that. Not true. It was Fey.
CHETRY: She just drew on a lot of things that made them a little bit funnier.
CHO: And the voice is great.
ROBERTS: You know it's interesting to be a fly on the wall there would have been interesting if they had a private moment together. Because Tina Fey had made no bones about the fact that she does not like Governor Palin at least as a politician. She says I look forward to November 5th when I can stop playing this character.
CHO: They didn't spend a lot of time talking to each other during rehearsal, I'm told. But there was that moment at the end where they hugged and they had the kumbaya moment.
CHETRY: She kills things. Relatives of mine says where do you think your food comes from? It doesn't come, you know, packages and skinned already in the grocery store. It has to come from somewhere.
CHO: She says it's all in good fun but you know after the election she's hoping she doesn't have to play her any more.
ROBERTS: Good stuff. Interesting piece. Thanks so much.
CHO: Thanks.
ROBERTS: That's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We will see you back here again tomorrow
CHETRY: Stay tuned. Right now, with CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
