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American Morning
Bush Administration Lays Ground Work for Second Stimulus Package; White Powder Mailed to Nine Banks; Obama Leaves Campaign Trail to Visit Ailing Relative; Palin's Motorcade Blocked by Protesters
Aired October 21, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: 8:00 right on the nose, here in New York. A look at the top stories this morning. Right now, the Bush administration laying the ground work for a second stimulus package. Yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke told Congress that now is the right time to consider a new stimulus plan to boost consumer spending. In February, the government issued tax rebates of between $600 and $1200 as part of a $168 billion stimulus package.
FBI agents are conducting an investigation after threatening letters were sent to nine Chase Banks. Six in Denver, three in Oklahoma. Some of the letters contained white powder. Bank employees were examined by medical workers at the scene as a precaution. Officials say the initial tests showed the substance does not appear to be a dangerous one.
Well, as voters head to the polls again today in Florida, election officials say that they will add more machines across the state to handle the early voting crowd. Lines wrapped around the block yesterday at some sites. The wait was three hours. They also reported some computer glitches in a few of those voting spots.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, with the presidential election just 14 days away now, Barack Obama is putting his campaign on hold to deal with a family emergency. He's going to be canceling events later on this week, Thursday and Friday, to be with his seriously ill grandmother in Hawaii. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live for us this morning in Lake Worth, Florida where Senator Obama has got an event coming up today.
You've met with the family. What can you tell us about the relationship between Senator Obama and his grandmother?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, in doing a documentary a couple of months ago, I really had a chance to talk to a lot of Obama's close friends, his family. I've talked to Obama, Michelle, as well as his sister, Maya. They are very, very close.
This is a woman who raised Barack Obama in Honolulu when he was a teenager, along with his grandfather. His mother has often traveled to Indonesia. As you know, he was abandon by his father. So, he has a very close relationship with her. He has described her as kind of a no-nonsense type of woman, a woman with mid-western roots from Kansas. He calls her toots. That is the nickname that he has. It's a really short, Hawaiian for tutu, which means grandmother. She never wants to be called grandmother. So, that is something that they kind of laugh about a little bit.
But in speaking with Maya, she loves to play bridge. She listens to a lot of books that are on tape. She does watch. She's an avid news watcher, as well. And you know, she is somebody who unfortunately has not been able to get around over the last year or so. At least not very well. Maya is saying that she suffers from serious osteoporosis. And so, that is why she hasn't really been able to travel that much. But this is someone who is very, very significant to Barack Obama.
He talks about her from time to time on the campaign trail. And when he accepted his nomination as the Democratic nominee, he said that who he is as a man he owes to his grandmother, that that is the reason why he stood there today -- John.
ROBERTS: You know, it's obviously a family emergency. He's got to go out there. He's doing that event behind you there in Lake Worth today. He's also got an appearance in Miami. He'll be in Leesburg, Virginia, tomorrow. The question is he's got to go to his grandmother side, but to be off the campaign trail for a couple of days at a very critical period of time.
What effect might that have on the campaign?
MALVEAUX: You know, it's really hard to say. I mean, he's got to be out of the spotlight, out of the limelight for at least 36 hours or so. Michelle Obama is going to take his place at some of those events. So, obviously, she's going to be getting the attention, she's going to be spreading the message. But you're right. It's a very critical time here with less than two weeks to go before the election.
Obviously, every single day counts. He is ahead in some of the polls. But we see the lead is tightening a little bit. He's going to be back on the campaign trail on Saturday. That certainly is the hope. But you can imagine, John -- I mean, how significant this is for he and his family, that he needs to be there at that time.
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us in Lake Worth, Florida, just south of Palm Beach.
Suzanne, thanks so much for that. Appreciate it.
CHETRY: Police in Colorado are trying to identify several people who tried to block Governor Sarah Palin's motorcade.
This was the scene yesterday evening in Grand Junction as Governor Palin was on her way to speak to supporters. Our affiliate was there and captured the whole thing on tape. Police say that the protesters were part of a group called Red Pill. Officers in the motorcade drag some of the protesters out of the motorcade's way.
And Governor Sarah Palin on the stump in Nevada today. She's the fastest rising star in the Republican Party with a following that many times surpasses John McCain's. But as the campaign enters the home stretch, some prominent conservatives are speaking out, suggesting that Palin was a mistake. CNN's Ed Henry is live in Grand Junction, Colorado this morning.
Hi, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
You're absolutely right. Sarah Palin has been taking all kinds of hits from fellow Republicans back in Washington. Various senior elders in the party, if you will, but she gets a much, much different reception out here on the trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): In the final days out here in battleground states like Colorado, Sarah Palin is treated like a rock star, still drawing much bigger crowds than John McCain.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Barack Obama calls it spreading the wealth. Joe Biden calls higher taxes patriotic. Joe the Plumber said it sounded to him like socialism. And now is not the time to experiment with that.
HENRY: She's ripping into Barack Obama and the party faithful is digging her feistiness.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I think she's different. She's not the bureaucracy that we've been putting up with, and putting up with, and putting up with for so long in Washington. She is change.
HENRY: It's one of the great unknowns about the final two weeks. Can the Palin factor drive enough conservatives to the polls to offset Obama's gains with independent voters?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may well be that there is a -- there are group of people out there now find it politically incorrect to be for Sarah Palin in public but they're going to vote for her in the privacy of the voting booth.
HENRY: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is hardly alone among establishment Republicans, however, in believing Palin actually hurts the Republican ticket.
COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president.
HENRY: Conservative "New York Times" columnist David Brookes has called Palin a cancer on the Republican Party. While former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan wrote in the "Wall Street Journal," quote, "There is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for and expects in a holder of high office."
But there may be a disconnect between elite Republicans and the party faithful. RICK STENGEL, MANAGING EDITOR, TIME MAGAZINE: I think Sarah Palin is still very popular among the conservative base. There are other conservatives, the conservative intelligentsia, who have pealed off and think that maybe it was a mistake.
HENRY: More so than McCain, she has built a fervent following that may show up on Election Day for the Republican ticket.
ALEX CASTELLANOS, GOP STRATEGIST, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Don't underestimate the Palin voters. They're still out there. They're still intense, a lot of those voters.
PALIN: Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!
HENRY: And her solid performance on "Saturday Night Live" suggests that regardless of what happens on Election Day, Palin could be a winner. If McCain pulls out a comeback victory, she'll get plenty of credit. If he loses, she could be the air apparent in 2012.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: And while she was here in Colorado, Sarah Palin taped a radio interview with Dr. James Dobson, sort of the godfather of the Christian Conservative Movement. That's going to start playing out starting tomorrow. Hundreds of radio stations around the country, it's very clear the McCain strategy is to deploy Sarah Palin, trying to get her to rally that conservative base in these final two weeks -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ed Henry for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour now. A popular morning television anchor woman who filmed a bit role for the movie "W" was in critical condition today after being severely beaten in her home. Anne Pressly was found by her mother after she did not respond to a wake-up call. Police believe that this may have been something other than a usual robbery and think that Pressly may have been targeted because of her job.
And there has been another arrest in connection with the case of the Las Vegas boy who was taken at gun point and found over the weekend. The companion of 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger's grandfather is now under arrest. Police believed that grandfather stole millions of dollars of drug money and the abduction was payback.
Ohio's Democratic governor says Republicans are trying to scare newly-registered voters by filing lawsuits questioning their eligibility. Governor Ted Strickland claims that the GOP's legal challenges questioning the status of about 200,000 newly-registered voters is an attempt to make them so afraid that they will just stay home on Election Day.
Huge turnout expected across the country on Election Day. But will some states end up overwhelmed by the sheer volume of voters? We're going to take you to the battleground state of Virginia to see what they're trying to do. Also, Joe Biden faced a life-threatening condition 20 years ago. Is there any concern for the vice presidential candidate's current health? Our Sanjay Gupta looks at Biden's just released medical records. It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Christine Romans joins us now. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning. We're talking about all things politics and the economy.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.
CHETRY: The stimulus package and tax cuts.
ROMANS: That's right. Well, let's talk about stimulus first, because Ben Bernanke, the Fed Chief, yesterday told Congress that he thinks another fiscal package might be appropriate. We had one earlier this year. You know, it's about $170 billion. It had rebate checks that so many Americans got. There was a little boost to retail spending, but not a lot. And we are still finding ourselves in a soft economy now. So people are talking about maybe they would like to see another one.
So, what's the wish list? Well, Nancy Pelosi has been asking for this and pushing for this for some time now. The White House now says that it is open to suggestions. It is open to talking about it at least, and the Fed Chief saying that it might be appropriate. More stimulus -- this is what Democrats want. More cash assistance. Funding for more infrastructure projects, extend jobless benefits, raise the limits on home loans backed by the governments.
Republicans have talked about more tax breaks, cut the capital gains tax in half for two years. Cut income tax for firms that are buying those troubled assets. And expand capital gains exclusion on a non-primary home sales. This would maybe help get some foreclosed properties off the market. People could buy a second or third home. Get them off the market. Hold them for about eight years and so cut some of those.
So, we're talking about another stimulus, potentially $150 to $300 billion depending on who you talked to and what they want. Some of the critics are worried that it would be a Christmas tree for all kinds of special interests and then in the best interest of the economy. They pushed something through and they stick a bunch of stuff on there, earmarks the like, that would be a little unnecessary. So, that's what we're talking about for the stimulus thing. Market had a good day yesterday. Today, though, the futures are looking down.
So, yesterday, market was up 413 points for the Dow. It's about -- it's almost five percent. Nasdaq up 58 points. S&P 500 up four. But today, they are -- they are looking down, so we'll continue to ride.
CHETRY: The roller coaster ride continues, unfortunately. ROMANS: Absolutely right. That's absolutely right.
ROBERTS: At the top of The Hill yesterday, is this going to be a big dip or just a little one.
ROMANS: We'll have to see. You know, you never know. There's such a long trading day. Anything can happen. Somebody takes the microphone. Starts to talk about you know the depths of the pain in the economy or a glitch in trying to get a stimulus. You never know what's going to happen in stocks.
CHETRY: All right. Christine, thanks.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, right now, a massive get out. The vote effort in key battleground states going on all across the country. Just ahead, we're going to take you to Ohio where evangelical voters who were critical for George W. Bush in 2004 are already hard at work.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Beautiful shot this morning. That's Nashville, Tennessee. It's cloudy right now, 52 degrees, but shaping up to be a beautiful day, sunny and 65. That's a forecast for good, old Nashville. 15 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano, not too far from Nashville.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Hey, we got to race to the finish. Just 14 days left now until the election. States like Florida, people were out there early voting. John McCain and Barack Obama fighting tooth and nail for this remaining battleground states. How are they doing it? Where are they fighting? What are the latest poll numbers? The race is tightening up. We'll have that for you just as soon as we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Hey, we're back at the magic wall today to show you a little bit about where the candidates are, how they're battling for these battleground states and where they're going to be going in the next couple of days, and how the polls are beginning to tighten here with 14 days left.
First of all, let's take a look at the State of Missouri. This is where John McCain was out campaigning. He was in St. Charles, which is northwest of St. Louis, yesterday. Don't forget, Missouri is a state that has accurately, with the exception of one time, predicted who would be president every year since 1900. So, McCain yesterday was out there in St. Charles. He was also at Belton, which is south of Kansas City.
Let's take a look at how the race is shaping up in the state of Missouri. Look at this. John McCain, 48 percent to 46 percent for Senator Obama. That's our latest poll of polls. That's actually a one-point increase for John McCain. So, starting to stretch out his lead there in the state of Missouri just a little bit. But however, that is just a little bit because within two points, well within the margin of error.
Senator Obama spent yesterday here in Tampa. He was also in Orlando, a joint appearance with Senator Hillary Clinton. He's going to be in Lake Worth in Palm Beach County later on today -- that's where Suzanne Malveaux was, and then in Miami as well.
Let's take a look at what's happening in the "Sunshine State." 49-46 for Senator Obama. Those numbers were four points ahead, now three points ahead. Four points in our last poll of polls. Now three points ahead. So things beginning to tighten up a little bit in the "Sunshine State."
Take a look at Pennsylvania. John McCain's got some campaign stops here in the next day or so. He's going to be in Bensalem, which is just northeast of Philadelphia and Bucks County. He'll also be in Harrisburg and in Pittsburgh as well, trying to make some inroads in the "Keystone State."
But a lot of people say, why is he going there? Because look at this -- 53 percent Senator Obama to 40 percent for Senator McCain. That's a huge margin that he has to try to overcome. So, there are some people who are saying -- some strategists saying, would he be better to spend more time in some of the other battleground states?
For example, Ohio, he'll be in the Cincinnati area. And these numbers are much closer. Look at this, 48 percent to 45 percent, Senator Obama over Senator McCain. That's about where it's been. It's been about two plus three.
So, Senator McCain still battling hard in those red states. Senator Obama trying hard to take them away from him. But no question, with 14 days to go, Kiran, this race is beginning to tighten up just a little bit.
CHETRY: All right, John, thanks. Well, new this morning, Governor Sarah Palin at odds with the top of the ticket over a federal ban on same-sex marriage. Where Palin and John McCain stand and where they don't see eye-to-eye with two weeks until Election Day.
Also, city folks getting snubbed on the campaign trail? Why both candidates are focusing on small-town issues when most of the voters live somewhere else. 22 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Coming up now on 25 minutes after the hour, the economy dominating the headlines in the race for the White House. Yesterday, I moderated a panel at Columbia University on the breakdown of the worldwide financial markets. I had the chance to sit down with one of the participants, global financier George Soros, after the panel. He's the author of the new book, "The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means." I began by asking him if we have managed to avoid a complete collapse of the financial system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE SOROS, GLOBAL FINANCIER: We came extremely close to it. Actually, you could say that you did have a momentary meltdown following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. We came close to it and now we are past that point. And from now on, slowly, the system is going to start healing.
However, the fallout on the real economy has been accelerated by this dramatic event that has made everybody very anxious. So, consumers stop spending, savers go to the safest possible place to keep their savings. Businesses cut back. And that will assure a pretty steep recession.
ROBERTS: And how steep do you think it will be? How deep will it be? How long will it last?
SOROS: I think the economy is falling off the cliff right now.
ROBERTS: Really.
SOROS: So it's going to be quite steep. Depending on how the authorities handle it, it doesn't need to be very long. It will certainly take 18 months before you come out of it. So, you're going to have a steep decline, but it doesn't have to be a very prolonged one.
ROBERTS: People may be wondering, is my job safe? Am I going to lose my job? Because so many companies are expecting that the end of this fourth quarter will be terrible, the beginning of next year may be even worse. Some projections that unemployment will hit 9 percent. Do you agree with that?
SOROS: Yes, certainly. I think that's very much in the class -- 8 percent to 9 percent is in the class. Historically, markets have risen during recession. So, while they may -- it's not going to happen right away, once you see the bottom, you get a sense and you see the other side, you may find that markets will start going up long before the economy starts improving.
ROBERTS: We talked, George, about this intersection between Wall Street and Main Street and you have said that you believed that the $700 billion bailout was aimed at Wall Street.
SOROS: Yes. But the two streets are connected. So, if Wall Street goes down the drain, Main Street would be very badly hurt. So you did need to save Wall Street. But it has to be very clear that this was not meant to help Main Street. And you need -- you have to take additional measures to help particularly the homeowners.
ROBERTS: Senator Barack Obama has suggested a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures, which would keep people in their homes for a time. Some people have suggested that's just kicking the problem down the road. Senator John McCain has proposed $300 million to buy up these mortgages, lower their value, sell them back to the homeowners to keep them in their homes. Which is the better idea?
SOROS: McCain is suggesting -- it would again help the institutions that owned the mortgages because they would be bought out. This time, it's the householders, the people in the homes that need to get their mortgages downsized. And I think a 90-day moratorium would allow Obama to come into power and then he can do the necessary -- take the necessary steps.
ROBERTS: If he wins the election.
SOROS: If he wins the election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Yes, if he wins the election. Tomorrow, I'll continue my conversation with George Soros. We'll talk politics and also his thoughts on what the next president can do to move the country forward from this economic downturn.
And, by the way, Kiran, I should point out it was $300 billion, not million, that Senator McCain is proposing for mortgage buyouts. It was a long day. That was at the end of it.
CHETRY: I understand. Well, it's 29 minutes after the hour.
Happening right now, Governor Sarah Palin breaking with her running mate John McCain when it comes to same-sex marriages. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Palin said she supports a constitutional amendment defining marriages between a man and a woman. McCain has said the issue should be a state matter. However, Governor Palin did veto an Alaska bill that wanted to deny benefits to the partners of gay state employees.
And a break from the campaign trail due to family matters for Barack Obama. He's heading to Hawaii to be with his seriously ill grandmother. He will not be at events scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Wisconsin and Iowa. Obama is expected to resume campaigning on Saturday.
And President Bush says Americans' concern over the financial crisis is now easing. He told business leaders in Louisiana the $700 billion bailout has relaxed the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People's attitudes are beginning to change from a period of, you know, intense concerns and, I would call it, near panic to being more relaxed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Our new CNN opinion research corporation poll just out this morning contradicts the president's message. It shows that more than two thirds of American, 67 percent of those who are polled are scared they say about the way things are going in the country today.
And across the country CNN is covering the race for the White House with reporters in all of the key battleground states, tight races in these states could prove crucial on Election Day. And four years ago, Ohio was critical in the re-election of President Bush. He won that battleground state in a huge push of support from the evangelical voters. So will they prove crucial in Ohio again this year? Well, our Mary Snow is live for us in Dayton this morning with a look at that for us.
Hi, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.
You know the foot soldiers in that evangelical voter turnout drive four years ago say yes, they are more energized than they were six months ago. They were slow to embrace John McCain but as for the energy levels, can they match what they were four years ago? They're still not there yet and they're coming to churches like this one to try and change that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): They were crucial in electing George Bush in 2004. Evangelicals in Ohio turned out in mass to support a ballot initiative opposing same sex marriage. This time around, there's no such measure. So what's the draw? Since federal law prohibits endorsements from the pulpit, one activist group addressing the Bethel Baptist Temple took aim at Barack Obama's former church without naming the candidate.
DAVID MILLER, CITIZEN FOR COMMUNITY VALUES: The United Church of Christ, this is the Christian denomination that has 1.2 million members that was made famous this year by Reverend Jeremiah Wright provides a clear illustration of a non-biblical Christian group.
SNOW: Non-biblical David Miller says because the United Church of Christ supports gay marriages.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bottom line to interpret from that, you're really saying don't vote for Barack Obama
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody can interpret that the way they want to.
SNOW: Miller's group Citizens for Community Values is distributing these videos to churches.
ANNOUNCER: When people of faith elect god-honoring representatives and government, all of America benefits.
SNOW: Behind the effort is Phil Burress, the man who put the 2004 gay marriage amendment on the Ohio ballot. Before Sarah Palin entered the picture, Burress says, he told McCain this.
PHIL BURRESS, PRES. CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY VALUES: The bottom line was, if you don't pick a pro-family, pro-life running mate, you know, you can forget Ohio. You don't even stand a chance in Ohio.
SNOW: McCain chose Ohio to announce he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. She lit a fire under evangelicals, but economic worries are taking a priority over social issues, even showing up at prayer at the Fair Haven Church.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we know that though we struggle with issues, whether it's the economy, or whatever it might be in our lives, we know that you are a big god.
SNOW: And the focus on the economy is a stiff challenge for evangelicals.
MILLER: That doesn't energize anybody. That does not bring out people. And if they would talk about those issues again that distinguish them, there's not enough distinction when you're talking about these economic issues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And Kiran, evangelical leaders here say it is those distinctions between the candidates that they are relying on in order to rev up their base -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Mary Snow for us this morning in Dayton. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Virginia has become a key battleground in this election, as well. It was once an easy win for Republicans but it has elected back to back Democratic governors and put Democratic Jim Webb in the senate back in 2006. A huge turnout is expected on Election Day. Our Dan Lothian joins us now live from Manassas in Virginia.
That state is looking definitely like a big tossup this year, Dan, which would make it really, really unusual, at least you know given the last almost 40 years of history.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This really is a key battleground state. It has been in the lap of Republicans for so long and now, of course, it's a tossup state. You know, and one of the things, John, this state has experienced a record number of voter turnout, rather voters registered.
More than five million registered here in the state and that is crucial in this upcoming election. Now, the big question is, what happens if all those people show up? 90 percent voter turnout expected and the big question here is, can they handle it?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): 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 CO. 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 says there weren't enough polling places. And there were problems with new touch screen voting machines. Country registrar Betty () is working hard to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. For starters, she has recruited more poll workers.
BETTY: In most general elections, we've run around 600 to 700 election officers. Right now we have assigned 1,100 people to work.
LOTHIAN: To help cut down on crowds, extra days have been added for absentee in person voting which got underway 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. If not, just be prepared for some fairly long lines.
BETTY: 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?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: John, just to give you a sense of how the voting is currently going, in 2004, they had a little more than 10,000 absentee voters. The registrar tells us they've already surpassed that number and there's still two weeks to go -- John.
ROBERTS: A lot of enthusiasm there in the Commonwealth to vote in this election. Dan Lothian in Manassas, Virginia for us.
Dan, thanks so much.
By the way, Barack Obama will be in Leaseberg, in an appearance there tomorrow.
And if you have concerns about possible voting irregularities in your state, we want to know about it. You can call us toll free, 1- 877-gocnn-08. Again, that 1-877-gocnn-08. 37 minutes now after the hour.
Big city bypass.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SABATO, POLITICAL ANALYST, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Most of their supporters are rural.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Carol Costello looks at why both candidates are steering clear of city folk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wants to project the same small town American values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. Exactly two weeks now until America votes. And all throughout, we have heard about small town issues on the campaign trail. Big cities, not so much. So what about the other 80 percent of the population? AMERICAN MORNING's Carol Costello now joins us live from Washington.
That's all we hear about, small towns these days, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, John. But you know, Joe the plumber is much more relatable than let's say Joe the metro sexual. Seriously, though. You don't hear urban issues loudly touted by either candidate, even though the bulk of the population lives in and around cities. And there's a reason for that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): If you live in Dallas, Cleveland, L.A. or even New York City, forget about it. Small town America is where it's at politically speaking. The candidates are largely ignoring big metropolitan cities to blanket towns like Holland, Ohio.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good to see you.
COSTELLO: Dalton, Missouri and Greensboro, North Carolina.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We believe that the best of America is in these small towns being here with all of you hard working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation.
COSTELLO: Things like that make big town America feel like nowhereville. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't say they work a little bit harder living in this kind of environment is probably a lot harder than, you know, being in the middle of nowhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the economy now everybody has to work hard. So I don't think it's a factor of small town or whether your name is Joe.
COSTELLO: But analysts say don't expect Republicans to give big city U.S.A. a figurative hug. Take a look. McCain's Web site urges voters to make an online video detailing how you are Joe the plumber. If it's good it will become an official McCain TV ad.
SABATO: Most of their supporters are rural. The largest percentage of the vote being devoted to the Republican ticket this year is coming from rural America.
COSTELLO: Middle America is a sea of red. Still the majority of Americans don't even live in small town America. As "Time" magazine's Joe Klein put it, "we haven't been a nation of small towns for nearly a century. It is the suburbanites and city dwellers who do the fighting and hourly wage work now, and the corporations who grow our food."
Yet neither candidate is loudly wooing urbanites. Not even Barack Obama.
SABATO: He wants to project the same small town America values that people may associate with the Republican Party. So this puts him in a homey personal setting that probably does him well.
COSTELLO: But Sabato says the strategy is a tad risky for Obama because he's more likely to run into voters critical of his party. It was in Holland, Ohio where Obama met -
OBAMA: I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.
COSTELLO: Joe the plumber. Now Republican hero.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Now, John, the big worry here is that big city problems will be overlooked for small town concerns. But some analysts say it's not that the candidates don't care about big town U.S.A., some analysts say Obama is treading lightly on big city concerns to avoid alienating white voters who don't live in big cities and John McCain is busy solidifying his base and that is largely located in small town U.S.A..
ROBERTS: And not only that but for Senator Obama, big cities like Boston and New York, and Chicago and Los Angeles, Philadelphia, they all traditionally vote Democratic anyways, right?
COSTELLO: Right. Those cities are in the bag so why waste time there but that doesn't mean that the people who live in those cities don't feel neglected.
ROBERTS: So everybody wants to be Joe the plumber these days. I fixed the toilet at the White House, once a few years back. Does that qualify me?
COSTELLO: At the White House?
ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Oh, come on.
ROBERTS: It was broken and nobody could fix it and somebody urgently needed to use the facility so -
COSTELLO: I don't even believe that story but it's a good one.
ROBERTS: Believe it. I can back it up with facts. Good to see you, Carol.
COSTELLO: I'm going to do a story on that tomorrow, John.
ROBERTS: It was a while ago. Thanks, Carol.
It's 43 and half minutes after the hour.
CHETRY: Fear of fraud, people being paid to register voters, charged with doing whatever it takes to turn a buck. And in some cases, they're even switching people's party affiliation without them knowing.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a serious. It is a felony to register falsely.
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CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: Welcome back tot most politics in the morning.
This week in our new series, "Count the Vote," we're investigating potential voting problems in key battleground states. And today our focus is on newly minted Republicans who say they were duped into joining the party.
Here is CNN's Ted Rowlands.
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TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): John and Kiran, at the center of this case is a 25-year-old signature collector who is under investigation for allegedly switching people to the Republican Party without them knowing it. That wasn't however what he was arrested for.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): 25-year-old Mark Jacoby was arrested for allegedly lying about his own home address on two voter registration forms in order to do business in California. The charges against Jacoby are serious but have nothing to do with the outcome of an election yet. After his arrest, California's secretary of state was talking tough.
DEBRA BOWEN, CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: This is serious. It is a felony to register falsely.
ROWLANDS: Jacoby runs a company which finds people at places like grocery stores to sign petitions or register to vote. According to the California Republican Party, Jacoby's company registered about 50,000 people for them this year and was paid between $7 and $12 per person. Authorities say some of those people have complained that they were lied to, told they were signing petitions supporting tough laws against child molesters, not signing up to become a Republican. Jacoby hasn't been charged with wrongdoing related to those complaints.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That investigation is ongoing by our office into allegations that his company allegedly signed people up, reregistered them unbeknownst to them.
ROWLANDS: But the California Republican Party is crying foul. They accuse the Secretary of State of using this case to make headlines to deflect recent ACORN criticism against Democrats. The Secretary of State denies that allegation. Some experts say both parties are blowing cases of voter registration fraud out of proportions.
RICHARD HASEN, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: People should stop with the hyperbole that you know, we're going to have stolen election, fraud is rampant and the fabric of our democracy is threatened. None of that is true. But nobody should worry about the integrity of our electoral process.
ROWLANDS (on-camera): Jacoby has been released on $50,000 bail. His attorney says he is cooperating with investigators and also adds that he has done absolutely nothing wrong -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Ted Rowlands for us, thanks.
Well for more on our special series "Count the Vote," or to hear about potential problems that could plague the election, go to cnn.com/am. Also tomorrow, CNN's Chris Lawrence takes a look at the community organizer, ACORN, now under fire for voter registration fraud and whether these fraud registrations could really affect the vote count. And if you're heading to the polls today, we want your help. We're tracking any problems. We've set up a hot line for anyone having trouble at the polls. The number is 877-gocnn-08.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away now. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center in Atlanta with a look at what's ahead.
Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John. That's right. Here is a check off what we're working on in the NEWSROOM. Two weeks left, the campaign winds down. The pressure, though, ratchets up. Where the candidates are today.
And motivated to vote by anger? A new CNN poll finds Americans are not in a good mood. And blame for the financial crisis. Not just a few CEOs, but maybe men in general. I knew it all along. We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John.
ROBERTS: Not our fault. Don't blame us.
All right. We'll see you in about 10 minutes from now. Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: OK.
ROBERTS: New questions about Senator Joe Biden's health. What do medical records say about his recovery from a life threatening illness 20 years ago? our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look. He examines the medical information for you.
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ROBERTS: The Biden-Obama campaign has released 49 pages of Senator Biden's medical records. We know that he had a life- threatening aneurysm 20 years ago but how is Biden's health now? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from Los Angeles this morning with this week's "Fit Nation" story.
Sir, were there any surprises regarding Senator Biden and his health?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There really weren't any surprises. Overall, he seems like he's in pretty good health based on those 49 pages that you just mentioned. The aneurysm was 20 years ago, John, were quite serious. He had not one but two aneurysms. They were so serious in fact that he has his last rights read to him while in the hospital. He had both those aneurysms operated. His hospital course was pretty severe at that time. He had a blot clot that slipped off from his leg and went into his lungs. That almost killed him, as well. But he survived all that.
And now, looking at his medical history, the things that sort of people judge these things by, his cholesterol, for example, those numbers seem pretty good. 173, if you pay attention to the specific numbers. He's had these episodes of atrial fibrillation which prompted an examination of his heart, everything seems to be fine there, his prostate, his colonoscopies. Everything seems to be pretty good.
Again, as far as measuring his overall health parameters. He is on several different medications, as well. He takes, for example, Claritin for his allergies. He takes aspirin as a blood thinner primarily. And takes Flomax for his prostate. A lot of details released there but again, just 49 pages, a lot less than, for example, Senator McCain's more than 1,100 pages -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes. Who hasn't had a-fib once in a while? It feels like a big fish flapping around in his chest. But -
GUPTA: Well, they actually it was - you know he asked his doctors about that and they thought it was a day where he only drank coffee, and hadn't had anything to eat and lots of caffeine can do that
ROBERTS: Right. A lot of things can do that to you. What about these aneurysms. As you said, they were extraordinarily serious. He was read his last rights. Since then, has he had any problems? Has he been keeping up on his screenings? You know, sometimes as you pointed out, Sanjay, these aneurysms are silent and unless you go looking for them, you don't know that you got them.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, this is really interesting. Typically what happens, when someone has an aneurysm, they get a scan of their entire brain to see if there are any more aneurysms. In this case, they found a second one. And they treated both. So it's unlikely that he has anymore more aneurysms in his brain. But something I found sort of curious was the that there was no follow-up testing that we could find whatsoever. And we asked the doctor specifically about that and he says well, we can't find any record of it, either. We're told everything is fine.
As a neurosurgeon, I can tell you typically after aneurysms are treated, people do get some follow-up scans to make sure that the treatment of the aneurysm was sufficient and it hasn't recurred in any way. We simply don't know, so that remains a bit of a question mark. John.
ROBERTS: We'll maybe we should check back with the campaign for clarification on that.
GUPTA: That's right. He may get it tested, maybe he has and they just haven't told us.
ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning from Los Angeles.
Doc, it's always great to see you. Thanks.
GUPTA: All right. John, thanks.
ROBERTS: 55 minutes after the hour.
CHETRY: Dog days, from squirrels to mouse ears to political pumpkins.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just be careful cutting out my ear. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Jeanne Moos takes a look at the creepy side of the campaign trail.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. Just 14 days to go now before we elect a new president. And the race is getting down to the wire wacky, I guess you could say.
CNN's Jeanne Moos looks at the some of the odd-ball happenings on the campaign trail.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Things are getting squirrelly out there. Mickey Mouse politics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much will you pay me to put this on?
MOOS: And Hillary had her own head gear to ward off the rain.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is going to be a short speech. OK. We all get out and vote!
MOOS: Ranting in the rain. How about those Republicans accusing Senator Obama the "s" word.
PALIN: Like socialism.
MOOS: No wonder when Obama walked in a diner the other day a lady started yelling. She was yelling socialist. But she sure wasn't being sociable. She refused to shake Obama's hand.
OBAMA: How are you, ma'am?
MOOS: Forget about the skunk at a garden party. How about a Republican squirrel at a Democratic press conference? Squirrel drawing attention to ACORN, the controversial group doing voter registration. This just in, Madam Tussard calling the election too close to wax. They're preparing clay molds of both Obama and McCain so either will be ready on inauguration day.
(on-camera): With Halloween falling just four days before Election Day, the campaign and the holiday are already beginning to go intersect. But who cares about people wearing silly masks.
(voice-over): We'd rather see Bonbon the Chihuahua in a Obama mask. Bonbon showed up for the dog day masquerade in Times Square. Note the oversized, but accurate ears. Obama wouldn't mind a resemblance. He's pointed out his plus size earlobes himself posing with this kid.
OBAMA: We got the same ear? So we got powerful ears.
MOOS: But power ears on a pumpkin?
ANNOUNCER: Just be careful cutting out my ears.
MOOS: "Better Homes and Gardens" is running a presidential pumpkin poll.
ANNOUNCER: And my confident, maverick smile.
ANNOUNCER: With that offer being baked into a pie, I said thanks, but no thanks.
MOOS: Those Obama folks will turn anything into a slogan.
OBAMA: Yes, we can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we can! Yes, we can!
MOOS: Yes, we carve. Just think, only two weeks left of these guys carving up each other.
ANNOUNCER: And we approve this message.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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CHETRY: What are we going to do after that?
ROBERTS: I don't know but I tell you there's nothing like a political pumpkin to get into the spirit of this --
CHETRY: How about it?
ROBERTS: That's going to do it for us. We'll see you again tomorrow. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And right now here is "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
