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American Morning
Huge House Fire in Highland Park, Michigan; Widening Gap Between Barack Obama and John McCain; World Series Kicks Off Tonight; Are Electronic Machines Really More Secure
Aired October 22, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We are crossing the top of the hour, and new this morning, Dow futures down sharply this morning. More than 200 points, in fact, following overseas markets selloffs. But there is good news for your wallet. Gas and oil both down again. AAA reports that the average price for a gallon, now $2.86 cents. That's the 35th straight decrease. Oil has fallen now below $70 a barrel in electronic trading.
Former President Bush -- or President Bush's former Adviser Karl Rove is back in Washington this morning, a day after a protester tried to slap handcuffs on him. Rove was speaking at a San Francisco bankers conference when a woman from the protester group Code Pink hopped up on stage and tried to make a citizen's arrest. There she is. The woman and four other protesters were removed. None of them were charged.
Another beauty queen boo boo. This one. Miss Teen Louisiana Lindsey Evans and three friends arrested after police say they dined and dashed on a $46 bill. The teen beauty was arrested when she returned to the restaurant to get the purse that she left behind. And it didn't stop there. Police also found marijuana in her bag. Evans reportedly has lost her crown.
Well, this just in. Several homes in Highland Park, Michigan, are on fire this morning. At least four people are missing. The fires had been raging for several hours now. One witness says that he believes that those people did not escape the flames and died. Those are the folks who are missing. We'll keep you updated on this developing story this morning.
To the "Most Politics in the Morning" now, and a widening gap between Barack Obama and John McCain. The latest CNN Poll of Polls shows Obama up two points from yesterday, now leading McCain by nine points nationwide, 51 percent to 42 percent. Obama's widest margin to date.
CNN's Ed Henry is following all the developments for us from Manchester, New Hampshire. That's where Senator McCain was.
And, Ed, the latest CNN Poll of Polls shows that Obama is up by 8 percent there in the Granite State, down just a little bit from the national average or from the last average, rather, which was 9 percent. How critical state is that for John McCain to try to claw back from Senator Obama and put it in his win column?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you know, there's a dwindling number of battleground states, each one is critical for John McCain because he's behind right now, clearly, but especially, New Hampshire for symbolic reasons he wants to come back here. You'll remember, this is the state that gave John McCain a win back in the Republican primaries when he was basically left for dead by the national media, by his fellow Republicans. So he's hoping that this will engineer a comeback again. Only four electoral votes here, not a lot obviously when you compare to something like 27 in Florida.
But as you said, John McCain essentially trying to claw his way back. Every single electoral vote will matter. For example, all of a sudden, Barack Obama trying to play in West Virginia where there's five electoral votes. Nevada where there's five electoral votes. If either of those states were to go to Barack Obama, it's critical for John McCain to try to offset that with the four electoral votes here.
But, again, big picture-wise obviously, very difficult for John McCain because there are so many other battlegrounds that went for President Bush in 2004 that are now leaning towards Barack Obama, that he's basically got to run the table all around the country, not just here in New Hampshire.
John?
ROBERTS: A little bit of bragging rights there, too, in New Hampshire. I mean, that was the place to really launch John McCain in the year 2000. It could certainly be a psychological blow if nothing else.
What about these other controversy that's raging this morning. This idea that Governor Sarah Palin -- and Kiran talked with the first lady of California about it just a second ago -- claimed travel expenses for her children, brought her along to events that they weren't invited to in some cases. Maria Shriver seem to think, well, it's her family. She should deal with it the way that she wants to. But what's the McCain campaign saying about this?
HENRY: Well, they are saying the same thing that Maria Shriver just said. Obviously, that this is a mother, has five children and in some cases, the children were invited to these events or at least she wanted them to be there whether they were invited or not. And it amounted to about $21,000 in family travel, airfare and hotels, and it's important to note that Alaska law does not really say anything about the governor's family traveling. So, this does not violate any law. Does not appear to violate any ethics rule.
I think the broader question is just the sort of spending by the governor. She's out here on the campaign, obviously talking a lot about government reform. Saving taxpayer money. She obviously spent a fair bit of taxpayer money on her family's travel, but her staff is pointing out, the campaign is noting that they could have claimed a per diem for the children. They did not. Because they felt that that would not be appropriate. Instead, they just charged the airfare and the lodging.
So I think in the grand scheme of things, this is very unlikely to become some raging national controversy. Frankly, a lot of McCain and Palin supporters already feel that the media has been scrutinizing her too much. This is not likely to sort of catch fire as a major, major distraction, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. And of course, the big issue for most Americans is putting food on their own table, so probably not...
HENRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: ...not much of a hill of beans in the entire scope of things. Ed Henry for us in Manchester. Ed, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: In Florida, Barack Obama continue to challenge his opponent's reaction to the financial crisis. Suzanne Malveaux is covering the Obama campaign for us from West Palm Beach.
Hey, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John, Kiran. Barack Obama today is mixing it up. He is starting his day and meeting with an advisors from his national security team. He's going to come out and talk about how his foreign policy differs from John McCain. Now, this was once considered a weakness from Barack Obama, but they have a little bit more confidence now since the critical endorsement of Bush's former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
They now believe they can talk about this with more authority in the final weeks of the campaign. And then, he's going to make that turn. He's going to go back to issue number one and that is the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Obama doesn't need Joe the Plumber to talk shop.
VICTORIA VILLALBA, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I'm not Joe the Plumber and I'm not -- I have to tell you I'm not Victoria, Victoria's Secret.
MALVEAUX: She is 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are hurting.
GOV. JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), MICHIGAN: We have lost 400,000 jobs.
MALVEAUX: It was billed as a growing American Job Summit, hosted in a state Obama is fiercely fighting to win.
OBAMA: Florida is actually, over the last several months, lost more jobs even than Ohio and Michigan. So, the -- Florida is 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 gave my speech much more effectively (INAUDIBLE).
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: This 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 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 -- by this administration.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Later today, Barack Obama goes to Virginia -- Leesburg and Richmond. Now, this is another state of, a Republican state, that Barack Obama believes he can snatch from John McCain.
Kiran?
John?
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux reporting this morning. Suzanne, thanks for that. It's eight minutes after the hour. Christine Romans here "Minding Your Business." And here's today's figure, $24 billion. Who does it belong to and what does it all mean? Here's Christine with all that.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Wachovia, this is a bank we've been following here on this program for the past couple of weeks. First, it was going to, you know, go into the arms of Citi and then Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo ultimately won Wachovia. It will be part of Wells Fargo, but Wachovia reporting a corporate earnings number for the most recent quarter. A loss of $24 billion in one quarter. There's a big charge in there, but basically, this is a bank that bet big on mortgages and bet wrong, and now Wachovia will become a part of Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo executives saying they pretty much expected numbers like this. Some, a really dreary, dreary quarter. This is why you've got these banks in such trouble. They made these big bets on loans and mortgages that are now going bad one after another, and it's really hurting their bottom line. So, we'll watch the banking and the financial services stocks today to see what kind of impact there could be from Wachovia there.
Let's take a look at what happened overnight, though. We've got the Dow futures down some 200 points here before the market opens. So, it looks like it's going to be kind of an ugly day. Asian Pacific Stocks tanked overnight. European stocks went down following after yesterday's decline for the Dow. So, look, we're in for maybe a tough ride here in the early going. I'll be watching the financial services stock, in particular the banks just to see what kind of direction we get from there.
ROBERTS: So now we're back to this idea of, OK, this bailout plan, looked like it was working. But what's happening now?
ROMANS: The credit market is thawing, John. It is thawing. But, listen, people are looking in the very near term, too. We've got an ugly economy right in front of us and so that's what they're looking at. Corporate profits and just what's this recession going to look like.
OK, we've got maybe some thawing in the credit market, now we've got to go back to the economy and what's happening there.
ROBERTS: Yes. And when you take a look at that, not pretty exactly.
ROMANS: Yes. So, here we go.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Buckle up.
CHETRY: Well, he's a billionaire, he's a financier, he's a philanthropist, George Soros. And he's calling 2008 a once in a lifetime moment. John sat down with him exclusively. We're going to find out why he got a mention on "Saturday Night Live."
Florida frustration --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Long lines and confusion as early voting gets under way in the crucial swing state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're very frustrated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 14 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning," with the Election Day just 13 days away now. CNN has reporters in battleground states, coast to coast. We're covering the issues and the candidates in these crucial states that could determine who gets the oval office, including our Sean Callebs.
Well, he's not up for the oval office, he's covering the battleground states. He's live for us in Miami this morning.
Sean, third day of early voting there, and we're hearing that there may be some problems in some places.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, mention voting problems and people across the country may roll their eyes and say, oops, here goes Florida again. Well, there are problems. There are glitches coming up and there are people standing in line for hours. Indeed, one polling site here in Broward County didn't close until about 10:30 last night, about three hours later than it was scheduled to.
(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. And you get up there and you 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 in to the CNN voter hotline alleging concerns like this one from Jacksonville.
VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're having problems with the poll machines. They're not aligned correctly, so you don't -- you're not sure about which candidate you're voting for, so, they said they brought in ten new machines as backup machines, but they've corrected the issue.
CALLEBS: Election officials in Florida say there isn't one specific problem 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 lieges of poll workers.
BUDDY JOHNSON, ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY: When you've got brand new equipment and you're shifting from a touch screen, 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: Another factor, we cannot lose sight of, only a small percentage of polling sites that will be open on November 4th are open for early voting. For example, in Broward, there will be 300 open in a couple of weeks. Right now, John, only 17.
County officials say, look, there's no reason to wait in long lines right now. You will have plenty of time. But expect to hear a lot more about this today. The state and county are sensitive about these criticisms and they will be addressing it.
ROBERTS: Certainly appears to be a lot of enthusiasm there in Florida for people to get out to the polls early and exercise their franchise.
CALLEBS: Without question.
ROBERTS: Good to see that, though. Sean Callebs for us this morning in Miami. Sean, thanks so much.
And if you have concerns about possible voting irregularities in your state, we'd like to know about them. Call us, toll-free, 1-877-gocnn- 08. That's 1-877-462-6608.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Right. That's how we heard from the woman about some of the problems with the touch screen, so we do want to hear your stories for sure.
Still ahead, a vote-and-switch glitch. In this close election, could you vote one way and actually have it count for the other guy? Well, you don't want to miss our special "Count the Vote" report.
And Sarah Palin's first sit-down interview with CNN, plus the latest on a controversial report about her children's travel expenses. It's 17 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 19 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Time to fast-forward to see what stories will be making news later today. Senator John McCain will sit down for an extended interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. What's his strategy for gaining ground in the homestretch? New polls show he's down by 9 percent. You can see the interview today on "THE SITUATION ROOM" at 4 p.m. Eastern.
And the much-anticipated Google cell phone goes on sale nationwide today. What makes the G1 phones stand out is its software code is publicly available meaning Joe, the software designer, can create his own applications for the handset. 90 percent of us have no idea what that means. But the phone sells for $179 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile.
And the World Series kicks off tonight. The Tampa Bay Rays hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. National League Championship Series MVP Cole Hamels will be taking the mound for the Phillies and Scott Kazmir gets the ball for the Rays. And that's what we're following for you this morning.
Our Jacqui Jeras is also following the weather because if you're following the World Series, you care what it's going to be like in Tampa tonight.
Hey there, Jacqui.
(WEATHER REPORT)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fun fact for you, Kiran. Speaking of the World Series, guess how many -- I need a number, not a wait -- guess how many hotdogs had been consumed in major league ballparks so far this year?
CHETRY: How many what?
JERAS: Hotdogs have been consumed.
CHETRY: How many hotdogs just this year?
JERAS: It will make you sick just thinking of it.
CHETRY: Let me -- OK, 240,000?
JERAS: Try 30 million. 30 million! Can you imagine?
ROBERTS: 240,000.
CHETRY: I didn't know.
ROBERTS: Maybe one ballpark in one weekend.
CHETRY: All right. People like hotdogs. How about it? All right, in the next hour, if we had one, you can tell me how much beer was consumed, I'm sure it would be in the millions there, too.
ROBERTS: What was the name of the guy that won the Nathan's contest?
CHETRY: Joey Chestnut? ROBERTS: Joey Chestnut, yes.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: He could make a dent in that.
CHETRY: You're right. He could eat probably 240,000 himself alone this year at the ballpark.
ROBERTS: No question. Legendary economy expert George Soros weighs in on the financial crisis and role in politics -- part two of my exclusive sit-down interview.
And in this close election, the last thing that you want is for your vote to be counted for the other side. Well, could it actually happen? And what does it mean for the election? We'll tell you, coming up. 23 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." We all remember the infamous hanging chads from Florida in 2000, but are electronic machines really more secure? Well, my next guest says that problems with new machines are serious enough that they could theoretically put the election at risk. Joining me now is Ed Felton. He's a computer science professor at Princeton University.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
EDWARD FELTEN, COMPUTER SCIENCE PROF., PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: My pleasure.
CHETRY: You and your colleagues looked into this. You researched the safety of some of these new machines. And one report suggested that 10,000 voting machines just in New Jersey alone could be hacked in a span of ten minutes. How is that possible?
FELTEN: Well, the problem is that these voting machines are basically computers and like any computer, if you can open them up and change what's inside, you can change what they're going to do.
CHETRY: And can you explain for us how -- some of the ways that people could actually hack into these machines and actually change votes?
FELTEN: Sure, sure. Let me show you over here. I think we have -- we have some images. This shows the access door on the side of a Diebold voting machine that's used in Maryland and Georgia. This lock is easily picked, and -- right. So, here we see someone picking the lock. It takes about five seconds for a skilled person to pick the lock and the keys anyway are available widely on the internet.
Once this door is open, someone can put in or take out one of these memory cards. And -- that you see on the right. And that can change what the voting machine does, literally, reprogram it to count the votes in a different way. CHETRY: Now, these machines, are they out in the open, are they monitored? I mean, would somebody notice if somebody tried to do that, first of all?
FELTEN: Well, it's not so easy to notice. As you can see, you don't have to damage the machine in order to get it open. And so one would have to look very, very carefully to notice that anything was wrong.
CHETRY: And as for those memory cards, are those commercially available or would these be special ones that, you know, you would not be able to replace, let's say?
FELTEN: No, these are widely available. The one you see here is one we actually had left over from use in a digital camera.
CHETRY: You have some other pictures for us as well...
FELTEN: Yes.
CHETRY:...about somebody being able to go in and replace a chip as you referred to. Explain that.
FELTEN: Right. This shows part of the motherboard of a Sequoia Acu- Vote -- I'm sorry, Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine like we use in New Jersey. And the chips here with the white stickers on them contain the software programming that tell the voting machine what to do. These chips kind of stick into the board like Lego blocks and you can just pull them off and replace them with replacement chips that cost about a dollar. And those replacement chips can make the machine do whatever the person tampering with the machine wants them to do.
CHETRY: Wow. You also -- in terms of basic security -- took some photos of unguarded machines.
FELTEN: That's right.
CHETRY: Is this common practice that these machines are just sort of stored somewhere without being watched?
FELTEN: These are pictures that I took the night before our last election in New Jersey at four polling places in my town, in Princeton. One of these is in an elementary school cafeteria, one is in town hall, one is in a church basement and the other one is in a university building. All of these were wide open, unlocked and available to anybody who walked in the night before the election.
CHETRY: Wow. You know, Sequoia, by the way, the maker of some of these electronic machines that you were referring to, they deny that they're vulnerable to attack.
In fact, here's the statement from the company. They say, "Sequoia categorically denies this allegation. Simple, established and previously used accuracy and security protections make the items in their report next to impossible."
He's talking about the 10,000 voting machines. Do you buy that? It's next to impossible for this to happen?
FELTEN: No, I'm afraid it's all too possible. The machines, as you saw, are unguarded and anyone who knows what they're doing and can get inside could in principle change how the votes are counted.
CHETRY: What's the solution? Is there anything that we can do to make sure that that type of thing doesn't happen for somebody who's attempting to do it?
FELTEN: Sure. The most important safeguard is to have some kind of paper record of each vote which the voter can look at. And then if there's any dispute afterward about what happen, you can go look at the paper record and you can know what the voter saw in the voting booth.
CHETRY: You think they could make those locks -- you know, maybe a combination or something a little bit harder to get into. I know what you're talking about, you can jimmy those open (ph).
FELTEN: Sure, sure. They certainly could do that. They could also do a better job of guarding the voting machines in-between the elections and before the elections.
CHETRY: All right. Well, hopefully, they'll take into account some of the things that you guys pointed out because it would be a real big mess if it turns out that they were able to do that, that somebody who wants to hack in could do that after Election Day.
Well, Edward Felten, the computer science professor from Princeton University, thanks for joining us today.
FELTEN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Also, if you have any concerns about possible voting irregularities in your state, we want to know about them. Give us a call toll-free 877-gocnn-08.
ROBERTS: Send them to New York. We know how to do locks up here. It's half past the hour and following up on some breaking news. Check out these huge house fires in Highland Park, Michigan. It's just outside Detroit. At least four people are missing this morning.
One witness who escaped from one of the burning houses says he believes that the missing people did not escape and that they're probably dead. Another man who escaped says windows exploded out of homes and he could hear electrical systems making popping noises. The blazes have been raging for several hours now.
Local reports say at least three homes have burned to the ground. We're working to get a live video signal for you from Highland Park and we'll give you updates just as soon as we get them.
ROBERTS: The FBI is investigating more than 30 threatening letters sent to Chase banks in Oklahoma City and eight other cities. The letters contained a white powder but it was found to be harmless. One city official in Chicago says the letters were mailed from Amarillo, Texas.
Federal officials are announcing a new measure to scan passengers as they board flights. The program called Secure Flight has the government and not individual airlines screening flyers against terrorist watch lists. The goal is to cut down mistakes and use the most up to date information.
And there's a new player this morning in the Asian race to the moon. Just a few hours ago India launched its first unmanned lunar probe. The craft will spend two years mapping the moon's surface and will join Chinese and Japanese craft that are already in orbit.
With the most politics in the morning now. Sarah Palin sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Drew Griffin. The talk turn to the economy, the "s" word surfaced again, by the way, socialism. Drew Griffin was the one who talked to the governor. He's live in Reno, Nevada, for us this morning. Just how heavily was she leaning on this idea of socialism, Drew?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She just stopped short of calling Barack Obama a socialist, John, but certainly pointed out that Barack Obama's economic plan is a move towards socialism, big government intervention, which I pointed out is actually already under way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (on-camera): Was it a mistake to allow your husband to use your office to try to pressure the troopers to fire Mr. -
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not at all. Because, "a," that the trooper who had tasered his kid and had, you know, made death threats against my family and said he was going to bring the governor down and all that, my husband did exactly I think what any sensible, reasonable father-husband would do who was concerned about their family's safety.
GRIFFIN: But was it a mistake to allow him to use the governor's office to that extent?
PALIN: Not when you look at other governors' track records when they have their spouse as for instance, Governor Murkowski had his spouse address as her top adviser, and she was in the meetings and she was in the office. So you know, kind of a double standard here. But what Todd did was what any reasonable husband and father would do.
GRIFFIN: Governor, if in two weeks you're not elected, do you come back at the top of the ticket in 2012?
PALIN: I'm concerned about and focused on just the next two weeks, Drew. And, again, getting that message out there to the American public, thankfully, too, the American public has seen clear and clearer what the choices are on these tickets. I think some revelation just occurred not just with Joe the plumber, but revelation occurred with Joe Biden's comment the other night, that he telling his democrat financial donors, saying that he said, mark my word, there's going to be economic and/or international crisis, he said, if Barack Obama is elected, because he will be tested. And he said there are four or five scenarios that will result in an international crisis with this untested presidential candidate in Barack Obama.
And, first, I think we need to thank Joe for the warning there. But Joe's words there, I think, can shed some light, too, in terms of the contrast you have on the tickets. John McCain is a tested leader. He has gone through great adversity. He has the scars to prove it. He has shown his true leadership. It hasn't just been all talk. And Joe Biden's comments there about an untested, as he had said in the primary, unprepared candidate to be president, I think was very telling.
GRIFFIN: I mean, does Joe Biden get a pass?
PALIN: Drew, you need to ask your colleagues and I guess your bosses or whoever is - whoever's in charge of all this, why does Joe Biden get a pass on such a thing? Can you imagine if I would have said such a thing? No, I think, that you know, we would be pounded and held accountable for what in the world did you mean by that, VP, presidential candidate? Why would you say that? That mark my words, this nation will undergo international crisis if you elect Barack Obama. If I would have said that, you guys would have clobbered me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: John, obviously, that was a part of our discussion about troopergate which she calls tasergate and also her view that the media's exceptionally critical of her while allowing her other vice presidential contender to get away with a gaffe. But on the socialism, she was comparing and contrasting the two plans saying, listen, Barack Obama wants to take taxpayers' money and use it the way he sees fit, whereas John McCain, even though he supported that big bailout bill actually wants to leave the money in the hands of taxpayers and let them use the money as they see fit. She sees that as a big difference in these two plans. John.
ROBERTS: Drew Griffin for us this morning from Reno. Drew, thanks so much for that.
By the way, Sarah Palin's running mate, John McCain will be sitting down with CNN later on today. Senator McCain talks with Wolf Blitzer in "the Situation Room." That's this afternoon, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and 1:00 p.m. Pacific.
CHETRY: A congresswoman on the road trying to explain her indicendiary comments. What she said that prompted a cash flood but to the opposite party.
And money, power and politics. An exclusive interview with billionaire George Soros. How he says the global financial crisis will shape the next president's term. You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: New polls out this morning showing how you feel about America's money crisis. And many people are saying where's my bailout? 56 percent of Americans are against the government's $700 billion plan to help troubled banks and financial firms. 58 percent want government assistance for homeowners who cannot afford to pay their mortgages.
This is a once in a lifetime moment, that's how legendary financier George Soros describes the current global financial crisis in his book, "The New Paradigm for Financial Markets, the credit crisis of 2008 and what it means." I had a chance to sit down with Soros earlier this week.
In the first part of our interview he described our current economy as, "falling off a cliff." In today's interview, our talk turns to politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (on-camera): Do you believe that the next president will be able to focus on the real needs of this country going forward, or will their time be completely occupied by this economic meltdown?
GEORGE SOROS: I think that the next president will face an extremely difficult task. And he will have to do something unusual. He has to take some steps, something out of the box, to - to justify the hopes that are attached to him. And I think it has to be probably in the area of energy. Global warming, and energy independence because that's where very large investment needs to be made.
ROBERTS: On the political front, Mr. Soros, you have - you're famous for dumping millions and millions of dollars into democratic causes, Center for American Progress, moveon.org, other 527s. You said in the 2004 election you wanted to make the central focus of your life unseating President Bush. Do you have too much influence in the political process because of the amount of money that you have and your willingness to spend it?
SOROS: First of all, I have had absolutely no contact with Senator Obama ever since he started running for president. I support -
ROBERTS: But you do fund organizations that have had contact?
SOROS: Well, I fund organizations that bring out the vote and, of course, they do have a certain bias. There's no question about it. But I exercise no influence on the government policy. I don't need any favors from government. So, I do want the government to function better. But I'm not looking for any kind of personal favor. I don't need it.
ROBERTS: You were described in a recent episode of "Saturday Night Live" as owner of the democratic party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. dollar will have to be devalued sometime next week, either Tuesday or Wednesday. I haven't decided which yet. It will depend on how I feel.
SOROS: Well, I was amused. ROBERTS: I mean, how true is that?
SOROS: There's no foundation to it.
ROBERTS: But there's no question that Barack Obama is your man. You want to see him in the White House. But you haven't been quite as active in this election cycle as you were in 2004. Why not?
SOROS: Because I felt that in 2004, the greatest benefit that I could bring to humanity was to prevent his re-election.
ROBERTS: George Bush?
SOROS: I was willing - I was willing to, you know, go out, and I put my money on the line, and I put my mouth where my money was. I spoke out against him. And I think that events have kind of validated that, in fact, we would be in a much better place if he had not been re- elected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Soros also talked about the economy at length. Both in that interview and in a forum that I moderated at Columbia University in which he and other noted economists like Nouriel Roubini believed that what we're seeing in the markets is just the first stage of where this economy is headed and that we're in for a prolonged recession that will be a deep one.
Soros doesn't quite know how deep it will be or how long it will last, but they are projecting maybe 18 to 24 months and unemployment could hit as high as nine percent. So, definitely concerns ahead from a guy who should know.
CHETRY: Right, and from all our business reporting as well, the indicators are there as we've seen consumer spending tighten and many other things, the possibility of more job losses unfortunately.
ROBERTS: And don't forget that Soros, Nouriel Roubini and also Robert Schiller were three noted minds of finance who predicted that all of this was going to happen. So, when they speak, you tend to listen to them.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, it's the newest insult in politics calling someone anti-American. So what happens when you throw that label on a whole group? One congresswoman is in the hot seat and what she's doing to defend herself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Well no patriotic American wants to be called anti-American. And Carol Costello is live in Washington to tell us what happens when you call your colleagues that. Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONENT: Nothing good, I can tell you that, Kiran. Congresswoman Bachmann is no stranger to TV interviews. Observers say she likes being in the national spotlight. Well, she got her wish, but it's not exactly helping her win re-election in Minnesota.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Minnesota republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann is spinning, herself. Last week on MSNBC, she appeared to question Barack Obama's patriotism.
REP. MICHELLE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views.
COSTELLO: Three days later in a "Washington Times" online interview, she denied it.
BACHMANN: It is not true. I did not say that. I did not question Barack Obama's patriotism.
COSTELLO: Last week, Bachmann also addressed whether members of Congress were anti-American.
BACHMANN: The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America.
COSTELLO: On Monday she backed off that, too. Telling "The Washington Times" she wasn't pushing for an investigation.
BACHMANN: That's an out-and-out bald-faced lie, I did not say that.
COSTELLO: But her denials have pushed congressional democrats into overdrive. Bachmann is running for re-election in Minnesota and thanks to her allegedly anti-liberal comments, democrats are now flushed with cash. They've launched TV ads.
ANNOUNCER: Michelle Bachmann may stand alone, but she doesn't stand for you.
COSTELLO: Bachmann's democratic opponent trailing her by just a few points is cash-happy, too. He's raised $810,000 since Bachmann's comments hit the airwaves. Political observers are a little surprise by the democratic backlash. It's not like Bachmann hasn't angered them before. In 2007, she raised eyebrows for reaching out and touching President Bush after his State of the Union.
BACHMANN: I've been (chucked).
COSTELLO: And then there was this hot for god sermon.
BACHMANN: Because when you are hot for Jesus Christ, there is nothing like that life.
COSTELLO: That spawned an on-line, anti-Bachmann movement, but nothing has roused Minnesota democrats like Bachmann's alleged charges of liberal anti-Americanism and some observers say it could lead to her ouster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has raised her profile to quite a degree, but this was the wrong time to sort of swing for the fences.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: In a statement to CNN, Bachmann said in part, the congresswoman never called for some house un-American activities committee witch hunt, and she never called all liberals anti-American. She says her comments were taken out of context. She was asking legitimate questions about Barack Obama's relationship with '60s radical Bill Ayers and Obama's former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Kiran.
CHETRY: You talked about how this has backfired at least in terms of raising campaign cash because her opponent has now been able to capitalize in this with some money. Is she facing the possibility that she could lose re-election?
COSTELLO: Well, some observers say, yes, because this has given the democrats something to grab on to and something to say. And it's also given them lots and lots of money to, you know, to paste the airwaves with those ads. In fact, the democratic congressional committee says it will - it will spend $1 million to just, like, paper the airwaves in Minnesota with anti-Bachmann ads.
CHETRY: Yes, they are trying to get every seat they can, of course, in Congress right now and we've invited her on the show. By the way, Carol if she'd like to explain herself, we'd be happy to have her as a guest. So, thanks a lot. Good to see you this morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: We've been trying to get her every day this week and so far they've been saying thanks, but no thanks.
CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what lies ahead. Good morning to you, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John. That's right. We are checking "Issue #1" which once again is, of course, the economy and certainly the issue in the campaign to be talking about. How will the economy affect the election? We'll have extensive coverage on that.
Security drive-through, a 3D check of you and your car at the border. It's pretty cool pictures.
And high schoolers make themselves at home after a myspace posting says a family's out of town. We'll get started at the top of the hour, right here on CNN. John.
ROBERTS: You know, you got to watch what you put on the internet.
COLLINS: We say it all the time. That's right.
ROBERTS: When are people going to learn? Heidi, thanks so much for that. Looking forward to that story.
COLLINS: You bet.
ROBERTS: Well, is John McCain against the so-called Bush tax cuts before he was for them? That's the claim from Barack Obama. The truth squad is on the case this morning when "the most news in the morning" returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 52 and half minutes after the hour and time now to check in with the truth squad! And more tax talk out there in the battleground states. Our Alina Cho looking into a comment by Barack Obama.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Nobody says truth squad like you, John. Good morning. Good morning, everybody.
ROBERTS: Because, you know why? Because our viewers can handle the truth!
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: Truth will set them free.
CHO: You say it with feelings.
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
CHO: That's right. Good morning, everybody. You know, it is another common theme on the campaign trail. Barack Obama trying to link John McCain to President Bush, and lately he's been pointing out that McCain was against the so-called Bush tax cuts before he was for them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the very wealthiest Americans. John McCain called that socialism. What he forgets, conveniently, is that just a few years ago he, himself, said those Bush tax cuts were irresponsible. He said he couldn't in good conscience support a tax cut where the benefits went to the wealthy at the expense of middle- class Americans who most need tax relief.
CHO (voice-over): Is Obama getting McCain's record right? President Bush pushed for the cuts early in his first term, back in February of 2001. Speaking on the Senate floor a few months later, John McCain said, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief."
When the cuts came to a vote, McCain was one of just two Republican senators to vote against them and Bush ultimately signed the trillion dollar plan into law. In 2003, McCain voted against additional tax cuts. But then, in 2006, he sided with the president. And voted to extend the cuts, saying voting against them would be, "tantamount to a tax increase." Now that the economy had adjusted to them. So did Obama get the record right?
OBAMA: Just a few years ago, he himself said those Bush tax cuts were irresponsible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: So, the truth squad verdict on this one is - true. McCain did say he could not support the cuts because they went to the wealthy at the expense of the middle-class, and then he later, as you heard, supported extending the cuts saying the economy made them feasible, John, at that later time. Just 13 days until the election, a lot of gray out there, as you know.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. And we depend on the truth squad to put it in black and white.
CHO: Hey, I'm here for you. I'm here for you. I just want to remind our viewers too that if you want to keep your tallies of how many trues, misleading, falses, in dispute, a lot of categories there, you can go to cnn.com/am. All of them are there.
ROBERTS: Do they have the sound effects, too?
CHO: Yes, they do.
ROBERTS: Excellent. All right. We'll play with those. Alina, thanks so much.
It's 55 and a half minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Pop politics from prime time to porn to a growing group of average Joes.
PALIN: Ed the dairy man, Phil the bricklayer. And we have Andy, the engineer. Tito, the builder.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Moos takes a most unusual look at how campaigns are invading pop culture. You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Just 13 days left until election day and it's all politics, all the time right now. It seems darn near everyone is getting into the act. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the campaign doesn't end soon, those ladies on "The View" are going to kill each other.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As I made the point -
MOOS: McCain supporter Elisabeth Hasselback is even wearing her Ameri-cain t-shirt.
And on "Ellen," the host joked about how much election coverage she is watching on CNN.
ELLEN DE GENERES, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW," HOST: I realized the other day I called den "the Situation Room" and I'm sleeping on a Larry-King-sized bed.
MOOS: On Monday, VP pick Joe Biden was trying to pick off an actress. It took him six throws to dunk Julia Louise Dreyfus for (inaudible) and then he apologized. In what looked like a prison conjugal visit, but that pales next to the x-rated Sarah Palin look-alike film that "Hustler" publisher Larry Flynt has made. A non X-rated clip has surfaced showing the look alike entertaining two Russian soldiers whose tank has broken down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I could rearrange the alphabet, I would put you and I together.
AS SARAH PALIN: If I didn't know any better I think you boys are flirting with me.
MOOS: And speaking of look-alikes, according to the web site TMZ, the real Sarah Palin supposedly checked into her New York hotel as Tina, the night she appeared on "Saturday Night Live."
AMY POEHLER, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": Keep your hands up, all the mavericks on the house.
MOOS: The Photoshop joke photo of the day is Obama and Palin "Dancing with the Stars." Our poster of the day is "Attack of the 50-foot Palin." Meanwhile conservative blogs are attacking the animated show "Family Guy" for sticking a McCain pin on a character wearing a Nazi uniform.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, there's something on here. Huh, that's weird.
MOOS: The McCain campaign keeps pinning its hopes on a certain Joe.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe the plumber.
PALIN: Good old Joe the plumber.
MOOS (on-camera): Just call me Jeanne, the plunger. Actually, a Portland, Oregon radio station plunged in to rescue Joe the plumber.
MOOS: KEX organized a donation drive and listeners contributed $1800 to more than pay off Joe's overdue tax bill. JOE THE PLUMBER: I really appreciate it.
MOOS: Watch out, Joe the Plumber has spawned signs proclaiming...
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ed, the dairy man. Phil, the bricklayer. We have Andy, the engineer. Keith, the builder.
MOOS: Maybe Dave, the cop may be start checking IDs.
PALIN: John the only Republican at my high school.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Yes, John, the anchorman, but he's also John the Plumber. You really -- you were not fibbing yesterday when you said you repaired the White House toilet once.
ROBERTS: No. I was not fibbing. No. Handy around the home, you know. I can do a few things.
CHETRY: I have a list for you later.
Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Right now, here's CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins.
