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Protecting Current Jobs as Unemployment Records Soar; Frustrated Voters Wait to Cast Early Ballot; Americans Unhappy With Bailout Bill

Aired October 22, 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 ANCHOR: It is Wednesday October 22nd, 13 days until Election Day. And here are the top stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
As the government bails out the banks a new poll shows lots of Americans aren't happy about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As Joe the plumber has suggested, in fact he came right out and said it, it sounds like socialism, and he speaks for so many Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The VP candidate, Sarah Palin criticizes Barack Obama's tax plan and much more in Drew Griffin's one-on-one. And we've got it for you.

And who's calling Obama's economic plan socialism? What does that really mean? Campaign advisers on both sides sound off.

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

Your money, your vote. We want to know your views. First, on that $700 billion rescue plan to prop up banks and other big financial institutions; seems it's losing support. A new CNN poll shows 40 percent of those questioned are in favor of the bailout. That is a six percent drop from just two weeks earlier. Meanwhile, 56 percent of people say they oppose the plan, that's up slightly but within the poll's margin of error.

We also asked about government assistance to homeowners who can't pay their mortgages. As you can see here, 58 percent of those polled favor the proposal, 40 percent oppose it. The financial crisis being tackled on a global scale; just last hour the White House confirmed President Bush will host world leaders for a summit to confront the crisis. It is scheduled for November 15th.

And that government's bailout of big business begs the question. Is capitalism dead?

Our Christine Romans tackles that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Has it really come to this? On the cover of "Business Week" capitalism spelled with a K; the K of course, denotes socialism. "Business Week" senior editor Diane Brady says America's financial system has changed forever.

DIANE BRADY, SENIOR EDITOR "BUSINESS WEEK": Not just if the Democrats come in, even if McCain comes in we're going to see a fundamentally different world. And that's a world in which the government takes a much more active role in the economy.

ROMANS: The greatest free market economy in the world on the puppet strings of the government? Money manager Stephen Leeb is concerned.

STEPHEN LEEB, MONEY MANAGER: I think capitalism has received a shock, what is free enterprise all about if governments are now taking major roles in major financial institutions.

ROMANS: First Bear Stearns, then AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. Now Uncle Sam is buying banks. Ironically the Treasury Secretary built his substantial fortune on Wall Street. Now he's orchestrating the largest government intervention into business since the Great Depression, grudgingly.

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Government owning a stake in any private U.S. company is objectionable to most Americans, me included.

ROMANS: Objectionable but necessary. The Bush administration insists these measures actually save capitalism.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The government intervention is not a government takeover. Its purpose is not to weaken the free market. It is to preserve the free market.

ROMANS: All of this government intervention prompts cries of socialism. But is capitalism with a "C" really dead?

BRADY: This is not communist Russia. This is not even China. We're in a situation right now where people have seen the excesses, a sense that the Wall Street has run amok and that the private markets have run amok. And how do you fix that? You fix it with more regulations.

ROMANS: Regulation the bane of Wall Street. But Leeb says the alternative is an economic collapse. And that could leave the government in complete control.

LEEB: A little socialistic medicine now will probably prevent a lot of socialistic medicine later on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And Christine Romans joins me now from New York. And Christine, isn't it really a discussion here of how we define capitalism? I guess the other question is, are we really a mix of free market capitalism and government intervention? Governments seem to intervene all the time in free markets.

ROMANS: But owning stakes in a major bank, that is, in essence, controlling the economy. And that's something that we have not seen here in our lifetimes. And that's what's got people concerned.

Now, the key here is that the Treasury Secretary who is orchestrating all this -- you heard him in the piece -- he says it is objectionable to most Americans and it is objectionable to me. The key will be, many people tell me, how quickly the government can excess.

As Paul Volcker said on a panel with Barack Obama, how quickly we can re-privatize parts of this economy again and get things back the way they used to be.

You're right, the government is involved. We have agencies that oversee things. We have a Federal Reserve Board that manages our money supply, manages, at least targets interest rates, manages what these rates are. You're right. There is intervention. But on this scale we haven't seen it quite before.

Ironically, Tony, if that oversight had worked in the first place, if the government had done a smart, proper and limited job in the first place, many say we wouldn't need the government to be actually intervening so dramatically right now.

So that's -- those are the advocates for smart, clean regulation on the front end that means you don't have to have such dramatic efforts on the back end.

HARRIS: All right, Christine I appreciate it. Thank you.

No doubt this economic bailout is on voters' minds? And many are having their say today; early voting in full swing across the country as I-reporters are showing us. There are long lines seemingly everywhere.

This is video by Nicholas Grand in Cape Coral, Florida.

If you'd like, just send your I-report pictures and videos to us at I-report.com. The best political team on television is bringing you live coverage this morning from New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida and right here in Georgia.

Right now why don't we go to a polling place outside Atlanta?. There she is, our Fredricka Whitfield standing by with a long line of early voters.

Fred, where are you exactly?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're at a polling station in Gwinnett County which is just outside of Atlanta, by about 30 to 40 minutes or so.

And Tony, if this is any indication of just how galvanized voters are about this election season, take a look. This is the beginning of the line outside the polling station. And at this point forward it's about an hour wait. But then take a look at the line this way.

To the left it continues on to about that tree and then it wraps around into a second lane just to the right. That's about two to maybe even three hours' wait. But folks say it is worth it to take advantage of the early voting. This state, among 31 states and the District of Columbia, taking advantage of early voting without excuses, meaning, anyone can simply show up and cast their ballot.

Let's find out exactly why folks have decided to take advantage of this. I've got some folks right here. How are you? What's your name?

LISA MICHAELS, EARLY VOTER: Lisa Michaels.

WHITFIELD: OK why, why are you taking advantage of early voting?

MICHAELS: Because I want to be in Ohio on Election Day and instead of here.

WHITFIELD: OK, so when you showed up and you saw all of these folks out here, were you surprised or did you have a feeling that the lines would be like this?

MICHAELS: Well, I know the lines would be bad, but frankly I didn't realize they would be quite as intense as they were. So yes, I was a little surprised.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, congrats on getting your place in line. You still got about an hour to go.

All right, well, this is really not unique in Georgia. We're seeing this all over the state. Long lines just like this. Discouraging, encouraging to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm encouraged, I like to get out, this is the only day I have off between now and Election Day. So I had to do it today.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right well, thanks so much. And you are among about 690,000 people in Georgia alone who have voted already taking advantage of this early voting.

And we spoke with an election commission person a bit earlier, Tony. And he said that the expectation is one quarter of Georgians will have taken advantage of early voting this week and next week.

HARRIS: Oh my.

WHITFIELD: And that's about in line with the national scope, about one third of Americans will have taken advantage of early voting before November 4th. HARRIS: Are you telling me two -- I think we just heard from your producer, two to maybe three hours at that polling station where you are in Lawrenceville?

WHITFIELD: Yes. And no one is complaining.

HARRIS: Yes that's great.

WHITFIELD: The sky is sunny. That's good. No rain. But folks are out here enthusiastically taking advantage of their right to vote even if it means standing in line for two hours. And who knows, maybe even three.

HARRIS: That is terrific.

All right Fred, we will check back in with you again -- well, often over the course of the next couple hours. Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HARRIS: The economy definitely on the candidate's minds. John McCain rallying this morning in New Hampshire. Our Ed Henry on the scene in Manchester.

Ed, good to see you, you know yesterday John McCain was spending a -- well, he spent the whole day in a state leaning for Obama, Pennsylvania. What's the state of the race in New Hampshire?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very interesting, Tony. John McCain showing eight points to Barack Obama here in CNN's latest poll of polls. John McCain though told the crowd just a short while ago here at Saint Anselm College, that he's been behind before here in the Granite State.

If you remember, back in the Republican primaries he staged a dramatic comeback. He promised he was going to do the same here in the general election.

But it's obviously an uphill battle. Only four electoral votes here in New Hampshire, much less than say Florida's 27. But John McCain being behind in so many battleground states, he needs every electoral vote he can get.

And in this state he's really focusing in on issue number one, talking of taxes in particular and really hitting Barack Obama hard on his comment about spreading the wealth around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We finally learned what Senator Obama's economic goal is. As he told Joe, Barack Obama wants to, quote, "spread the wealth around." In other words, in other words, Joe and guys like him will earn the wealth; Barack and politicians like him will spread it. Joe didn't really like that idea much and neither did a lot of other folks who believe that their earnings are their own. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, Barack Obama has repeatedly pushed back against that attack by essentially saying he just wants to bring more fairness to the U.S. tax code. But as you can see, John McCain is not going to let up on these final 13 days. He's going to be hitting this tax issue day after day after day -- Tony.

HARRIS: There he is. Ed Henry for us in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Ed, good to see you, as always.

Barack Obama now gearing up for a news conference this hour and a rally next hour; he is in Richmond, Virginia. And let's go there live now and to our Jessica Yellin.

I'm thinking that maybe that's a misprint. Are we talking about an actual news conference from one of these candidates? When is the last time we had one of those, Jessica?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. Yes, Barack Obama is going to be taking questions from reporters shortly, Tony. It comes after a meeting he's having right now with national security and foreign policy experts.

Barack Obama with just days to go until the election is now opening a new front on the national security question. You'll recall back at the beginning of this campaign this was perceived as his greatest weakness. And now that the economy has overtaken national security as the number one concern among Americans, Barack Obama returning to this issue fresh off the endorsement he got from Colin Powell just to shore up any concerns folks might have on that topic.

So Barack Obama will be talking about his meeting, the issues he's addressed and then taking other questions from reporters shortly. After that he'll appear here at this event I'm at. It's another one of those huge Obama rallies here in Richmond, Virginia. And at this rally we expect him to hit hard again on the economic message he has been pounding home.

Yesterday he was in Florida and he took on John McCain's attacks directly, refuting John McCain's accusation that Barack Obama is promoting socialism. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Then Senator McCain and Sarah Palin called me socialistic. Now, first of all, I think it's hard to imagine that Colin Powell and Warren Buffett would endorse somebody socialistic.

Apparently what they consider socialistic is my plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the very wealthiest Americans, tax cuts that John McCain himself said in 2000 were irresponsible and prevented middle class tax relief. That's what he said then. He was right then. I'm right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: And, Tony, so now we are awaiting Barack Obama's press availability. And that's what they call it when they take very few questions. Press conference is a lot of questions; availability is very few. We'll bring you the news from it when we get it -- Tony.

HARRIS: We will -- they're so few and far between, we will even take even the press availability.

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

Socialism is a word being tossed around the campaign trail. I'll tackle it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So we've heard the claims on the campaign trail that Barack Obama's tax plan smacks of socialism. That really set off our CNN contributors on "AC 360" last night. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: For John McCain to turn it around, he has to get beyond the questions of calling Barack Obama a socialist or raising all of these kind of side issues. Either they have to go big and can be convincing that he can do something about the economy, or I do not -- unless Obama makes a huge mistake or there's a big international incident, I don't see how he can turn it around. This is -- time is really of the essence now.

BAY BUCHANAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: And what he's trying to do is make the American people know that Barack Obama's answer, this socialism, this redistribution of wealth, is not something that Americans will favor.

And there's no question he has that socialist instinct. He votes to the left of an avowed socialist in the senate. And so and also he went and sought off after the socialist endorsement of the socialist party of Illinois. So you take these things and you move them as best you can. But it's very, very difficult out there.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN "AC 360" ANCHOR: You've just moved it about four times there using the word socialism Bay.

BUCHANAN: Well, you know. Roland laughs. But just a segment ago, what did he say? It's time to be honest. OK, let's be honest. Barack Obama is a socialist. It's that's simple.

GERGEN: Oh come on.

COOPER: Even Palin would not say that.

BUCHANAN: That doesn't matter. I'm being honest. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: By the way, just to clear it up a little bit, that chuckling in the background when Bay Buchanan was speaking was from CNN contributor Roland Martin not David Gergen.

So let's get to the bottom of this what does that word "socialism" really mean.

And here is Britannica's definition: a social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and national the resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. This conviction puts socialism in opposition to capitalism which is based on private ownership of the means of production and allows individual choices and a free market to determine how goods and services are distributed.

OK, and there's the definition.

So is Obama's plan socialism? And how do the campaigns define it? Joining me is Nancy Pfotenhauer, adviser for presidential candidate John McCain, Nancy good to see you. And Stephanie Cutter, and Stephanie is a senior adviser for Senator Obama.

OK, ladies, first listen to the charge. In this instance from Governor Palin and then let's talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PALIN: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Nancy, let me start with you. Joe the Plumber says the Obama tax plan sounds like socialism.

Forget for a moment what Joe says. What does it sound like to you, Nancy? Is Barack Obama proposing a socialist tax policy?

NANCY PFOTENHAUER, MCCAIN ADVISER: I think he is clearly proposing one that's based on wealth redistribution. He's been pretty straightforward about it. I mean, he's got his vice presidential candidate who said paying higher taxes is patriotic.

If you go back to the Democratic debates, there was a point where Senator Obama was pushed on his plan to increase capital gains taxes. And he was pushing it because cutting capital gains tax rates, it's one of the tax cuts to spend most clearly associated with higher revenues.

So cutting the tax rates brings in more money to the government. And yet he still proposed higher capital gains tax rates.

HARRIS: Yes.

PFOTENHAUER: And when he was pushed on that, he said it was a matter of "fairness," quote, unquote. When you take that, plus his spread the wealth around, --

HARRIS: Right.

PFOTENHAUER: When he's advocating taxes to increases when we're in an economic downturn if not a recession, it's clearly tax redistribution.

HARRIS: Got you but I'm asking what you believe?

PFOTENHAUER: I believe it's clearly wealth redistribution. And there's no question that it's wealth redistribution. And it's fundamentally different from John McCain's approach which is wealth creation.

HARRIS: OK, Nancy are you willing -- are you calling -- are you using the words, are you calling Barack Obama a socialist?

PFOTENHAUER: I wouldn't use the term socialist. I'd say it's clearly wealth redistributionist. It is clearly -- he is punishing success.

This country was founded on the whole ethic that you work hard and you receive the fruits of your labor. That's why millions of people wish they were born in this country and try to move to this country. So why would you punish success the way Senator Obama does.

HARRIS: Nancy trust me, we're going to get to all of that.

So, Stephanie, --

STEPHANIE CUTTER, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: Yes.

HARRIS: Nancy is not calling Barack Obama a socialist. So is the discussion over? Can I move on now to the rest of the program?

CUTTER: Well, I just want to make one point.

HARRIS: Sure.

CUTTER: If we are talking about wealth distribution, then the McCain campaign is making their motives extremely clear for the American people. And let me just point out those motives to you. They want to take money from the middle class and give it to oil companies, $4 billion in additional tax cuts.

PFOTENHAUER: That's ridiculous. We don't raise anybody's taxes, Stephanie.

HARRIS: Nancy, let me --

CUTTER: Middle class money and put it into the pockets of CEOs. That's wealth distribution. HARRIS: Stephanie, I've got one for you. Nancy, let me do my thing here, OK?

PFOTENHAUER: OK.

HARRIS: So here is the tax system in this country right now. We've got full screens and everything. We're pretty fancy around here. The top five percent of earners account for 36 percent of the income in the country and they pay 60 percent of income taxes. That's the tax system in this country.

And Stephanie, here is Joe's argument. Don't take my money and give it to the people who aren't even paying federal income taxes. It is a disincentive he just work hard and achieve wealth it punishes success -- why further tax the people who are on a percentage basis paying the most? How did I do, Nancy?

PFOTENHAUER: Very good, I think.

HARRIS: All right, Stephanie?

CUTTER: Well, I think that if Joe looked at his tax cuts under Barack Obama versus John McCain he'd realize he'd be getting up to four times as much tax cuts under Barack Obama than John McCain.

Now, Joe works for a living. Is making work pay tax credit, so we don't understand where the confusion is. When John McCain said, that he didn't know much about the economy, he really meant it.

And what we're saying is that, Joe, we want to create opportunity for you. We want to rebuild the middle class. We think if you want to buy that small business, we're going to help you because we believe that we should reward opportunity. And we're doing it in a number of different ways.

HARRIS: OK, and Nancy, don't jump in there. I'm going to give you a little bit more to respond to. And here's Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It is true that I want to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the very wealthiest Americans and go back to the rate that they paid under Bill Clinton. John McCain calls that socialism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right. Nancy, the McCain campaign says why raise taxes on anyone at this time? Better to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and cut programs. Is that fair?

PFOTENHAUER: Not exactly.

HARRIS: OK.

PFOTENHAUER: First of all -- according to what Stephanie said earlier -- HARRIS: Sure.

PFOTENHAUER: First of all, Stephanie, we don't raise taxes on anybody. So you're really just point-blank wrong.

CUTTER: And you made hundred million from middle Americans on your tax cuts?

PFOTENHAUER: It can't possibly be true when we give a $5,000 per family refundable tax credit for the purchase of health insurance. So you guys just conveniently leave that one off every single time. So when we're perforce giving it to every America American, there is no one left out of our relief.

But we are not raising taxes on anyone in an economic downturn. And this is where you get to the point that Senator Obama is revealing, that no matter how many people he has talking to them, he doesn't pass econ 101.

No one should advocate increasing taxes in an economic downturn much less what is likely to be a recession. It is crazy, it's a job killer.

HARRIS: Got you.

So let me come back to the start of the discussion. Maybe we can put this whole socialist notion to bed here? Don't we really have, Nancy, a mix of socialism and free market capitalism in this country right now? And by and large, isn't America OK with that?

PFOTENHAUER: America is based on the ideal of working hard and receiving the fruits of their labor, not being punished for success. Senator Obama has made it very, very clear, this is not the -- his spread the wealth around quote was one of the most obvious.

But remember he was in favor of raising taxes even when it would reduce revenues to the government because of so-called fairness. His running mate equates higher taxes with patriotism. The American people do not do that. They do not believe government knows best. They know best. And that's why --

CUTTER: Can I ask a question?

HARRIS: Stephanie, because I'm running out of time, Stephanie let me give you the last word. Button it up if you would for me.

CUTTER: Nancy should just answer the basic question, what was John McCain for in 2000? Because I think John McCain in 2000 was for exactly the same type of tax policy that Barack Obama is supporting now.

If John McCain was for that then, was he for socialism? This is a crazy conversation. We believe that we should rebuild the middle class.

PFOTENHAUER: No, no Stephanie, the economy -- HARRIS: Stephanie you violated the rule. I asked you to wrap this up and you started with a question.

CUTTER: All right, I'll wrap it up.

HARRIS: What is that about? All right Stephanie, Nancy, good to see you. Appreciate the time.

PFOTENHAUER: Thank you.

CUTTER: I'm sorry.

HARRIS: All right, let's get a quick market check. As you can see, it's been a tough morning so far for the DOW, down 324 points, we're talking about two hours in the trading day. Certainly enough time for a rebound we could use it to protecting your money and your livelihood.

Your personal finance adviser Gerri Willis has her top tips; that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's talk to Gerri Willis. The financial crisis has grabbed voters' attention less than two weeks before the presidential election. But this economic mess could last long after the race ends. No doubt about that. Gerri Willis is in New York.

Gerri, good to see you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Tony.

HARRIS: Where do we even begin here?

WILLIS: Well, that's a great question.

Look, the official recession has not been declared yet. Still about 70 percent of economists believe the country is either in a recession or heading toward one. And that's according to a recent blue-chip economic indicator survey. Economists say that this recession will probably be longer and deeper than the last two. They only lasted about eight months. In fact, some experts say we could be in a recession for at least a year. And that would be the longest downturn since 1981, 1982.

Right now let's talk about unemployment. The rate is at 6.1 percent. The economy has shed about 750,000 jobs. And some economists are saying, hey, that jobless rate is going to soar to 9 percent. And that would translate into at least 1 million jobs lost. So far this year, remember, there have been 2 million foreclosures. And in a long, drawnout recession you'd have to think that those numbers are going to move higher -- Tony.

HARRIS: What do we do? Where do we go? What can people do right now?

WILLIS: Well, look, job No. 1, protect your job.

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: Just this morning we had news that mass layoffs hit a high level last month, levels we haven't seen since 9/11. So, you have to make sure you're keeping your skills up to date, work on high profile projects at work so your boss notices, maintain your contracts by joining professional groups, be visible. Of course, if you can, start setting aside some money, some cash, in case you have an emergency. And in this kind of an environment, you want as much cash on hand as you can.

College graduates, hey you guys are going to be facing some tough times after graduation, so keep that job search flexible. So if your dream job isn't available, you can get something else. And don't forget that there are people out there who will actually benefit in this kind of environment. There are folks out there who have cash, they're buying languishing assets, housing, stocks. So if you do have a good cash cushion already, and you're looking for opportunities, now is the time to go shopping.

And of course, if you have any questions, send them to us at toptips@CNN.com. We love hearing from you.

HARRIS: Great information as always, Gerri. Good to see you. Thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: And as the most serious credit crisis in decades rocks your finances, CNNMoney.com has some advice and answers. Check out our special report "America's money Crisis," that's at CNNMoney.com.

Long lines at the polls. Many of you voting early. And for those of you undecided voters out there, we're asking -- does Barack Obama plan to spread the wealth around? Does John McCain have a plan for college costs? Our Truth Squad investigates. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Patience wearing thin. Early voting kicks off with problems at the polls. Our Sean Callebs is in Miami.

Sean, good to see you. We've been hearing that in some cases the machines have actually before overwhelmed, they've seized up, locked up and shut down.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. There are legions of people following the signs "vote here." There are only a handful of voting precincts opened early in Florida.

There are problems. There are people waiting in long lines. There are only two machines inside that print out the paper ballots for people to vote on. Now, Florida's secretary of state says, look, these long lines are just a healthy show of democracy. But for a lot of people who are waiting, they're using a different term. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): They were off and standing again in Florida as early voting continues. Here in Broward County it took people anywhere from one to three hours to make it through lines. At times glitches and hiccups in a new system take their toll on voters' patience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Total disaster. You get up there and you have waited three hours and then the line totally stops. It's very frustrating.

CALLEBS: Fairly, or unfairly, people around the country equate voting problems with Florida in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election fiasco. Calls are streaming into the CNN voter hotline, alleging concerns, like this one from Jacksonville.

VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, CNN VOTER HOTLINE: We are having problems with the poll machines. They're not aligned correctly. So you're not sure about which candidate you're voting for. So they said they brought in 10 new machines as backup machines, but they've corrected the issue.

CALLEBS: Election officials in Florida say there isn't one specific problem come gumming up the works, but that much of the state switched to its third ballot system in the last three election cycles. Touch screens were deemed a disaster so the state went back to paper ballots. And that means retraining legions of poll workers.

BUDDY JOHNSON, HILLSBOROUGH CO. ELECTIONS SUPV.: When you've got brand new equipment and you're shifting from the touch screen and a digital system to a more paper-oriented system as we are this year, it's a familiarization process that really makes it -- I wouldn't say difficult -- but it makes it so very important.

CALLEBS: It provides a paper trail so if a recount is needed, there's something tangible. But there's no question learning a new system comes with a price.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a mess. What a mess.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Well the line is long. And what, it took you guys about an hour, hour and a half to get to this point?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An hour and 10 minutes.

CALLEBS: Hour and 10 minutes, hour and a half to get to this point, so it is long.

One thing, Tony, we shouldn't lose sight of is there are only a handful, a very small percentage of polling precincts that are opened now for early voting. For example, here in Broward County on Election Day, November 4th, there will be 300 precincts open. Well right now, for early voting, there are only 17. So that's the reason the lines are so long.

County officials keep telling us, look, the lines are going to get shorter. But I want to point out another thing -- and then you've got good samaritans. This lady back here is handing out water. But due to voting regulations, she can't get up close to the line and no one wants to leave the line to go get water. So, she's out here doing campaigning so she can't get terribly close, so she's just kind of standing out there right now.

HARRIS: Oh, my goodness. Here we go. All right. Sean Callebs for us in Miami.

Sean, good to see you. Thanks.

Polling stations are packed, as you can see here, with early voters. Fredricka Whitfield is at a polling station in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The wait to cast a ballot there, two and a half to three hours. Thought we could show that to you. The boost in turnout could also boost the risk of voting glitches. Is your vote at risk? Trouble at the polls is part of our day-long focus tomorrow, right here on CNN.

And the candidates have stepped up their attacks over the economy, the CNN Truth Squad has responded, breaking down dozens of claims to bring you the facts. CNN's Josh Levs joins us now.

And Josh, I understand you're starting off with the question of whether or not Barack Obama really said he wants to spread the wealth.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know it's interesting because obviously this is now, as you know from what you were refereeing just minutes ago on the show, this debate, we got a look at that actual quote itself. What was he actually talking about. This is what John McCain has been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: Look, I've been working all my life, 10, 12 hours, I want to buy the business that I'm in, but you're going to raise my taxes. And you know what Senator Obama had to say to Joe? He wanted to spread his wealth around. He wanted to spread his wealth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: All right. Here is how we got to that verdict that you're seeing there, misleading. Let's go through some basics there.

While Obama was campaigning in the Toledo, Ohio, area he met Samuel (ph) Joe Wurzelbacher who works for a plumbing company. Joe asked Obama about his tax plan. At one point, during a five-minute conversation, Obama said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Right now everybody is so pinched that business is bad for everybody. And I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody. But listen, I respect what you do and I respect your question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: All right. So you could hear it in there, if you listen closely.

Now in our verdict, this is what we say. I want you to see the whole thing. It says, McCain's remark was an oversimplification of a five-minute long conversation. Obama replied in great detail about his tax plan, and the "spread the wealth" remark was one small part, Tony, of that larger conversation.

HARRIS: OK. From the Obama side now, you have an attack over the cost of a college education.

LEVS: Yes -- cost of college. This one took me by surprise. I learned a lot through this fact check. Let's take a look first at this sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Senator McCain's top economic adviser said the other day, they have no plans to invest in college affordability because we can't have a give-away to every special interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Well it's interesting. Here is how the Truth Squad arrived at a verdict there of true but incomplete. Well, here is what happened. The "Associated Press" quoted McCain's economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, as saying, "We don't have any new college proposals in terms of massive expansions of funding. There is a budgetary reality; we have enormous pressures already. It would be irresponsible..." -- to go to every detail he says, or every group out there.

Now let me show you this over here. This is John McCain's Web site. I want you to take a look here because he does talk about higher education policy. Basically his argument is that he's going to lower the tax burden on families, in general, which would in turn help them send their children to college.

So, the CNN Truth Squad verdict on this, we have one more graphic for you, is true but incomplete. Because while McCain has no plan directly addressing college costs, his campaign maintains his tax plans and improving student loan programs will ultimately make it easier to pay for college.

HARRIS: I see.

LEVS: So Tony, that's one of these places where you get, yes, it's true, but there's more you should know. You're going to get the full picture.

HARRIS: The rest of the story.

LEVS: The rest of the story.

HARRIS: All right, Josh, appreciate it. See you next hour.

LEVS: Thanks, Tony.

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

We are awaiting a press availability with Barack Obama in Richmond, Virginia. We will bring it to you live when it begins, right here in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: The feared "S" words -- socialist. You've heard Republicans, including Sarah Palin, use it frequently when talking about Barack Obama. CNN's Drew Griffin sat down with Palin to ask why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Socialism, it's come up on the campaign trail now.

PALIN: Sure.

GRIFFIN: Governor, is Barack Obama a socialist?

PALIN: I'm not going to call him a socialist. But as Joe the plumber had suggested, in fact he came right out and said it, it sounds like socialism to him. And he speaks for so many Americans who are quite concerned now after hearing, finally, what Barack Obama's true intentions are with his tax and economic plan, and that is to take more from small businesses, more from our families and then redistribute that according to his priorities.

That is not good for the entrepreneurial spirit that has built this great country. That is not good for our economy. Certainly it's not good for the opportunities that our small businesses should have to keep more of what they produce in order to hire more people, create more jobs. That's what gets the economy going.

So finally, Joe the plumber and, as we talked about today in the speech, too, he representing Jane the engineer and Molly the dental hygienist and Chuck the teacher, and all these good, hard working Americans who are finally were able to hear, in very plain talk the other night, what Barack Obama's intentions were, to redistribute wealth.

GRIFFIN: Do you think his intentions, though, if not a socialist, is to move away from capitalism, true capitalism?

PALIN: Well, anyone who would want to increase taxes at a time like this, especially with economic woes that are adversely affecting all of us, anybody who would want to do that, to take more from businesses and our families and then doll those dollars out according to their priorities that is not a principal of capitalism.

GRIFFIN: Some are saying we're already moving toward socialism with the bailout, the banking industry investment that this government has made, that John McCain and Barack Obama have signed on for.

What are your views on that? And, yet another possible supplement to the income of Americans?

PALIN: The economic bailout provisions and the measures that have already been taken, it is a time of crisis, and government did have to step in playing an appropriate role to shore up the housing market, to make sure that we're thawing out some of the potentially frozen credit lines and credit markets. Government did have to step in there.

But now that we're hearing that the Democrats want an additional stimulus package, or bailout package, for -- what -- hundreds of billions of dollars more, this is not a time to use the economic crisis as an excuse for reckless spending and for greater, bigger government and to move the private sector to the backburner and let government be assumed to be the be-all, end-all solution to the economic challenges that we have.

That's what's scaring me now about hearing that the Democrats have a plan for an even greater economic bailout package. But we don't know all the details of it yet. And we'll certainly pay close attention to that.

GRIFFIN: Are you -- on its face, are you against that?

PALIN: On its face, I want to make sure that this is not being used by the Democrats as a time for bigger government, more dollars being taken from taxpayers to bailout anybody, any entity, that's been engaged in corruption, in self-dealing, in greed there on Wall Street or in D.C., that has adversely affected Main Street.

So on its face, we're going to need to know more about what the Democrats have in mind for this additional bailout.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: In the last hour, CNN's Wolf Blitzer wrapped up a conversation with John McCain. Wolf asked the Republican candidate about possible terrorists testing the new president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you believe America's enemies, whether terrorists or hostile governments, would test you during the first six months of your presidency?

MCCAIN: I've already been tested and I'm astonished and amazed to hear Senator Obama -- Senator Biden predict that the untried, untested President Obama will be tested by our enemies. And we may not agree, his own backers may not agree. Look, I've been tested. Senator Biden referred to the Cuban missile crisis. I was there. We came that close, as historians say, to a nuclear exchange, and Senator Biden expects his own running mate, expects Senator Obama, to be tested in that way? That's a remarkable statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And hear a lot more from the McCain/Palin ticket later today. Senator John McCain with Wolf Blitzer. That's at 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Quickly now, let's get you to Jacqui Jeras in the weather center.

Jacqui is going to talk to us in just a couple of minutes about a pretty sizable storm in the middle of country. But we are getting ready, we're getting close, it seems, to a press availability in Richmond, Virginia with Senator Barack Obama. When that begins we will take you there.

Looks like it will begin in just a moment. So a quick break and we're back in the NEWSROOM.

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