Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama Holds Press Conference; Candidates' Economic Plans Outlined; Can't Wait: Thousands Voting Early; Future of Alternative Energy
Aired October 22, 2008 - 11:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And very quickly, let's get you to Barack Obama's press availability in Richmond, Virginia.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... Senator Gary Hart, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Susan Rice, as well as these distinguished members of my senior working group on national security -- we had a wide-ranging discussion on the challenges facing our nation. I've been pleased to draw the support of these distinguished Americans during this campaign, and I've also been honored to receive the support of Colin Powell on Sunday, he was a friend and former colleague of many of those who are here with me. General Powell is one of our finest soldiers and statesman, he has been a source of advice and I look forward to drawing on his counsel and the counsel of all those standing with me today, if I am president.
The next president will take office at a time of great uncertainty for America. We're in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and much of our conversation revolved around the international and foreign security implications of our economic crisis. And as challenging as our current economic crisis is, the next president will have to focus on national security challenges on many fronts. The terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 are still at large and plotting. We saw some reports today in the "Washington Post." We must be vigilant in preventing future attacks. We're fighting two wars abroad. We're facing a range of 21st century threats from terrorism to nuclear proliferation, to our dependence on foreign oil, which has grown more daunting because of the failed policies of the last eight years.
To succeed, we need leadership that understands the connection between our economy and our strength in the world. We often hear about two debates, one on national security and one on the economy. But that's a false distinction. We can't afford another president who ignores the fundamentals of our economy while running up record deficits to fight a war without end in Iraq. We must be strong at home to be strong abroad. That's one of the lessons of our history.
Our economy supports our military power, it increases our diplomatic leverage and it is a foundation of America's leadership in the world. Through World War II, America and its workers built an arsenal of democracy that helped our heroic troops face down fascists through the Cold War. The engine of the American economy helped to power our triumph over communism. Now we must renew American competitiveness to support our security and global leadership. And that means creating millions of jobs in a new American energy sector, so that we're not borrowing millions from the Chinese to buy oil from Saudi Arabia. For the sake of our economy and our security, we must end our dependence on foreign oil.
Keeping America ahead also calls for investments in American education, innovation, and infrastructure, so that our kids can compete, our homeland is secure and our country remains on the cutting edge. It also means leading an international response to the financial crisis. On September 19th, I called for a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20 to stabilize the credit markets. I'm happy that today the White House announced a summit of the G-20 countries that provides an opportunity to advance the kind of cooperation that I called for last month.
America must lead, and other nations must be part of the solution, too. We must recognize that from global economic turmoil to global terrorism, the challenges we face demand American leadership of strong alliances. When America is isolated we shoulder these burdens alone, and the security and prosperity of the American people is put at risk. Yet for eight years we've seen our alliances weakened and our standing in the world set back. We cannot afford four more years of policies that have failed to adjust to a new century. We're not going to defeat terrorist networks that operate in 80 countries through an occupation of Iraq. We're not going to deny the nuclear ambitions of Iran by refusing to pursue direct diplomacy alongside our allies. We're not going to secure the American people and promote American values with empty bluster. It's time for a fundamental change, and that's why I'm running for president.
This change must start with a responsible end to the war in Iraq. We shouldn't keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while Iraqis sit on a huge surplus. Today, we discussed how to succeed in Iraq by transitioning to Iraqi responsibility. For the sake of our economy, our military and the long-term stability of Iraq it's time for the Iraqis to step up.
Ending the war in Iraq will help us deal with Afghanistan, which we talked about at length this morning. In 2002, I said that we should focus on finishing the fight against Osama bin Laden. Throughout this campaign I've argued that we need more troops and more resources to win the war in Iraq, but we also need a new strategy that deals with Pakistan, that deals with issues of corruption, that deals with issues of narco-terrorism. We need a comprehensive strategy and approach to confront the growing threat from al Qaeda along the Pakistani border.
Over seven years after 9/11, the situation in Afghanistan is grave. This was the most violent year of the war with the highest number of American casualties. The Taliban is on the offensive, al Qaeda has a sanctuary and some experts believe that 50 percent of the Afghan economy comes from the heroine trade. As the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff recently said, the trends across the board are not going in the right direction. Make no mistake, we're confronting an urgent crisis in Afghanistan and we have to act. It's time to heed the call from General McKiernan and others for more troops. That's why I'd send at least or two or three additional brigades to Afghanistan. We also need more training for Afghan security forces, more non-security assistance, to help Afghans develop alternatives to poppy farming, more safeguards to prevent corruption in a new effort to crack down on crossborder terrorism. Only a comprehensive strategy that prioritizes Afghanistan and the fight against al Qaeda will succeed, and that's the kind of change that I intend to bring at president.
But there's a clear choice in this election. On issue after issue, Senator McCain has supported the key decisions and core approaches of President Bush. As president, he would continue the policies that have put or economy into crisis, and I believe in danger to our national security. And he's shown over the last few weeks he would also continue the divisive politics that undercuts the bipartisan cooperation and national unity that's so badly needed in challenging times.
We need to change course.
At home, we must invest in the competitiveness of the American economy. Abroad, we need a new direction that ends the war in Iraq, focuses on the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban, and restores our strong alliances and tough American diplomacy.
To keep our country safe and prosperous, we need leadership that brings the American people together. That's the lesson of our history, and I believe that together we cannot fail. Together, I believe we can rise to meet any challenge.
With that, let me stop and let me take some questions.
QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)
OBAMA: Well, first of all, it would be pretty hard to gather this group in two days. They have pretty busy schedules.
We actually had this planned about two weeks ago, two to three weeks ago. And it was prompted by the fact that I was focused fairly single-mindedly on the financial crisis. And I asked my staff to convene this group, because I think it's very important at a time when we are so focused on the economy, and rightly so, that we not lose sight of the fact that we remain threatened, and that there are a whole host of international challenges that we're going to have to deal with. And I wanted to check in with my senior advisers to make sure that I was keeping pace with what is a moving target in Afghanistan, the situation with al Qaeda, the situation in Iraq.
There have been a variety of events that have taken place during the financial crisis involving North Korea, the continuing situation in Georgia and Russia, that I thought it was important for me to check in on. And let me just speak to the comment that Joe made a couple of days ago.
You know, I think the point that Joe made is actually very similar to the one that Secretary Chertoff made today or yesterday, which is that whoever is the next president is going to have to deal with a whole host of challenges internationally, and that a period of transition in a new administration is always one in which we have to be vigil. We have to be careful. We have to be mindful that as we pass the baton in this democracy, that others don't take advantage of it.
That is true whether it's myself or Senator McCain, and it's been throughout our history. And I think that it is going to be very important for me, should I have the great honor of serving as president, to have a team in place that is familiar with these issues, that understands the challenges, that is able to give me the best advice, and will be able to navigate these challenges and set some clear priorities, even as we're focused on rebuilding our economy after the disastrous eight years.
So I guess the important point to make here is that, yes, we are going to face a number of threats and tests and challenges, because for the last eight years, we've had a bad policy, a bad set of policies that have resulted in two unresolved wars, bin Laden and al Qaeda communicating regularly and training folks to potentially attack America, and an economy that has been in a free-fall. And that's why it's going to be so important for us, I think, to move with resolve in a new direction, and that's one of the reasons I'm running for president.
QUESTION: (OFF MIKE) -- that leaders, maybe adversaries or others, would maybe even promote a crisis, how you would handle it. And of course Senator Biden said you would handle it well. But what does that say to voters, that your presidency would invite that kind of...
OBAMA: Look, as I said before, you know, I think that Joe sometimes engaging in rhetorical flourishes (ph). But I think that his core point was that the next administration is going to be tested, regardless of who it is, because of the fact that we have -- the next administration is going to be inheriting a whole host of really big problem. And so the president's going to be tested.
And the question is, will the next president meet that test by moving America in a new direction, by sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that we are no longer about bluster and unilateralism and ideology, but we're about creating partnerships around the world to solve practical problems? That's going to be the best way to meet that test, and I have confidence that we will be able to do so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question.
QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)
If you are elected president, are you prepared to go? And what do you think you can accomplish at that meeting?
OBAMA: Well, we have one president at a time. And so even though the election will have taken place and we will have a new president-elect, we are still going to have one president at a time until January 20th, when the new president is sworn in. So, you know, there is always a transition period. I don't want to get too much ahead of ourselves.
My economic team is one that has regular contacts with the uppermost reaches of policymaking, including Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke. And so there's no doubt that we will be monitoring the situation very closely, as we have been doing over the last month and a half. But I don't want to make commitments at this point in terms of our participation, my participation, in something before I've even won the election.
This is going to be the last question, Jeff (ph).
QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)
OBAMA: Well, look, I have not seen the agenda that's been set. The reason I called for the kind of coordination last month was we saw, in fact, that as individual countries, we're trying to solve these problems in isolation. They were failing. All right?
So Ireland decides it's going to guarantee all deposits, and suddenly you've got bank runs in Germany and France and other places. And then they had to start getting together. And Britain decides that it's going to inject equity into its banking system, and suddenly the U.S. is having to think about how that's going to impact the financial markets here.
The point is, is that our financial markets are so interwoven at this point, that we can't operate in isolation. What we're going to have to make some decisions about is, how do we set up some rules of the road? How do we set up a regulatory framework, some of which may be very formalized, some which may just be a matter of better communication and loose coordination, that ensures that the kind of downward spiral that can occur when a trillion dollars can move around the globe with the press of a button on a computer, that those coordinating mechanisms are in place?
And it's going to be a very complex process. I don't think it's going to be resolved in one meeting. I know that these kinds of conversations are already taking place. I've got some ideas and my economic team has some ideas in terms of the direction that we should move, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself on the details of that.
Jeff (ph), this is going to be the last question.
QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)
And do you understand (ph) why Republicans are trying to make an opening here? And do you believe you create it?
OBAMA: I don't think I've created an opening. Look, they have been trying to throw whatever they can up against the wall to see what sticks, and this is their latest version. So let's think about what the argument is that they're making. What I've proposed is a tax cut for 95 percent of working families in America. A tax cut. They can't deny that. Nobody suggests that I'm not proposing that, nor can they deny the assessment of independent agencies that have looked at this that say I would provide three times the amount of tax relief to middle class families than John McCain does.
So the only argument available to Senator McCain at this point is that I will roll back the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans, people making more than $250,000 a year. And it's not surprising that that upsets Senator McCain and his economic team, because those are the folks that most benefited from Bush economic policies, with Senator McCain's strong endorsement.
Now, given that every time I go to a rally and I ask how many people are making $250,000 a year or more, not many hands go up, and the overwhelming majority of Americans, bus drivers, teachers, social workers, small business people, make less than $250,000 a year. They don't have a very good argument on their side.
So what they're trying to do is to fabricate an argument, and to try to suggest that somehow what I'm proposing would hit the middle class or small businesses. Actually, it's just not correct. I mean, Senator McCain is running a campaign against somebody else, not me, because he's not speaking to my plan.
Now, in terms of the argument that I was making to Joe the plumber, who has gained extraordinary notoriety -- and by the way, it was a good conversation. You should look at the clip. It was in no ways antagonistic.
The simple point I was making was that even assuming that he's at a point where he wants to buy a business that he hopes will generate more than $250,000, the point I was making was that 10 years ago, or five years ago, or even a year ago, when we was making a lot less than that, he was having a tough time. And under my tax plan, I would have given him a series of tax cuts that would have allowed him to save sooner, to start his small business quicker.
And that's part of what has always made the American economy effective, that we reward success. We don't mind people getting enormously wealthy because of their skills and their talents and their drive, but we always want to make sure that the playing field is such where everybody who's got a good idea has a chance to succeed.
Everybody has got a chance to get financing. Everybody who works hard is able to raise their family. Everybody has an opportunity if they act responsibly to send their kids to college, and to retire with dignity and respect. And in that sense, that does involve us spreading around opportunity.
And yes, it means that people like myself who make a lot more than $250,000 a year pay a little bit more in order to make sure that the waitress who is surviving on minimum wage and tips still can keep a roof over her head and save enough for her kid to go to college. And what we're talking about is, on those folks making more than $250,000 a year, going back to the tax rates that existed under George W. Bush -- or that -- excuse me, going back to the tax rates that existed under Bill Clinton.
And the irony is, is that when George Bush proposed the original tax cuts that lowered tax rates for the wealthiest Americans, who objected? John McCain. Who said these were irresponsible, and said that they would prevent middle class tax relief? That they weren't properly targeted?
Now, was John McCain a socialist back in 2000 when he opposed the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Because all I'm trying to do is reverse those so that we can give relief to people who really need help.
It's not a very plausible argument that he's making right now. And I think it's an indication that they have run out of ideas.
OK?
Thank you, guys.
HARRIS: There you have it, Senator Barack Obama wrapping up a press availability after wrapping up a national security meeting in Richmond, Virginia.
Senator Obama giving us a look at the team he will seek advice from on the topic of national security. Retired generals, former senators, former ambassadors behind him there.
And while every voter in this country is certainly concerned about the security of this country, all the polling indicates the public is squarely focused on the souring economy. So to get at your top concern right now, we've assembled a panel to answer your questions and to get you the correct information.
CNN's Rick Sanchez is here in Atlanta. Our Christine Romans is in New York. And Politico's financial correspondent Eamon Javers joins us from Washington.
Rick, let's start with you. Take it away, doctor.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Here's the deal, Tony.
You would think from talking to all of these people that are here at the CNN Center today that there would be no undecided voters in the United States, because everybody has an opinion, and everybody has strong opinions about both of these candidates. Some for one, some for the other.
But according to the latest survey, there are about 7 percent of the American people who are still undecided. They're not quite sure which way they're going to go, or they have a leaning in one direction or another, but they haven't fully committed. So let's talk to a few of those.
Let's start with Ed, and then we're going to talk to Suzy (ph) as well.
Ed is from Florida, Homosassa Springs, for those of you who have been out to Weeki Wachee.
I understand you're leaning toward John McCain, right?
ED LOCKMAN, FLORIDA INDEPENDENT VOTER FOR MCCAIN: I definitely am, yes.
SANCHEZ: What would you like to see him do that will take you over the top? What's the one thing you'd like to see him do?
LOCKMAN: A few things. One of the things, I'd like to see him come out with something more definitive about the war and what purpose we're there. And something with the economy. It seems as if when there's something wrong with the economy, it gets bounced back to the ordinary people as if it's our fault that whatever's happening is -- that's what's causing the thing with the economy.
SANCHEZ: What about you, Suzy? I mean, that's an interesting point about the economy. And I know we've been talking about that a lot.
Is there one thing that you want either John McCain or Barack Obama to be more definitive about when it comes to the economy? Something you, Suzy (ph), needs to know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I'd likes to know how they're going to change my life. How are they going to make my life the way it was before, before the economy crash, before the Iraqi war? Help us get back into we the people, and to a good American life, like we were used to. What happened?
SANCHEZ: Do you get a feeling that maybe they don't have the answer? Or do you think it's not politically astute to give an answer?
LOCKMAN: Yes and yes on both.
SANCHEZ: Really?
LOCKMAN: I really do believe so.
SANCHEZ: So what's the one thing, Ed, that you'd want them to say if they could say anything? I mean, be definitive about how you're going to do x. What would that x be?
LOCKMAN: I'd like either one of them, because one of them's going to win as president, I would like either one of them to reassure us that when they become president, things will get a lot better, we will feel an awful lot better about ourselves and our country.
SANCHEZ: That's an interesting point.
Ed, thanks so much.
And Suzy, great to you have as well.
Good luck to both of you.
There you have it, the voices of the people, Tony.
Back to you.
HARRIS: Yes. That's great.
I'm going to pick up, Rick, on Suzy's (ph) point -- I love her passion there -- and bring in Christine and Eamon.
What Suzy (ph) is asking is, what happened? I want my old life back. What happened here?
Christine, let me start with you on that one.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We hear that over and over again.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: And you see it in the polls. You see -- in the polls, you see people are confused about how we got here. Who's in charge of this? They want to know who to blame, but there are so many different people to blame and so many moving parts.
And they're mistrustful -- they don't trust the folks in Washington that they're going to be able to get us out of it. They don't -- the latest approval poll shows only 28 percent approval of Paulson, the Treasury secretary's job in all of this. They don't like the bailout. They have a very low approval of Congress.
HARRIS: That's right.
ROMANS: And now they're being asked to choose between two men who, by the way, are senators, who are part of that decision-making body that they don't trust in Washington. So you can see how -- how are they going to get me back to where I was?
HARRIS: I want my life back.
ROMANS: I want my life back.
And you hear a lot on the campaign trail about taxes. Taxes. "I'm going to cut your taxes." "I'm going to cut your taxes more." You know, who's going give the middle class a better tax cut?
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: You hear a lot about this. But what I hear from people like Suzy (ph) and Ed a lot is, like, you know, don't talk to me about taxes. How are you going to make our life better, or at least not make it any worse?
HARRIS: Eamon, I love that point from Suzy (ph) because it's people speaking to us right there in the atrium of our building here at the center.
And I'm curious, part of this the bailout and the idea -- and maybe it wasn't sold correctly or maybe folks have just figured out -- that it feels like what it is, and that's a bailout to the folks who have been running the banks, the folks on Wall Street, and I want my life back, and no one is bailing me out.
EAMON JAVERS, POLITICO.COM: Yes. You know, that question, that frustration of, "I want my life back," really tracks with the right track, wrong track poll question, where an overwhelming majority of Americans say they think the United States is on the wrong track. So a lot of people out there have that same, you know, hands in the air frustration that Suzy has.
The question is, what are we going to do about it? And both Barack Obama and John McCain have been offering specific proposals designed to target Main Street, as opposed to Wall Street, because they agree. Their political advisers agree this bailout feels like it's directed toward fat cats on Wall Street. They want to supplement that with some ideas of their own, aiming at voters individually that might help them get out of their financial situation.
But this is a very tough problem. And right now politically, that kind of frustration really is benefiting Barack Obama. That's sort of the engine that's driving the real need for change among a lot of voters in this country. So a lot of people are agreeing with Suzy right now.
HARRIS: You know what else is a little frustrating? And I don't mean to put words in Suzy's mouth. Maybe she's say this. You know, there's this huge bailout, $700 billion, and I haven't heard a "thank you." I haven't seen a full-page ad -- and Christine knows I've been railing on this.
JAVERS: Don't hold your breath.
HARRIS: Christine, haven't heard a "Thank you, America, for helping us out. We apologize for what we did to you." And I don't want to put words in Suzy's mouth, but I'm pretty ticked off about it.
Sorry, Suzy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do vote. I don't care who you vote for. Get out and vote.
HARRIS: I heard that. Absolutely. And folks doing that.
Christine, I don't know if you want to respond to my rant or not, but I'll give you a moment.
ROMANS: Oh, I'll always respond to your rants, Tony.
I mean, you're right. I mean, you're reflecting what a lot of people -- you know, what I hear most is we were -- the American people were led to believe that if their congressmen and women didn't do this and do something fast, something terrible was going to happen by Monday morning.
HARRIS: And we did it.
ROMANS: And we did it. And they say, wait. Now you're telling us we're doing something a little bit different. OK. Now how we're fixing it is changing. OK.
Well, I'm still going to my job and my credit card still works, and so does my ATM card. Well, you know, everything seems the same.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: What was this meteor or asteroid that was going hit us if we didn't do it. We haven't implemented something yet.
HARRIS: That's right.
ROMANS: Now, granted, I mean, things are tough right now. We saw a lot of layoffs this week.
I mean, corporate America is hurting right now. We can see that in their corporate earnings reports. But people on Main Street say, we've been hurting for a while. Now just because the companies are starting to hurt, now Washington cares?
HARRIS: Yes.
Eamon, last word on this?
And then I'll talk to Rick as well.
JAVERS: Yes. I mean, importantly, what voters should know is that actually things are improving.
After we saw this global coordinated effort by central banks around the world, we do see the credit markets, the sort of lifeblood of the economy, starting up again. Very slowly, but the numbers are improving steadily. So there is a little bit of a silver lining here that that global action is actually starting to work, and maybe -- maybe some relief is on the way.
HARRIS: Yes.
And Rick, we've had Joe the plumber. Maybe we've got Suzy (ph) the great right now voicing the frustrations of a lot of people out there.
SANCHEZ: Yes, Suzy and Ed both agree with us. And I think our final play would be, if you're an American and you're not informed and you're not paying attention to what's going on right now, you really have no excuse to talk about it later if you don't like the outcome. That's basically the bottom line.
HARRIS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: It's all about, you want to keep your freedom? Be informed. It not, sit around watching "American Idol" all day and see what's going to happen.
HARRIS: There you go.
Christine, thank you so much.
Eamon, thank you.
And Rick, we will see you at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, my friend. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right. Likewise, Tony.
HARRIS: You know, a lot of people have already made up their minds about this race. We will find out why they've decided.
And look at that line. I believe this is Lawrenceville, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. We'll check in with Fredricka Whitfield right there at that location in just a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, when we last checked in with our Fredricka Whitfield at polling place outside of Atlanta, the wait to cast an early ballot was two to three hours long.
Fred, has that wait time improved?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's thinned out just a little bit. So now the end of the line there, where that tree is, that will be about two hours. And then if you make your way down that line and get to about this location, right here where I'm standing, this will get you about an hour before you make it to this building right here.
We're just outside of Atlanta, in Gwinnett County. And this voting station, this is representative of what we're seeing across the state, for that matter.
Everyone, anyone who wants to vote this election season early, they can. No excuses. So across the state, something like up to 700,000 people have taken advantage of this early voting already. And the reasons vary.
So let's check in with people right now and find out exactly why. Right now they're kind of filling out these forms before they get to the door, so as soon as they get to the door they can hit those touch screens and know exactly what to do.
What's the reason you're taking advantage of early voting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I don't have to miss work. So that's basically it.
WHITFIELD: As simple as that. And it's pretty convenient, or no?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could be more convenient. They probably need a little bit more -- you know, a few more locations.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, you've got about an hour to go before you're at that front door.
And how about for you? Why is it so important to take advantage of early voting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just here early so that I stand in line now and I can vote. It just gives you more opportunity to vote and make sure that you do get out there and vote. I think it's great to be able to do it early.
WHITFIELD: Good.
And I've heard from a lot of people who say, you know what? They're taking advantage of early voting because they don't know what's going to happen come November 4th.
How about for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's just convenient for me to do it right now, really.
WHITFIELD: Fairly painless, even though it means about two hours? That's about -- you've already stood in line for about an hour. Right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I mean, it's easier for me to get it done, get it over with right now.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very good.
That seems to be the consensus, Tony. Everyone feels fairly, you know, the same way about it. That it's convenient and it really is a very necessary thing to do, even if it means standing in line for two hours.
And again, we're two weeks before Election Day, but most folks anticipate here that if you wait until November 4th, it's likely you may stand in line longer than the two hours they've already invested.
HARRIS: Well, Fred, I have detected a slight mood change at your location. Last hour, folks seemed a lot more enthused. I'm wondering if they're getting a little worn down by the wait here?
WHITFIELD: You know what? I'd say surprisingly, no one has been edgy or upset about it. Some people have brought out chairs.
HARRIS: Well, that's good. That's good.
WHITFIELD: They're sitting and waiting patiently. They've brought out books. It seems as though people know what to expect, and everyone's been getting along just fine.
HARRIS: Terrific. All right, Fred. Good to see you. Thank you. You know, as the economy looms over this campaign, what are the candidates saying about it and each other?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, three hours into the trading day, we need a bit of a break, a breather or something here. It's been a tough morning for the Dow. And a tough day so far.
The Dow, as you can see, down 253 points. But got to tell you, that's a bit of an improvement. We are off session lows. We will continue to watch the markets. If you're curious about the Nasdaq. The Nasdaq, tech-heavy Nasdaq, down 26 points. Susan Lisovicz, we'll try to get her to give us a market wrap in just a couple of minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.
Senator Barack Obama says his economic plan is best for America. To that end, he held a jobs summit in Florida yesterday with the governors of several states taking part.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Obama doesn't need Joe the plumber to talk shop.
VICTORIA VILLALBA, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: Governor. I'm not Joe the plumber. And I'm not -- I must also tell you I'm not Victoria of Victoria's Secret.
MALVEAUX: She's Victoria Villalba, a small business owner from Florida, who says times are tough to stay afloat. She, along with a small panel of high-profile Democrats, were assembled to show their support for Barack Obama's economic plan. Governors from Republican leaning or swing states spoke with one voice.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, NEW MEXICO: People are hurting.
GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM, (D) MICHIGAN: We have lost 400,000 jobs.
MALVEAUX: It was billed as growing American jobs summit, hosted in a state Obama is fiercely fighting to win.
OBAMA: Florida is actually, over the last several month, lost more jobs even than Ohio and Michigan. So Florida's really getting hammered. This is not unique just to the Midwest.
MALVEAUX: At times it appeared to be a forum designed to showcase Obama's know-how.
OBAMA: I just want everybody to understand what this means.
MALVEAUX: At one point, Obama's economic adviser on the panel, former Fed Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, asked the obvious. PAUL VOLCKER, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: I just wonder why I'm here. You give my speech much more effectively than I give the speech.
OBAMA: That's because I've been listening to you.
MALVEAUX: Obama used the platform to go after John McCain, who says Obama's economic plan is nothing but a big government handout.
OBAMA: These folks are working. This isn't some giveaway to people on welfare.
MALVEAUX: He defended his call for more government intervention and spending as a justifiable approach to fix the economy, which would include an energy plan to create a new electricity grid and conserve energy.
OBAMA: It's an expensive project. And it's not something that can be done without the help of the federal government.
MALVEAUX: McCain is accusing Obama of promoting government control over private industry, or socialism. But Volcker says the Bush administration's bailout plan has already put us on that path.
VOLCKER: But one of the challenges for the next president will be, how do we re-privatize institutions that never should have needed to be socialized in the first place by this administration.
MALVEAUX: Volcker says the problem is the lack of trust and confidence in the markets. The fact that big banks don't trust each other. And that the biggest problem is that voters have a lack of confidence in their government. And they have to be able to feel as if they can rely on their government. Volcker says he believes that Barack Obama will change that.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Lake Worth, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The new attack word this election -- socialism. You've heard Republicans, including Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin refer to it frequently when criticizing Barack Obama's economic plan. Our Drew Griffin took the issue directly to Palin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is Barack Obama a socialist?
GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to call him a socialist. But as Joe the plumber has suggested, in fact he came right out and said, 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 -- that is not good for the entrepreneurial spirit that has built this great country. That is got for our economy. Certainly it's not good for the opportunities that our small businesses should have to keep more of what they produced 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 this speech too, he representing, you know, Jane the engineer and Molly the dental hygienist and Chuck the teacher and all these good, hard-working Americans who are finally more 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 dole those dollars out according to their priorities, that is not a principle of capitalism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, just at few hours ago, our Wolf Blitzer wrapped up an interview with John McCain. Among other questions, Wolf asked McCain about why he believes military experience is crucial to the presidential ticket?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you believe America's enemies or the terrorist or hostile government would test you during the first six months of your presidency?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We'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 -- or 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? I mean that's a remarkable statement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You can see the entire interview today at 4:00 p.m. Eastern with Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Do you ever feel like there are so many attacks on the campaign trail that you just can't keep track of all them? Well, the CNN truth squad doesn't have that problem. That's what they do. CNN's Josh Levs joins me now with a look at two of the attacks that are all about issue number one, the economy -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Believe me, Tony, you know what, I'm starting to run out of brain space for all of these.
HARRIS: Are you really?
LEVS: Yes, little by little. At least we've only got 14 days left.
HARRIS: And you've got a pretty big brain there my man.
LEVS: Oh, we'll see about that. But how many attacks can they still squeeze in. I guess we'll know at the truth squad.
Here's the deal. We are, indeed, looking at these today. We're going to start off with this. John McCain went after Barack Obama over free trade. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: If I'm elected president, I won't make it harder to sell our goods overseas and kill more jobs, as Senator Obama proposes. I'll open new markets to goods made in America and make sure our trade is free and fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. Now here's how we got to the ruling that you see right there of true but incomplete. Both Obama and McCain say they support free trade. We read about this at dot com. But Obama's also a critic of some free trade deals. He voted against CAFTA, which was the deal with Central America.
You know, during the Democratic primary, as you may remember, he had a lot of things to say about NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. He called it a big mistake. But check this out. Let's zoom in on the board. This is a "Fortune" magazine story from June. We posted it at CNN Money. "Obama: NAFTA not so bad after all." And let's scroll down a little bit here to this quote, if we can zoom in. "Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheat and amplified, he conceded."
Now over here on Obama's web site, he does call for fair trade. And he says he wants to make it easier for U.S. exporters to sell their products. So we had to rule this one, Tony, true, but incomplete. His opposition to certain trade deals would make it harder for some exporters to sell their goods in some countries. There you go.
HARRIS: Now from the other side, you have Obama going after McCain over Medicare?
LEVS: This one was interesting. Yes, it's a real number cruncher. But I, you know, it is a real relevant attack right now. Let's take a look at what Barack Obama said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: "The Wall Street Journal" recently reported that it was actually worse than we thought. It turns out Senator McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare. $882 billion worth. It would mean a cut of more than 20 percent in Medicare benefits next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: OK. I know that's a lot at once. Here's how we got to that ruling of misleading. This right behind me in "The Wall Street Journal." It does not mention anything about $882 billion. That figure actually comes from this liberal group over here. The Center for American Progress Action Fund. They did their own calculation.
Now I want to trace you through this to show you kind of the evolution of an attack. We have a graphic here. Here's the deal. The non-partisan tax policy center has estimated that McCain's health care plan would cost $1.3 trillion over 10 years. And Obama's, according to them, $1.6 trillion over 10 years. Now both campaigns reject those figures. They say they have ways of cutting the costs.
But here's what happened. "The Wall Street Journal" came along and reported that McCain plans to pay for part of it using cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. So this group says, if McCain was trying to save $1.3 trillion, then he would pull $882 billion out of Medicare. I know it's a lot of number.
The long and the short of it here is that it's ultimately misleading. And we trace you all through it right here at cnn.com. John McCain says what he wants to do is cut fraud in Medicare which would save billions of dollars and that would help pay for his health care program. There you go.
HARRIS: My goodness there's a lot there.
LEVS: They keep us busy, I'm telling you, day and night, for a couple more weeks.
HARRIS: OK, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you. See you tomorrow.
You know the difficult economy means some of America's sick can no longer afford their prescription drug medications. Veronica De La Cruz joins us now with news from the web.
Veronica, good to see you. What are you finding?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, a disturbing report out today from "The New York Times" is what we're finding about this economy situation. Some people being forced to cut back in areas, Tony, where they really can't afford to.
In the article a doctor in Selmer, Tennessee, had this to say. "People are having to choose between gas, meals and medication. I've seen patients today who said they stopped taking their Lipitor, their cholesterol-lowering medicine, because they can't afford it." Now, Tony, the article also points to a blogger named Lori Stewart in Champaign, Illinois, who weighs the cost of taking her ailing mother off of her Alzheimer's medication. Tony, she breaks down the cost. $182 a month. That's one pill at $6 a day. She writes, "have I mentioned that my mom lives on Social Security? She has health insurance. She has Medicaid. And still this one prescription alone takes up roughly one-fifth of her annual income."
Now "The Wall Street Journal's" Health Blog offers a few helpful solutions. There are web sites which help with prescription drug costs. There's needymeds.org (ph). It breaks down patient assistance programs, government sponsored program, also programs for children. There is also pparx.org. That brings together doctors, pharmaceutical companies, also various private, public support groups that help people get their prescriptions.
And then a couple other tips on that blog as well wanted to mention. Be wary of fees that you might pay for some of these groups. Check out groups tailored to your specific needs. And then also, don't ever assume that you might make too much money to qualify for some of these programs.
Again, wanted to give you those web addresses, needymeds.org is one of them. The other one is pparx.org, just in case were you wondering -- Tony.
HARRIS: We worry so much about folks particularly on fixed incomes during these difficult times. Gas prices coming down a bit but still pretty high and food costs going up as well.
Veronica, that's good information. Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. And the Internet is always a good resource.
HARRIS: Yes, it is. All right. Got to be careful, but you're right, by and large it is.
All right, Veronica, thank you.
You know, as we search for an energy fix, what is the future of alternative energy?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In today's "Energy Fix," part two of a series we began yesterday, we already examined how the recent slide in oil prices is prompting a pullback in some alternative energy projects. Now we'll look at whether clean energy has a future at all. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.
Hi, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there, Tony.
It's a big question, especially now that we have oil at below $70 a barrel. Will the money be there? Well, we know one thing, that's that the next president is going to be a big player in the future of alternative energy in this country. Good news, you can expect some kind of action. Both Barack Obama and John McCain agree the Bush administration's global warming and energy policies have fallen short. Very short, that's what they say.
Obama plans on increasing fuel economy standards. He says he'll invest $150 billion to promote alternative energy. He also pledges that he'll require by the year 2025 that a quarter of our nation's electricity comes from renewable sources.
As for McCain, he's big on nuclear power. He wants to see many nuclear power plants. I think about 45 built the year 2030. He also believes tax credits are needed to get companies to invest in wind and in solar power. McCain has committed $2 billion to advance clean coal technology. That is somewhere where both of them agree we need some progress.
But the financial crisis and the ballooning deficit could, Tony, as you well know, really affect those plans.
HARRIS: Well, if those -- Poppy, if those plans fall through, what's to key alternative energy projects alive?
HARLOW: Yes, it's definitely true that financing is starting to dry up. But clean energy does have a future. And you can actually thank the $700 billion bailout bill for that. What it does is it extends tax credits where they were set to the expire at the end of this year. The credits are for those companies and for homeowners, keep in mind, who make their businesses and their homes more fuel efficient. It also give a credit of up to $7,500 to people who buy electric cars. That's an incentive.
HARRIS: Yes, you know, we had a -- you're so young -- we had an energy crisis in the 1970s but . . .
HARLOW: I know about that. I'm the energy fix girl. Come on.
HARRIS: I know you do. I'm sorry. That was easy (ph). I'm sorry.
But didn't -- we didn't get any big advancements in the area of renewable fuel because of it. I'm just curious as to whether or not that can happen again.
HARLOW: A lot of people are asking that, Tony. It's a good question. We're seeing oil prices go back down, just like what happened in the 1980s when companies essentially abandoned their alternative energy plans. The situation today is a bit different for two reasons. Let's go through them.
First, this is not just about oil prices. This is about the environment. Right? Secondly, a lot of people see this as a national security issue. They say, as a country, we have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, no matter where the price of oil is, Tony. We'll see if the companies and people stick to it. Many more energy fixes right there, CNNmoney.com. HARRIS: That was a low blow, wasn't it? That really was.
HARLOW: I'm not that young.
HARRIS: OK, Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.
You know, some campaign signs have come up missing and one of our I-Reporters that some evidence that could actually lead to the culprit. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's take a trip down to CNN.com's i-Report desk. And why don't we check in with our main man there helping us run that operation -- through the food court, OK. Tyson Wheatley is one of our producers there. Tyson's Corner. There you go.
Tyson, good to see you.
TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM: Good to see you, Tony.
HARRIS: And I guess we're starting with the case of the lifted campaign yard signs.
WHEATLEY: Exactly. This is a video that's getting a lot of attention on our ireport.com right now. More than 100,000 views, and hundreds and hundreds of comments.
HARRIS: Oh, look at this.
WHEATLEY: What we're looking at right now, this comes to us from Darin Kline (ph) and his neighbor, Ellen Pierce. They both live in Tempe, Arizona. And they both, you know, a couple months ago they started noticing that their -- some of their campaign signs were going missing. And so what did they do? They installed some personal surveillance video cameras. They both did. And they both -- both videos captured the same woman pulling up and taking the signs.
HARRIS: Oh, man.
WHEATLEY: And, you know, this is just an interesting thing right now as we get closer to the election. It's just generating a lot of (INAUDIBLE) right now.
HARRIS: Well, whose sign was being stolen there, do we know?
WHEATLEY: Well, they both had Obama signs, in this case. But they mentioned that some of their other neighbors had the same signs missing. So it's still a mystery, though. We haven't -- as far as we know, we haven't identified who the culprit is. But one result -- one direct result out of this is that Ellen, in fact, is now plexiglassing and screwing them . . .
HARRIS: No, come on.
WHEATLEY: Yes, she's screwing them into her wall, she says, and so the problem is solved then.
HARRIS: Oh, boy. You've got to assume now that someone's rolling on everything you do. And particularly if you're up to something nefarious, that there's got to be a camera somewhere that's rolling. All right, Tyson, what else do you have for us?
WHEATLEY: Well, I want to tell you about something really exciting. Of course, today on "THE SITUATION ROOM," Wolf Blitzer is going to interview Senator John McCain. And we're going to have a couple of i-Reports -- i-Report questions sent to McCain and he's going to answer them. Now we had -- we started asking yesterday and we've gotten hundreds of responses. And I wanted to show a couple of them that might get used.
HARRIS: Oh, great.
WHEATLEY: So this first one comes to us from Steve Urquhart, he's an independent voter. And then the next one's going to be from Trevor Dotary (ph) from Ithaca, New York. And he's supporting Obama. So check them out.
HARRIS: Let it roll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE URQUHART, QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS: Senator McCain, don't you think it's hypocritical for you to be accusing Senator Obama of being a socialist when you also signed on to the $750 billion bailout of our financial system and you also suggested that the government should be buy individual mortgages from people at face value, even if the value of their homes was not equal to face value any longer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREVOR DOTRAY, IREPORTER: Hello, Senator McCain. My name is Trevor. On Sunday you said that former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama did not come as a surprise to you. My question is simply, why not?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHEATLEY: OK, Tony. So those are just two tough questions for Senator John McCain. They might be used. They might not. Your question might be used, but you'll have to tune in at four to see if it gets used.
HARRIS: We'll do.
Tyson, good to see you. See you again tomorrow.
WHEATLEY: Take care, Tony.
HARRIS: OK. You know we've been hearing a lot about the "S" word lately. Wait until you hear the campaign surrogates battle it out over the "S" word.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Yes, we've heard the claims on the campaign trail that Barack Obama's tax plan smacks of socialism. Last hour we decided to invite advisers from both the Obama and McCain campaigns on to talk about it. What was I thinking?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PFOTENHAUER, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN ADVISER: I wouldn't use the term socialist. I'd say it's clearly wealth redistributionist. You know, it is clearly -- you are -- he is punishing success. He is taking, you know --
HARRIS: So, Stephanie, is . . .
PFOTENHAUER: -- 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.
HARRIS: Gotcha.
STEPHANIE CUTTER, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: If we are talking about wealth distribution, then, you know, the McCain campaign is making their motive 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 --
HARRIS: OK. All right, all right.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Stephanie -- hey, Stephanie Nancy, let me do this.
PFOTENHAUER: They want to take middle class money and put it into the pockets of ...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Stephanie, I've got one for you.
(CROSSTALK)
CUTTER: That's wealth distribution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Kyra, help me here, I try to bring them on, and I try to have a civilized conversation. At some point in each one of these conversations it goes from da da da (ph) -- to here! KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Because "S" stands for sweetheart.
HARRIS: For sweetheart.
PHILLIPS: You know that. You know better.
Decriminalizing prostitution in San Francisco.
HARRIS: Oh.
PHILLIPS: That's what we're talking about.
HARRIS: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with this lady right here, Kyra Phillips.
