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Countdown to Election Day: Candidates Seek Swing State Voters; High Grocery Bills Take Toll on Consumers; How Low Will Gas Prices Go?; Obama Stumps in Florida

Aired October 21, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: And it is Tuesday, October 21st. Exactly two weeks until Election Day. Our top stories, no time to wait; thousands of eager voters lining up at the polls for early voting.
Plus, pump it up, the price of gas going down. How low will it go?

And Wal-Mart making a move; the real estate giant hoping to cash in on China.

Good morning everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The last lap, just 14 days to the big election, John McCain pressing for votes in Pennsylvania. He is kicking off his day with a rally in the city of Bensalem. Our Dana Bash is there.

Dana good to see you, you know I don't pin a lot of my thinking about this election to the polls. But everything I've seen in the polls suggests that Pennsylvania is a long shot for McCain. So why is he there?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think a long shot is probably an understatement, Tony, because our poll of polls -- I know you don't like them -- but we are talking some of our poll of polls shows that he has a 13-point deficit, that Obama is up by 13 points here.

Why is he there? Basically he doesn't have a choice. That's the hard, cold reality here.

He has been traveling in red states, states that went for George Bush the last time around. That's where he's been up until we came here to Pennsylvania, he's been defending his own turf. But the bottom line is they need a blue state in order to have any chance of winning the election. And Pennsylvania is one that delivers 21 electoral votes.

So he is down, but they insist that he does have a shot here with his message, particularly his message of taxes that he's been pounding Barack Obama on.

But also, he has stepped into something else over the past day or so. And that is -- the McCain campaign has really seized on something that Joe Biden said to a fund-raiser on Sunday night in the state of Washington.

What he said is that he believes that in the first six months of any Obama presidency, some of America's -- basically the rivals will try to test mettle of President Obama. Listen to the way John McCain is reacting to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars. What is more troubling, even more troubling than that, is that Senator Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hit, they would have to stand with them because it wouldn't be apparent that Senator Obama would have the right response.

Forget apparent. Forget apparent. We know Senator Obama won't have the right response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And there actually is one of the rare moments recently we've heard that Senator McCain talked about the issue of national security basically because he had an opening to do so. Obviously it has been entirely about the economy.

And one more thing that Senator McCain brought up for the first time here. And that is, he's trying to connect to people in Pennsylvania with sports, particularly sports that are very important to them right now, and that is the World Series. He made the point that he said that Barack Obama yesterday in Tampa Bay said that he was showing some love for the Tampa Bay Rays. But here he said that he was going to back the Phillies in the World Series.

So that definitely got a big response from the crowd here. And to be clear, at the Obama campaign says that he's still backing the Phillies even though he did, quote, unquote, show some love in Tampa Bay.

HARRIS: He did. And I guess there were six members of the Rays on stage with Barack Obama at that event.

BASH: That's probably why he did it.

HARRIS: That's probably why he did it.

All right Dana, good to see you, thank you.

Two weeks until the election and Barack Obama preparing to leave -- that's right, leave the campaign trail. A senior adviser says Obama is going to visit his 85-year-old grandmother who is seriously ill in Hawaii; he'll be gone from Thursday afternoon until Sunday.

But before he leaves, there will be a couple of other campaign stops, including one this morning in Lake Worth, Florida. And I think we have a live shot here of the crowd assembled there in Lake Worth when that Barack Obama event begins. We will take you to Lake Worth live.

So how will Senator Obama's decision impact his campaign? And here is what CNN's panel of experts told Anderson Cooper last night on "AC 360."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Obama taking a couple days off to go to Hawaii I think will not have much impact on his side of the race, Anderson. I think most people will respect him for going to see a very seriously ill grandmother who has meant so much to him in his upbringing.

It does give an opening to John McCain to dominate the news for a couple of days. And that could be precious with just a couple weeks left. That's very helpful to McCain if he uses it constructively. It could give him a slight advantage. I don't think it hurts Obama but I think gives an opening to McCain.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: John McCain would have to be very careful about the tone of his campaign as Obama goes to his very ill grandmother's bedside. And I think, also, to what Candy said, Obama has given interviews during this campaign in which he said that one of the great regrets of his life was not visiting his mother's bedside before she died. And I think this is something -- this is a woman, as you played those clips, Obama cares a great deal about. I think if McCain is out there attacking him while he visits her, it doesn't set the right tone.

JOE MADISON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I was reared by Betty Stone and Jim Stone, my grandparents. And Barack Obama has no choice. He has to go to his grandmother's side.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Sure.

MADISON: And I think it's a smart thing to do. If he didn't, he'd probably regret it the rest of his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So with just 14 days left in the race for president, the fight for battleground states heating up, our correspondents in the hot spots.

Over the next two hours, we will bring you reports from CNN's John Zarrella in Florida, Dan Lothian reporting from Virginia, our Dan Simon covering Colorado and Mary Snow in Ohio.

A lot of you can't wait until November 4th to vote. Early or absentee voting going on now in every state across the country and tens of thousands of you are already lining up.

Here is a look at a polling place in Dallas. Texas officials report record numbers of early voters across the state. They say it is likely the start of an unprecedented election turnout there.

And here is early voting in Denver, Colorado. Motor voters able to drive by and drop off their ballots in that battleground state.

Early voters in Florida seeing early problems. Our John Zarrella takes us to the polls in Broward County.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With early voting beginning on Monday in Florida, I decided I better beat the Election Day rush. Both parties are urging their supporters to get out and vote early. Why? Well, there's a million voters in Broward County alone. And they expect huge turnouts between now and Election Day. Now, I got in line 11:15 here. Let's see how long it takes me to negotiate and actually get inside today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Change is on the way. It's worth the wait.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I always vote early. But I've never seen the crowds like this ever before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I live in the neighborhood.

ZARRELLA: So it's easier?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not, I finished up at the golf course so I came here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does anyone want a sample ballot?

ZARRELLA: I've been standing in the line now for 30 minutes. And glad to say I'm not the end of the line anymore.

Are you going to stay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

ZARRELLA: Did you bring a deck of cards?

Many people spent their time studying the sample ballot. The real ballot is four pages including a host of proposed constitutional amendments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they ask me for money, no.

ZARRELLA: Did you figure the ballot out? Did you figure out all these amendments stuff?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not.

ZARRELLA: I've been waiting an hour and a half now, but we're almost inside the door. Are you excited about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm excited.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In order to vote for me you have to --

ZARRELLA: Marty Ann Leavy is reminding people she's running for a judgeship. Why? Someone else's name, not hers was put on the ballot. Oops. Well, it is Florida.

We're in, finally. But it was hardly the end of the wait.

Just ask those finally coming out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually I thought it was a big mess. Three hours; machines breaking; exhausted on my day-off.

ZARRELLA: It took me three hours and 15 minutes. There are two machines that actually print out the ballots, and both of the machines went down for a period of about 45 minutes.

So that just brought everything to a standstill. So first day, early problems. We'll see what happens as the weeks progress.

John Zarrella, CNN, Broward County, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Come on Florida, get it together.

Now, another battleground state facing possible election problems; Virginia, officials bracing for a heavy voter turn out.

Our Dan Lothian has the story.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, everyone will admit that it is a good thing to have a lot of people registered to vote and a lot of people show up at the polls. This state certainly has registered a record number of people, more than five million. And both of the campaigns have been working very hard in particular here in Prince William County in their get out the vote efforts.

But with these big numbers come big challenges.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: The machines are ready. The poll workers are lined up. But Prince William County is bracing for a tidal wave of voters and hoping not to get swamped by an expected 90 percent statewide turnout.

Is the infrastructure, you think, designed for 90 percent?

COREY STEWART, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: No, I don't think it is. I think it's going to be very difficult. I think it's going to be -- we're going to see a lot of lines.

LOTHIAN: Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart says in 2006 when the county had a 60 percent turnout, it wasn't pretty.

STEWART: It was a tough year; we weren't ready for it clearly. The lines were in some cases several hours long.

LOTHIAN: He said there weren't enough polling places and there were problems with new touch screen voting machines. The county registrar Betty Weimer is working hard to ensure history doesn't repeat itself. For starters, she's recruited more poll workers.

BETTY WEIMER, REGISTRAR, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY: For most general elections we run around 600 to 700 election officers. Right now we've assigned 1100 people to work.

LOTHIAN: To help cut down on crowds, extra days have been added for absentee in-person voting which got on the way last month. For example, in 2004, Saturday voting only took place on the two weekends before Election Day. But Saturday voting has already been happening all this month. They've also added Tuesday evenings, convenient for voters.

STEWART: Vote early if possible. And if not, just be prepared for some fairly long lines.

WEIMER: We've asked them to please bring their patience and wear comfortable shoes on Election Day.

LOTHIAN: Testing the limits of this county's ability to deal with voters who are energized and who know how critical their vote will be in this battleground state.

Will you be happy when this is all over?

BARBARA BALL, ASSISTANT REGISTRAR, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY: Honestly, yes.

LOTHIAN: Tony, just to give you a good sense of how the vote is currently going, in 2004 the registrar told us that they had a little more than 10,000 absentee voters. Well, they've already surpassed that number. And they're still two weeks to go -- Tony.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Thank you Dan.

Are you angry about the economy? Well, you're not the only one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Lake Worth, Florida. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: ... So I hope you'll bear with me. These are some of the smartest people you'll ever care to meet. But this is a serious conversation that we want to have. And as I said, I know it's a little bit warm. If people can stay seated for the most part and keep the aisles relatively clear, that will make sure that we'll be able to hear what our panelists have to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, Barack.

OBAMA: I love you back. All right now, we meet at a moment of great uncertainty for America. The economy, I think everybody now knows is facing its worst crisis since the Great Depression. And businesses large and small are finding it impossible to get loans which means they can't buy new equipment or hire new workers or even make payroll in some cases for the workers that they have.

And we've lost more than 750,000 jobs this year. We just learned that here in Florida we lost nearly 11,000 jobs in September alone. Wages are lower than they've been in a decade at a time when costs of health care and college have never been higher.

Now, earlier this month, when the major financial institutions were on the verge of collapse and global markets were on the brink, we took the unprecedented action in Congress of passing a $700 billion financial rescue plan.

I have no doubt that this was the right thing to do to address the immediate crisis and put our economy on a firmer footing. And we had some modestly positive news yesterday of the credit markets starting to loosen up again and people being willing to make loans.

But that was just the beginning, not the end of our work to rebuild our struggling economy. Some of the people on this stage know this better than just about anyone. They're on the front lines dealing with the fallout from eight years of greed on Wall Street and irresponsibility in Washington. And when we spend $10 billion a month in Iraq-- every month -- that means less money to fix crumbling roads and bridges here at home.

When our president passes tax breaks for multi-millionaires, corporations for the shipping jobs overseas that leaves our states without the resources to provide health care and good schools and police and firefighters.

Today, 21 states are facing budget shortfalls including Florida. Governors across America are in facing impossible choices. I'm sure the governors will talk about this. Cutting vital services and raising property taxes on families that are already struggling to stay afloat.

Now, let's be clear, the financial crisis that states, businesses and families are facing, didn't just spring up full-blown overnight. It's been a long time coming. The warning signs have been very clear. But while President Bush and Senator McCain were ready to move heaven and earth to address the crisis on Wall Street, President Bush has failed so far to address the crisis on Main Street. And Senator McCain has failed to fully acknowledge it.

Instead of common sense solutions, month after month they've offered little more than willful ignorance, wishful thinking, outdated ideology.

Now, nine months ago back in January, I called for a stimulus package to provide immediate relief for states along with tax rebates to get money directly to the middle class families and a foreclosure prevention fund to help them keep their homes.

Yesterday the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, one of the successors of Paul Voker, acknowledged we need a stimulus package. Senator McCain on other end at that time back in January insisted that the fundamentals of the economy were strong.

No, no. We don't need that. We just need you to vote.

Senator McCain's advisers mocked the stimulus plan before Congress. One referred to it as borrowing money from the Chinese and dropping it from helicopters. Another dismissed it as junk.

Now, last August, I called for a jobs and growths fund to help states put people to work and rebuild and repair our roads and our bridges and our infrastructure. I called for $25 billion to help state and local governments pay for services and avoid raising property taxes because tax increases are the last thing that our families need in an economy like this.

But President Bush and Senator McCain thought that a second stimulus package was unnecessary. And finally, after nine straight months of job losses and the worst market turmoil in generations, at a time when even the Bush White House has acknowledged the need for a second stimulus, Senator McCain put forth a plan, and it's fair to say it leaves a lot to be desired.

It's a proposal that does nothing to create jobs, it's an emergency plan that does nothing to help families with emergencies of lost jobs or falling wages or mounting bills. It contains a housing proposal that offers a $300 billion bailout for Wall Street banks, buying homes at full cost so that the banks know that they would gain and taxpayers know that they would lose.

It does very little to help middle class families stay in their homes. In short, it's an economic proposal that does not rebuild our economy, but does everything to continue the same failed policies of the last eight years. When speculators gained the system, the regulators looked the other way. Lobbyists bought their way into our government.

It's the same failed policies of the crying greed on Wall Street one minute and then rewarding that greed the next minute with tax cuts for people who don't need them and weren't even asking for them. It's the same failed philosophy of giving more and more to those with the most and hoping that prosperity trickles down on everyone else.

You know it's funny. Yesterday I heard Senator McCain say I'm more concerned with who gets your piece of the pie than with growing the pie.

But make no mistake about it. After eight years of Bush-McCain economics, the pie is shrinking, it's not growing. That means lower wages and declining incomes. Plummeting home values, rising unemployment.

So we've seen what happens with their policies. We've had an eight-year experiment. We see where it leads. This economic crisis is the final verdict on that failed leadership. It is time to try something new.

And I know how difficult these times are. But I'm confident we can steer ourselves out of this crisis because I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe in the leaders who are here at this table, who have helped to build businesses and helped to create the kind of economic development in their home states that are so desperately need.

Across America I believe in families who are going through tough times, and they're on the front lines. But they're meeting challenges head on. So many of the governors here, they're helping small businesses take off and harnessing renewable energy and information technology to create 21st century jobs; to working in the reform schools and train workers to succeed in the global economy.

So that's why we're here today, because a crisis like this calls for the best ideas, the brightest minds, the most innovative solutions from every corner of this country. And these leaders need and deserve a partner in the White House, a president who understands that our prosperity doesn't come from Wall Street or Washington. It comes from the hard work and ingenuity of our people.

So we should be investing in your productivity. Investing in the high wage, high skilled jobs that support families and strengthen our economies. And that's what I intend to do if I'm elected President of the United States of America.

Just a couple of very quick points to give you some specifics about some of the things I think we need to do. I want to create a new Americans jobs tax credit for each new employee that companies hire here in the United States over the next two years. I want to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, I want to invest in companies that create jobs right here in Florida.

I want to help small businesses get back on their feet by eliminating capital gains and giving them emergency loans to keep their doors open and hire workers. Now, these are a few steps we have to take right now to get our economy back on track. But we need a whole new set of priorities to create jobs and grow our economy over the long term.

That means investing in renewable energy. I proposed $15 billion a year to create five million new green jobs over the next decade, jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced, jobs building solar panels and wind turbines in old factories that have shut down. Jobs in Michigan and Ohio building the fuel efficient cars of the future, jobs that will help us end our dependence on foreign oil but also help save our planet in the bargain.

That's the kind of leadership that we need.

I want to put two million more Americans to work rebuilding an infrastructure for the 21st century. Not just roads and schools and bridges, but laying broadband lines so that everybody can Google anywhere they are, so that we're building a new electricity grid to get the renewable energy to the places that need it most.

And if people tell you we can't invest in our future, you just remind them, if we're spending $10 billion a month rebuilding Iraq we certainly can spend some of that money right here, in Florida, right here in the United States of America rebuilding America.

I want to rebuild a broken health care system using information technology and using preventive approaches and managing the chronically ill so that we're not wasting money in our health care system, instead we're providing coverage and affordability for everybody who needs it. And we have to make sure that we have a world-class education system creating more scientists and engineers, investing in innovation and discovery so our young people can compete.

None of this is going to be easy. It's not going to come without a cost. We're not going to be able to do it overnight. But I'm confident we're ready to meet this challenge.

Over the past 20 months, I've met people from all across this country who work that extra shift, they take that bus home late because they want more for their kids, they work long hours and face long odds without complaint or regret. They're not asking government to solve all their problems. They're just asking for a chance to work hard, to provide for their families and to contribute to this country.

And I'm running for President to give them that chance, to rebuild our economy, ensure that our children and our grandchildren have the same opportunities that we had.

I hope you believe in that same dream and I hope you decide to vote for me on November 4th.

Thank you. Thank you.

HARRIS: So there you have Barack Obama in Lake Worth, Florida.

And let me see if I can better explain -- you probably figured it out for yourselves already; Barack Obama wrapping up remarks just ahead of the main event at this particular rally. And the main event here is an economic discussion where he is participant and moderator.

And on the panel, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, also New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Former Fed Chairman Paul Voker and Google CEO Eric Schmidt. All or part of this economic panel that is going on right now that they'll take some questions from the audience in Lake Worth, Florida; the Obama event this morning.

Well, gas prices are going down, but you're still paying more for groceries. What gives here, your personal finance editor Gerri Willis is investigating.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's talk about Issue Number One, the economy, gas and oil prices are dropping. But the cost of groceries still pretty high. Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is in New York.

Gerri, good to see you this morning. What's going on here?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey there.

Well Tony, as we all know, the rising cost of fuel, well, it helped push your grocery bill higher.

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: But even the fact that gas has retreated recently, it's down below three bucks a gallon; oil is down half as much from its high in July. But the price we're paying at the grocery store is still high.

Flour prices are up 26 percent from the beginning of the year, apples are up 36 percent, white rice is up 50 percent. So you can see the prices at the grocery store still on the rise despite the fact that gas price are down.

HARRIS: So, what's the disconnect, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, companies are making more money. It's true. Costs were going up when oil prices were high. And companies may have passed that along to the consumer. But now that oil prices have retreated, hey, you know, companies are enjoying just pocketing that extra bit of profit.

You know, it's what they call sticky prices. Once a company raises prices on a product and the consumer accepts that price increase, it's really hard for the companies to give up that extra profit. And of course, there's competition. When everybody raises prices, you don't want to be the odd man out. The only reason you'd lower it again is if you wanted to steal away competition.

Look, higher prices on groceries aren't the only products we need to get used to with higher prices. Airline fuel surcharges are likely here to stay, too. But, there is a silver lining here, Tony. Prices aren't likely to go any higher anytime soon from here. And that is according to experts who look at consumer prices.

HARRIS: Sticky pricing, huh? What can we do about these high food prices, Gerri?

WILLIS: Well, you've got to fight back. There are places you can go on the web to find coupons; coolsavings.com and couponmom.com are two great web sites. And then when you get to the store for goodness sake, shop at the store's periphery, where low cost fresh produce, meats and vegetables are located. Store designers put the expensive stuff right in the middle, the easiest place to reach. In the middle of the store. And you won a $20 coupon, leave the kids at home. You'll definitely spend less if you don't take junior to the store with you.

HARRIS: That's a good piece of advice. That's practical there, straight talk.

All right, Gerri, good to see you. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: Good tips as always.

As the most serious credit crisis in decades rocks your finances, CNNMoney.com has some advice and answers there. Check out our special report America's Money Crisis. That's at CNNmoney.com.

Have I mentioned 14 days to go. And the presidential campaigns are trying to cover as many of these yellow states as possible. They are the battleground states and voters in these key states could decide the election.

Here's another question for you. What role is skin color playing in this historical presidential campaign? Our chief national correspondent John King goes looking for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Afro World in inner city St. Louis, Barack Obama is both the candidate of choice and a bestseller.

SHEILA FORREST, OWNER, AFRO WORLD: With sales being down in businesses, like the hair business not doing as well. But this has been a big boom and I'm very grateful for it.

KING: Sheila Forrest is the owner and already knows Obama is breaking the old rules.

FORREST: I've never been involved in politics in my life because I was always told that you'll lose customers if you get involved with a candidate.

KING: But this year is different. And Obama means new customers and new voters in an energized African-American community. Forest grew up to her father's stories of marching with Martin Luther King and sees a chance now to do her part.

FORREST: I feel like I've had the opportunity of being a part of history.

KING: At Leonard Missionary Baptist Church, 84 year-old Ollie James predicts his prayers will soon be answered.

OLLIE JAMES, ST. LOUIS CHURCHGOER: When I came from, with the segregation and all the hatred, I never thought an African-American man would get this far in the United States.

KING: Camp Obama believes just a modest increase in African- American turn out could tip the scales in several key battleground states, including in Missouri.

And Washington University professor Mike Minta says history suggests there will be higher turn out.

MIKE MINTA, PROFESSOR, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: There's a large political science literature that's looked at first time, historic elections. Mostly, kind of like on the mayoral races, where you have seen when there's a first-time African-American or a Latino, first time running, that turnout increases dramatically.

KING: There is a flip side, of course. This billboard in the Missouri Ozarks, a reminder there are some who won't vote for Obama because of his name or the color of his skin.

Show Pastor Steven Thompson the billboard and he keeps his trademark calm.

PASTOR STEVEN THOMPSON, ST. LOUIS: If I spend my time getting angry about what the things people do, then I can't do what I effectively do here. Those people who do stuff like that, you know, the only thing I can say, we pray for them.

KING: Sheila Forrest says she worried she might be supporting Obama just because he's black. So, when she sat down for the first presidential debate, she closed her eyes.

I heard this just intelligent individual. Very self-assured, very positive. And it was just a wonderful experience. I didn't see color. There was no color, no color in listening to him. It was an awesome experience.

KING: Forrest suggests white voters with doubts about Obama, try the same test. And predicts many will find the candidate who's good for her business, be the best choice for the country.

John King, CNN, St. Louis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The economy and its impact on the race. Two weeks from today, will Americans vote their wallets? It is part of our day-long focus tomorrow right here on CNN. Are you angry about the economy? You know, you're not the only one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The upcoming election, have I mentioned this morning, it's just 14 days away. You know, we're learning more about the mood of Americans. New polls show most of you are angry and pretty stressed out. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins me with disturbing, but Bill, not all that surprising news.

Good morning.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Well, the news is, of course, disturbing Americans are not in a very good mood. When we ask them how do you think things are going in the country today? 3/4 of Americans said they think things are going badly. How bad is that? Well, we've seen a number that high only three times in recent decades. We saw it during Watergate in the 1970s, we saw it during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 and 1980. And we saw it during the recession of 1992, when it was the economy stupid that got Bill Clinton elected. So, when Americans are in a bad mood, it does have political consequence consequences.

HARRIS: And Bill, is there any additional information in that polling? I can understand those first numbers. A lot of folks obviously angry about the direction of the economy right now.

SCHNEIDER: They are indeed. They describe themselves -- 3/4 say they are angry. More than a third, 35 percent call themselves very angry. Those who say they're very angry are voting overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. Those who say they're somewhat angry are splitting their vote. Just the one quarter who are not angry are voting for John McCain. The angrier you feel, the more likely you are to vote for Obama.

Not only are they angry, but 3/4 say they feel stressed out over the economic situation in the country. And Tony, 2/3 of Americans describe themselves as scared.

HARRIS: Oh, boy.

SCHNEIDER: I don't think that's because Halloween is coming.

HARRIS: Good point. I think you're absolutely right about that. Bill Schneider for us this morning.

Bill, good to see you. Thank you, sir.

The economy and its impact on this race. Two weeks from today will Americans vote their wallets? It is part of our day-long focus tomorrow right here on CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: The newest target for I.D. theft, your children. Our Veronica De La Cruz has been watching our affiliate and she joins us now to explain.

Veronica, what are you finding?

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, Tony.

Important story to tell you from our affiliate WTAE, out of Philadelphia. Tony, want to ask you this. Think about how often you give out the following pieces of info: Your address, your date of birth, your Social Security, right?

HARRIS: Yes, way too much.

DE LA CRUZ: Right. And think about how often you do the same for your kids, which is why the FBI is warning that children have become targets for identity theft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SHORE, SPECIAL AGENT, FBI: When they can find someone that has a clean history, particularly children, then it's a benefit to them because they can carry on any type of crime screams over a long period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DE LA CRUZ: Now, like you just heard, the problem is many of these cases going unnoticed for a long periods of time. Because of a child's age, Tony, it might go unnoticed until your child applies for his first job, buys his or her first car. So, in some cases think about it, it might be years and years until the whole thing comes to light.

And the Federal Trade Commission is reporting that between 2005 and 2007, more than 45,000 cases of I.D. theft of a person younger than 18 were reported. So, officials, Tony, recommend actually checking your child's credit report, along with yours once a year.

HARRIS: Your child's credit report?

DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Check your child's credit report. Everyone is entitled to a free one. You can find it online at annualcreditreport.com.

And one more piece of advice, Tony. If your child is suddenly receiving lots of mail, like offers for credit cards, then someone might have opened up an account in their name. It is definitely best to check their credit immediately.

HARRIS: Yes. That makes all the sense. If my 13-year-old is getting an offer for a credit card, I have some questions to ask.

All right, Veronica, see you next hour.

DE LA CRUZ: I'll see you then.

HARRIS: OK. Thanks, Veronica.

One major American company goes overseas to succeed. The question is will it work?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Have you heard this? eBay is banning the sale of ivory to help protect African and Asian elephants. The ban goes into effect in December. And it will enforced starting in January. Now, you can still hock things like pianos that contain small amounts of ivory as long as they were made before the year 1900. But selling items like jewelry and chess sets that contain larger amounts of ivory, well that is out of the question.

While some businesses filing Chapter 11 in this tough economy, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer is cashing in and expanding internationally.

Our Emily Chang reports from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Welcome to Wal- Mart's newest super store in Beijing. One of 115 stores in 63 cities across China. Almost all the products here are local and geared toward the food-driven consumer. There's Chinese fruit, live seafood, even turtles. Despite the global economic crisis, Wal-Mart is expanding in China, moving into smaller cities to tap a wider market. The strategy, that there's tremendous growth potential in China, even in this hard times.

SHAWN GRAY, VICE PRESIDENT, WAL-MART CHINA: We see that this is a very unique opportunity to grow our business here. And we're doing it through price leadership, ensuring that our customers can stretch that dollar that they have and buy the products that they need.

CHANG: This is an example of foreign retailers digging deeper into the Chinese market amidst a chill on the global economy. But economic growth in China is the lowest it's been in years. And Chinese consumers are already feeling the pinch. So it's yet to be seen if Wal-Mart's aggressive strategy in the China will pay off.

Emily Chang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, the Chinese government is demanding an apology from Taiwan, after this violent attack on a Chinese envoy in Taipei, this morning. Did you see this? He was surrounded and knocked to the ground by pro-independence protesters. Taiwan's government says it regrets the incident. Relations between Taiwan and China have improved since Taiwan's new president took office earlier this year. Although you wouldn't know it by this flare-up.

Should September 11 be a holiday? One city says yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CURRERI, IREPORTER: What I'm really looking for in the two candidates is for one of them to show me that they have the passion that I know that they have, towards America, towards (INAUDIBLE), but more specifically towards my generation, to show that they believe in my generation and they're going to do everything they can to give us the ability to make America great.

ERIN MACK, IREPORTER: There's nothing wrong with being an undecided voter, as long as you go out of your way to find out about the issues and eventually have someone in mind.

Yes, first-time voters!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. How you get an income tax cut if you don't even pay income taxes? That question is at the heart of an attack now by John McCain against Barack Obama, Josh Levs with the CNN Truth Squad joins me with that.

OK, Josh, you're on.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That sounds a little like bit like a riddle doesn't it?

HARRIS: Yes, it does.

LEVS: Well here's --

HARRIS: Riddle me this --

LEVS: Here's the deal -- John McCain is talking about the fact Barack Obama is promising to cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans. Let's take a look at what John McCain is saying on the stump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And you can see the decision right there. So that's true (ph).

Now here's what this is all about. I want to explain this to you. So, we have a graphic that should make it pretty simple. Obama is offering this -- a new making work pay tax credit. His campaign says it would cut income taxes and go to 95 percent of workers, it's up to $500. It is designed to offset these payroll taxes that go to Social Security and Medicare. Now, even people who don't pay federal income tax, generally do pay those, the payroll taxes.

So, under Obama's plan if you pay income taxes, that 500 bucks will come out of what you owe government. If you don't pay federal income taxes you get a check in the mail. And yes, those checks would be funded in part by Obama's plan to increase taxes on families making more than $250,000 -- individuals making more than $200,000.

So Tony, that is how it can be the case and that is how the CNN Truth Squad got to that verdict. True.

HARRIS: Got you. I think I follow it. Thank you for that, Josh.

LEVS: Yes, it's a lot of number crunching. But you get it. HARRIS: Absolutely. And from the other side you're looking at an attack over minimum wage?

LEVS: Yes. This is interesting. This one just came up.

Let's take a look at what Joe Biden said on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John McCain voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage -- 19 times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And you the squad there says, misleading.

Here is how we got to that verdict. I have another graphic for you here. McCain has voted 19 times against provisions to raise the minimum wage. But, in some of those cases, Tony, those provisions were inside these much larger spending bills and McCain was complaining about pork in other parts of those bills. Also some of those were procedural votes to quash attempts to raise the minimum wage.

Biden did not mention that McCain has voted at least five times to raise the minimum wage. So that is how the Truth Squad on that one got to the verdict of misleading.

And Tony, let me tell you, we've got a lot of great truth squads on this. Tomorrow in the NEWSROOM, we've got a special focus on falsehoods and misleading statements about the economy, including a look at the most popular fact checks of this entire election.

HARRIS: Oh great.

LEVS: All part of our day-long look at the economy's impact on the race.

HARRIS: Can't do enough with this. We're just 14 days, two weeks, until the election.

LEVS: There's a lot to (INAUDIBLE) there.

HARRIS: Thank you.

LEVS: Thanks.

HARRIS: See you next hour.

Check out our Political Ticker for all the latest campaign news. Just logon to CNNpolitics.com, your source for all things political.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Making September 11th a paid holiday. Police officers in Peabody, Massachusetts will now earn time and a quarter if they work on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The mandate, which may be the first of its kind in the nation, is part of a new police department contract deal.

And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And here are the headlines for Tuesday, October 21st.

Showdown in the battleground states. A look at the candidates' strategies in the last lap of this election.

Plus, the economy in an election year. New polls out this hour about the key issues driving voters to the ballot box.

And the latest on the U.S. plans to leave Iraq.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.