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American Morning
Firefighters Battles Wildfires in Los Angeles; McCain Launching the 'Joe the Plumber' Tour; Barack Obama Responding to McCain's Attack Forcefully; Voter Registration Controversy Leads to Death Threats
Aired October 23, 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: Just crossing the top of the hour now. Breaking news, hundreds of firefighters battling a wildfire burning in the Los Angeles area. The fire broke out overnight near the Getty Museum. It's being fueled by dry Santa Ana winds, gusting as much as 50 miles an hour. People in the Brentwood area are being warned that they may have to evacuate.
The space shuttle Endeavor is going to be on the move this hour. Workers at the Kennedy Space Center will roll Endeavor from one launch pad to another in preparation for its launch on November 14th and admission to the International Space Station.
Advantage Philadelphia. The Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3 to 2 in the first game of the World Series last night. Chase Utley slammed a two run homer in the first inning. The Phillies never looked back. Game two of the Best of Seven Series tonight in Tampa.
To the "Most Politics in the Morning" now. Twelve days and counting until we pick the next president. John McCain takes the Straight Talk Express to Central Florida today reaching out to all of those Joe the Plumbers who live and vote in the Sunshine State. CNN's Ed Henry is covering the McCain campaign. He's live in Ormond Beach, Florida, this morning, just north of Daytona Beach.
And people lining up there, already, for the event, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, John.
They've been here lining up since after 5 a.m. this morning. Very early in the dark here. Good sign for John McCain. He's still hopeful of winning here in Florida, even though he's been behind in recent weeks.
Obviously, it's very hard to craft a winning formula, mathematically for John McCain, if he does not carry the 27 electoral votes here in Florida. This state has been very hard hit by the economy. Obviously, the foreclosure crisis in particular. But also a lot of retirees here.
They're seeing their retirement savings dwindle because of the directions on Wall Street. John McCain launching what he calls The Joe the Plumber Tour. Today, he's going to be with Tom the Lumber Man behind me. This is a building supply company, building materials company, basically. And John McCain is trying to use that message to connect with middle class voters in this state and around the country. And yesterday in Ohio, he was hitting the tax issue very hard and going after Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's the problem with Senator Obama's approach on taxes. He's more concerned about creating a tax plan that is, quote, "fairer" than creating a plan that creates jobs and grows our economy. The Obama tax increase, the comment, the worst possible time for America and especially for small businesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now Barack Obama obviously insists that he would actually cut taxes for the vast majority of Americans, and that he's just looking for more fairness in the U.S. tax code. Obviously, you've heard the retort from the McCain camp that they believe that's essentially socialism, redistributing wealth.
We're going to hear that a lot over the last 12 days. Obviously, the reason why John McCain, the other reason he's here obviously is early voting has started in Florida, as you know, and Barack Obama was here with Hillary Clinton at the beginning of the week, so John McCain wants to make sure he's keeping up there and he's turning out his vote early, John.
ROBERTS: Ed, Joe the Plumber's aspirations aside, most of the people that John McCain is is thriving out there on the campaign trail, like Joe the Plumber's current -- like Joe the Plumber currently, like Ed the Dairyman, like the lumber man there -- aren't they in the tax bracket that would benefit from Senator Obama's plan?
HENRY: As Barack Obama repeatedly said is that basically, if any of these small business people make under $250,000 a year, they're going to get a tax cut, not a tax increase and he's going to be hitting that. You heard that in the third debate. And also, Barack Obama has a new retort. He unveiled it yesterday, where he basically insisting John McCain is not standing up for Joe the Plumber, he's standing up for Joe the Hedge Fund Manager. So, obviously, we're going to hear a lot of this back and forth over the last 12 days, John.
ROBERTS: Ed Henry for us in Ormond Beach, Florida this morning. Ed, thanks so much for that.
HENRY: Thank you.
CHETRY: Senator Barack Obama has been responding to McCain's attacks, pretty forcefully. CNN's Jessica Yellin is with the Obama campaign in Indianapolis. That's where she joins us live this morning.
What can we expect today, Jessica?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, we'll hear more from Barack Obama on the economy and more of these response lines to John McCain's attacks. Barack Obama is accusing John McCain of being divisive, of using just about anything he can now to win, saying he's throwing everything against the wall to see what will stick, and he specifically hitting back against some of what you were talking about with Ed Rollins, some of what we heard Ed Henry talking about just now. These accusations by John McCain that Barack Obama's tax plan amounts to socialism.
Here's what Barack Obama had to say about that yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So me rolling back those tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans so we can give relief to the nurse and the teacher and the bus driver and the janitor.
(APPLAUSE)
John McCain calls that socialism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, Kiran, Barack Obama also made the point in his rally yesterday in Virginia, a state where he is well-ahead, that he believes there are no pro-American and anti-America parts of this nation. Virginia, the state in which one of John McCain's top adviser said that there are real parts of Virginia and apparently not real parts of Virginia.
So, that is a line Barack Obama is continuing to pursue. He is also veered off of his message on the economy briefly to hit again on the theme of national security. Obama took a meeting with his top national security advisers yesterday to drive home the message that he is prepared to be commander-in-chief in his view and to shore up any doubts -- any lingering doubts voters might have on that issue. But when he comes here to Indianapolis shortly, we expect him to drive home his economic message, bottom line, he wants to help the middle class, he says, and as you heard in that sound bite, he believes John McCain is focused on giving the tax breaks to the wealthiest. It's a message that has been working for Barack Obama -- Kiran.
CHETRY: He's also going to be taking a break as we know from the campaign trail. He's going to Hawaii to see his grandmother who is gravely ill right after the rally this morning. What is his relationship like? He's credited her with having a huge impact on his life.
YELLIN: She was, he said, the rock of his family. Basically, he lived with her after the age of 10 on when his mother moved to Indonesia. He stayed with his grandmother through his teenaged years in Hawaii. So, his grandmother was not just his principal figure in his life at that time, but also the prime bread winner. She -- he's credited her with breaking the glass ceiling. She started as a secretary at her bank and became one of its top executives. And you'll recall he said on the stump many times that when his own mother died of cancer, he wasn't there to see her at the very end. And he told CBS's "Early Show" today that he wants to make sure he doesn't make that mistake again.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: It was sort of like this in the sense that she had a terminal illness. We knew she wasn't doing well. But the diagnosis was such where we thought we had a little more time and we didn't. And so I want to make sure that I don't -- I don't make the same mistake twice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: And so, Barack Obama will be leaving as you say for Hawaii this afternoon. And he'll be off the trail, Thursday and Friday, and then we'll see him back stumping again on Saturday. But expect his surrogates and his wife to be on the trail for him while he's away -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Jessica Yellin for us at Indianapolis this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Of course in the campaign's final days, it's all about the battleground states. We've got some new poll of polls to tell you about this morning. So let's lay it all out for you in the magic wall.
First of all, in the State of Nevada, our latest poll of polls has got Senator Obama up over John McCain by five points now. Nevada with its five electoral votes. A real battleground state there in the west. We've also got some new polling here in the States of Ohio.
And of course, early voting underway here in Cincinnati. Take a look at this. They're so enthusiastic about it, they were even camping out overnight to be there, first in line to get in there for early voting. Let's take a look at the polls in the State of Ohio. Now remember, a couple of weeks ago this was really close. Senator Obama was ahead by a couple of points. He's stretched that lead out now on our latest poll of poll to four points. He's now at 50 percent. 50 percent to 46 percent, Senator Obama over Senator McCain.
Let's take a look down here in the commonwealth of Virginia, a real battleground. Both of them fighting very, very hard for. Latest poll of polls confirms what we saw last week. Senator Obama now with a 10-point lead over Senator McCain, 54 percent to 44 percent. Let's just park that over here. And just lay out for you a little bit more of what's happening here in the State of Virginia.
A large part of Senator Obama's supporters coming here in northern Virginian, of course, where he leads among voters, two to one, at this point. Also, it's interesting to note that 9 percent -- 9 percent of Republicans say they are going to vote for Senator Obama. It's even higher in Ohio which may be a reflection of what's going on there with the economy. 10 percent of Republicans say that they will support Senator Obama in this election. We also got some new numbers here for North Carolina. And of course early voting underway there, began last week. People lined up around the block in this polling place in Charlotte. Wanted to be first out and get their vote counted. They don't want to wait around until the 4th of November. Here's what our latest polling shows. This was even out just a couple of weeks ago. And now Senator Obama extending a 4-point lead over Senator McCain.
This is a state that has not voted Democratic since Jimmy Carter got it back 1976. The last time that a Democrat swept the south. Here, though, in West Virginia which some polls have as a swing state, Senator McCain continues to maintain his lead -- a real healthy one here over Senator Obama -- 53 percent to 44 percent. That's nine points. And one of the reasons why is because 20 percent of Democrats in that state tell us that they are going to vote for John McCain. So he's got a lot of support among Democrats there.
So, what does all this mean in terms of the Electoral College and how that's going to go? Let's play it out here on the Electoral College map. Based on those polls, what we see today, if the election were to be held today and those numbers were to pan out, right now, Barack Obama with 277 electoral votes to John McCain's 174. Now, this is all just theoretical. We're not declaring a thing here.
But if the election were to be held today and these numbers were to pan out, Senator Obama would win the state of Nevada, he would most likely win Colorado as well. Senator McCain would win Missouri. Senator Obama would take Ohio. He would take North Carolina and he would take Florida. And take a look at what the numbers show. That would be the very definition of a landslide, 353 to 185.
Again, that's just a projection, theoretical of what would happen. But it certainly suggests that John McCain has got a lot of work to do over these next 12 days. The places where he has to try to do it, the state of Pennsylvania, which we've been talking about, Ohio and Virginia. He's got to try to turn those three states around. Otherwise, the road, Kiran, to the White House will be extraordinarily difficult if not impossible.
CHETRY: Yes, looks like it. All right, John, thanks.
In these shaky economic times, it's especially hard and important to hold on to your job. So, tips on how you can recession proof your position.
Robot wars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Bombarded in the battleground states.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our members are reporting getting 10 to 15 calls a day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why people on both sides are calling for an end to automated phone calls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really annoying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Temple of the Dog -- actually.
ROBERTS: What?
CHETRY: It's the Temple of the Dog, "Hunger Strike," one of my favorite songs. You know, this is the only time you have ever not known a song that we've played here. That's so funny. I'll put it in your iPod today. Well, the reason...
ROBERTS: Hey, I recognize thunder struck at Governor Palin's event the other day. That's pretty good.
CHETRY: Well, it is. Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business."
I guess we are playing that song because, you know, part of the refrain is I'm going hungry. A lot of people worried right now about keeping their jobs and putting food on the table.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's time to recession proof your job. It's time to take a good look at your own position, your company and try to figure out, you know, are you in a good position and if you're going to be one of the people who keeps their job if there are layoffs.
Just this morning, we've heard of another Chrysler plant will be closed. They're going to -- they're cutting a shift at another. Goldman Sachs is cutting 10 percent of its jobs this week. Layoffs at Merck, Yahoo, GM, National City, Pepsi. Every day, there are more layoffs in all kinds of different industries.
So, this is what you need to do. We talked to a bunch of job placement experts about this, and Challenger, Gray and Christmas has this very nice list here: Get close to your boss. This is not the time to be having, you know, a knock down drag out with your boss. You need to be close to your boss, know what your boss wants from you and make sure you're doing it.
Be an expert and a generalist. Make sure you're the "go to" person for something in your company. But also make sure that your bosses know that you're able to do a lot of different things in your company in case the area where you are an expert is going to be downsized or move away.
Meet your boss' bosses and peers. You know, somebody up the food chain is going to be cutting a bunch of jobs. You want to make sure that they're cutting somebody they don't know. They're not going to cut somebody that they're impressed with if they know who you are.
Carry the company flag. This is something that, you know, obviously, it's important to question authority and to be a devil's advocate at times. But make sure that your company knows that you really are committed.
More face time at work. I've heard this from so many different experts that this is not the time to be asking for flex time or asking for telecommuting. You need to be there so they can see -- not every day.
CHETRY: If they don't see you, it's easier to --
ROMANS: Right. And not every day, but if you -- make sure that you're in the office a couple of times a week if you have one of those great jobs where you can work from home.
And also be prepared to lose the job. If you've lost your job and that's the beginning of trying to figure out how to position yourself, then it's too late. You want to always kind of thinking a little bit ahead and make sure that you keep your contacts in the industry, your clients.
ROBERTS: I'll have you know that...
ROMANS: I think this was all meant for us, you know.
ROBERTS: I'll have you know that everyday I'm wearing my CNN fall jacket.
ROMANS: I know. We're all carrying the flag here.
CHETRY: I have my CNN bag with me, too, as well.
ROMANS: But you know, some of it might sound like, you know, kind of silly, business school kinds of stuff. But, I mean, it really matters. If they have to cut somebody, there are some things you can do to make sure you're not the one who gets cut.
ROBERTS: I was the only guy out on the golf course wearing a CNN rain jacket. CHETRY: See that? You get to keep your job for two more years.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
Young war veterans, music and the race for the White House. See how CNN is teaming up the MTV when MTV news correspondent Sway Calloway joins us live.
And the voter registration controversy that has led to death threats? Ohio's secretary of state is under attack and under protection. She's here to tell us about it live. 17 minutes now after the hour.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." 12 days now until the election. We have some new poll numbers from the battleground state of Virginia. Barack Obama now with a 10-point lead over John McCain, 55 percent to 44 percent. Well, that would be an 11-point lead.
CNN has reporters in battleground states, coast to coast, and we're covering the issues and the candidates in these crucial states that could determine who gets the oval office.
CNN's Dan Lothian is in Virginia this morning. He's taking a look at Asian American voters in the states. He's in Falls Church this morning.
Good to see you, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Kiran. Well, you know, Asian Americans make up only a small fraction of the overall voting population here in the state. But here in northern Virginia, where there is a higher concentration of Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean Americans, some think they could make a difference.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): One by one, Asian American volunteers reach out to their northern Virginia community by phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LOTHIAN: With a nonpartisan push to the polls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All we want to do is to increase them, and educate them, and get out there, promote people to go out to vote. LOTHIAN: Confident that in the swing state, how Asian Americans vote could determine who makes it into the White House.
JOAN JAVIER, ASIAN AMERICAN LABOR ALLIANCE: The high turnout that we're going to expect from the general population shouldn't overshadow the real power that our community, the Asian American community has.
LOTHIAN: Some political observer say their voting power in this state became clear in the 2006 senate race. Vietnam veteran Jim Webb, a Democrat, who's married to a Vietnamese-American and speaks her language...
SEN. JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA: (SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LOTHIAN: ...defeated Republican incumbent George Allen.
JEREMY MAYER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: I'm certain that the Asian vote in 2006 with Virginia helped Jim Webb win one of the closest Senate elections since Virginia history.
LOTHIAN: There are more than 180,000 Asian Americans old enough to vote in Virginia. Nonprofit groups like Boat People S.O.S. are trying to reach as many of them as possible before November 4th.
Jacqueline Tran, a first-time voter who helps out in the family store in Falls Church says her community is not complacent.
JACQUELINE TRAN, FIRST TIME VOTER: I know a lot of my friends and my family are also going out this year to vote.
LOTHIAN: Many of them are small business owners who see an opportunity to make their lives better.
TRAN: I think the election does affect us.
LOTHIAN: A community worried about the economy and something else.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The workers and immigrant rights.
LOTHIAN: So which candidate appeals to this voting bloc? George Mason Associate Professor Jeremy Mayer says Asian Americans don't speak with one voice, and are incline to vote for the person not with the parties.
MAYER: They're divided by nationality. They have very different voting patterns when you break down, say Koreans versus Indians.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Both of the campaigns do think that this is an important voting bloc. In fact, McCain and Obama have a point person here in northern Virginia reaching out to the Asian American Community. The McCain campaign even has printed up pamphlets, campaign material in various languages to specifically appeal to them, Kiran.
CHETRY: Dan Lothian for us in Falls Church today. Thanks so much. And again, 10-point leads separating the two candidates. Barack Obama ten points ahead in that crucial battleground state of Virginia -- John.
ROBERTS: It's 23-1/2 minutes after the hour. They are negative, they are numerous and they are not going away any time soon. Well, at least not until Election Day. The onslaught of robocalls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's unfortunate to inject fear in the process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ohio's secretary of state gets death threats over a voter registration controversy. She's here to talk to us live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not coming just from Ohio. A lot of times, they're coming from other states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: In Ohio, investigations into voter fraud have gotten down right nasty, and issued a list of over 200,000 contested voter registrations. It's gotten so bad that Ohio's Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has had death threats made against her. She joins us now from Columbus, Ohio to tell us more about this.
Not only death threats for which you now need protection, but your Web site was hacked on Monday. What's going on? Have you ever seen anything like this before?
JENNIFER BRUNNER (D), OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE: No, veterans in my office who I've asked, is it always like this in a presidential election said they've never seen anything like this. It's very unfortunate. It seems like there's an effort to shake the confidence of voters. And we know we're going to face a record turnout here in Ohio and we're very glad about that. And we simply want people to be able to vote unimpeded.
ROBERTS: To help folks at home really understand what's going on here, there's dispute centers around a list of some 200,000 voters whose information doesn't match the state databases. The state Republican Party wants you to validate that list. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court said you don't have to. But the Republican Party still wants you to do it. Here's what the Deputy Ohio Chair Kevin Dewine said about all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN DEWINE, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, OHIO GOP: She says she's watching out for 200,000 people in Ohio. I'm watching out for the other 8.2 million who have the threat of their vote being discounted because of Jennifer Brunner's inaction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That's Kevin Dewine, the deputy chair of the State Republican Party. They're charging that you're using scare tactics to suppress voters. What do you say?
BRUNNER: I think really the hat belongs on their head because they brought this to us a month before the election, and this is the same database that's been used for the last two years. And Secretary Blackwell, my predecessor, put this together.
I think if they had been really, really concerned about this, this would have been brought to our attention even last year, and they could have brought it to Secretary Blackwell's attention. I think what this is is a way to try to pick off segregated and pick off ballots in case it's a very close race. This is terribly unfortunate because what they've tried to do is inject fear into the process through these broad allegations of voter fraud when actually what they're trying to do here is to intimidate voters and to try to slice pieces off of the election just to their benefit.
ROBERTS: They're also accusing you of creating an atmosphere for voter fraud to thrive. And they say it's particularly important to look at all of this given the controversy surrounding the registration of voters there in Ohio and other states by ACORN, the community organizers groups. What do you say to that?
BRUNNER: Well, we will not tolerate voter registration fraud in Ohio. We have a multi-layered system of checks and balances and safe guards, notices that go out, that can't be forwarded that alert us that it may be a bogus registration. In addition, further notices and in addition to that, we do have work in our statewide database where the Board of Elections can check for duplicates and we notify other counties if someone has moved.
So, in Ohio, what we've seen historically is that very seldom does voter registration fraud ever lead to illegal voting. In fact in a four-year period, from 2002 to end of 2005, there were just four cases of illegal voting. And this has been a study by the League of Women Voters and the Coalition on Homelessness.
ROBERTS: Now, the Republican Party there in Ohio has said it's going to suspend all legal action for the time being. Has also, though, asked the Attorney General Mike Mukasey to try to force you into validating this voter registration. But they also say they'd like to pursue negotiations with your office to try to figure all of this out. Will there be any negotiations? BRUNNER: Yesterday, there were some discussions between the Ohio Attorney General on our behalf and the attorneys for the Ohio GOP. We're pleased that they want to move in this direction. We'll continue the discussions and we hope that we can find some common ground.
ROBERTS: All right. Jennifer Brunner, the secretary of state for the State of Ohio. Thanks for being with us this morning. We'll keep watching this of course, all the way up until Election Day. Thanks for being with us. Appreciate your time.
BRUNNER: Thank you. Thanks, John.
Now, of course, if you have any concerns about possible voting irregularities in your state, we want to know about it. Call us toll free at 1-877-gocnn-08. That's 1-877-462-6608 -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well at 8:30 right now here in New York. A look at what's new this morning. Global bank holding companies Goldman-Sachs is planning to cut 10 percent of its workforce. It's the latest casualty of the ongoing credit crunch. The drought in investment banking and trading are two of the biggest problems.
And news of job cuts like that aren't doing much to shore up consumer confidence. Gas prices though and oil prices continue to fall. So a bit of a bright spot there. AAA reporting that the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is down to $2.82. That was almost exactly where it was a year ago today. Oil meanwhile was down below $67 a barrel.
And another victim of the sluggish economy is the price of Maine lobsters. That's right, diners pinching pennies and avoiding the surf and turf on the menu. Plus, the freeze in credit markets left fishermen oversupplied. Maine lobsters account for 80 percent of the U.S. catch.
Well, after months and months of campaigning, we're down to just 12 days now until the election. To be exact, here's our countdown clock showing 11 days, 21 hours, 28 minutes and 25, 24, 23, we're not going to count the whole thing. But if you live in one of the election's crucial battleground states, odds are that you're already getting more than your fair share of what they call robo calls. Those are automated messages that try to sway your vote. The bad news though is if you're getting 15 to 20 of these a day, it's only going to continue or get worse. Our Carol Costello is live in Washington with more.
That's unbelievable. I mean, it makes you want to take your phone off the hook.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh you're not kidding, Kiran. You know, expect your automated phone friendless to grow. Robo calls are not only ubiquitous this year, they're nasty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO (voice-over): It sounds like a bad B movie. The attack of the killer robo calls, but for voters, that's exactly what it feels like.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hate them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really annoying.
COSTELLO: Stoppoliticalcalls.org feels your pain. It's goal is to stop robo calls now. But with two weeks to go, forget it.
SHAUN DAKIN, STOPPOLITICALCALLS.ORG: it's essentially the spam of this election cycle. They have become so cheap. They've become so ubiquitous at every level of every race. So if you particularly live in a battleground state, our members are reporting getting 10 to 15 calls a day. That's only going to increase.
COSTELO: Dakin says the McCain campaign has launched 12 different robo call campaigns in the past month and a half, including blinking Barack Obama to 60s radical William Ayers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.
COSTELLO: That attack robo call is in part why you should expect more robo calls. It's actually sparked a robo call war. on and off the phone.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John, stop your ads, bring down those robo calls.
COSTELLO: Even some Republicans echo Joe Biden. The co-chair of McCain's main campaign Senator Susan Collins says these kinds of calls should stop immediately. Don't bet on it.
MCCAIN: That robo call --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Domestic terrorist Bill Ayers whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol.
MCCAIN: It is absolutely accurate. And by the way, Senator Obama's campaign is running robo calls as we speak.
COSTELLO: Stoppoliticalcalls.org says the Obama camp is doing that, launching at least four robo call campaigns in the last month. And the Wisconsin Democratic party has also joined in creating this robo call attacking McCain's attack robo call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I live in Green Bay and like you I have been getting sleazy phone calls and mail from John McCain and his supporters. COSTELLO: Expect to hear that one a lot if you live in a swing state and the only way to avoid it, don't answer your phone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Well I hope you have caller ID. So the question is, do robo calls work? Well, not so much. Pugh Research did a study during the primary and found that half of us hang up on our robo friends. Other voters listen angrily and then hang up. But there is a small percentage of voters, Kiran, that do listen and the nastier the message the better, because those messages seem to sink in more effectively.
CHETRY: Well, you got robo calls to counter the robo calls. 12 days to go and I'm sure we'll have even more interesting and unusual and absurd things to talk about in the day to come.
Carol, thanks.
COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: 35 minutes after the hour and just in, new jobless numbers out right now.
Our Christine Romans joins us and we're looking at more bad news again this morning -- Christine?
ROMANS: That's right. 478,000 people lined up for jobless benefits John in the most recent week. That's the first time jobless benefits. So those are people who are newly unemployed. 478,000 is more than people were expecting and anything above 400,000, John is considered recessionary. So the four-week average which smoothes out fluctuations, it is very close to a seven-year high for jobless claims. Just think a year ago at this time, about 330,000 people were lining up for jobless benefits.
In a big dynamic labor market like this, there are always people losing their jobs. But these numbers are starting to creep higher and higher every week and that's worrying. We also know today that in Toledo, a Jeep factory will close one shift and SUV factory for Chrysler is shutting down altogether in Delaware and we know that from GM to Merck, to Yahoo!, all different kinds of job cuts this week. We'll continue to follow it for you.
ROBERTS: All right. Christine Romans this morning. Christine, thanks so much.
Music, returning war veterans and the upcoming election. When CNN and MTV team up, great things happens. See what we got planned. MTV news correspondent Sway Calloway is here live. You're watching "the most news in the morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your service to the country, man. What was it like, though when you first found out that you were going over to Iraq?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean every day from the first day they went in, everywhere you marched, you marched and trained to kill, kill, we will. They're drilling that in your head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was part of an MTV special homecoming with Kanye West and MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway. He's here to tell us about a special collaboration taking place between MTV and CNN. Nice to have you with us.
SWAY CALLOWAY, MTV CORRESPONDENT: Good to be here, Kiran.
CHETRY: More and more young people are watching the news and paying attention especially in this election cycle. So it's very interesting that we're teaming up for this. What are -- when you had the chance to talk to some of the young veterans and they are clearly paying close attention as well to the selection, what are some of the top issues for them?
CALLOWAY: Wow. A lot of it transitional homes, you know, having a place to live when they come home. There are a lot of homeless young veterans in the streets today that you know when they returned back from combat, you know, a lot of times their credit is messed up. You know they don't have a job they can go to in an economic crisis, and we find a lot of them are ending up on the streets.
Mental health issues, a lot of young veterans suffering from PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder as well as traumatic brain injuries and they're not receiving the proper care and a lot of them don't want to admit to it because of the stigma that follows mental health issues. Wow. VAs aren't properly funded. You know, disabled veterans are not getting their benefits in the proper time. So what we want to do with our brave petition is bring these issues to light and make sure that our elected officials are aware of it and put legislative action to it.
CHETRY: You know, it's very interesting because the assumption is that a lot of times veterans who have seen war firsthand vote on national security and foreign policy issues, but we have some very real pocket book issues that seem to be dominating this election.
CALLOWAY: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Now, what do they want to hear from the candidates about that?
CALLOWAY: They want to know -- you know, I have been on the road for over a year. You know, and I have been learning while I'm on the road. Even in this special we deal with Kanye West. We were on tour with Kanye and we visited a bunch of veterans, surprised them, went into their homes and found they just want to be taken care of. They want to come home and be respected and be honored, be appreciated and make sure that they have a home to come back to.
They put their lives on the line. It's a travesty that a lot of these veterans are still going through this. They're still suffering when they come home. Which is why we're doing this concert, the celebration. To show appreciation and to tell that they are heroes for what you've done. We also want to bring to light issues to public awareness. Some of these things that we're talking about PTSD, and TVI. A lot of the public isn't aware. We want to make sure that whoever makes it into the office of the presidency take care of these issues and put it into legislation action.
CHETRY: In some ways, because we have talked a lot about how Barack Obama has energized the youth vote, in terms of some of things that you're talking about. John McCain as a former P.O.W. has experienced some of that firsthand. What do these potential voters tell you about the connection they have with both of these candidates.
CALLOWAY: Wow. You know, obviously John McCain, because of his service. You know, a lot of the veterans can identify with him, but a lot of things that Barack Obama is promising too they can identify with that. I think it has reached a point that it doesn't matter which side of the political party line you're on. They just want to make sure that their president is aware of these issues. We have this brace petition that we're asking your viewers.
By the way I'm excited about working with Anderson Cooper, and Robin Meade. This contest is taking place tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. on MTV. And we want people to go to choose a little to read our brave petition and sign this petition to make sure that whoever becomes president take care of these conditions.
CHETRY: What do you think of the fact that Iraq has sort of fallen into the background as a huge campaign issue because of the economic crisis?
CALLOWAY: It's hard. You know, it's hard to say because I think it's as important as the economic crisis, but obviously the economic crisis is hitting our pockets immediately right now and as well as the veterans. So you know I don't know if one is more important than the other. It's just they have to pick and choose what they're going to talk about first. But I know that we got a lot of struggling veterans who have been affected by the economic crisis as well, directly in their pockets. Whether it's gas prices, whether it's coming home and trying to find jobs that aren't there, and whether they're trying to -- you know, be aware of their benefits that aren't there, everybody's being affected.
CHETRY: Well, you guys are really doing a great thing with this and I'm glad that we are able to shine a light on this. I just want to remind people who may be wondering when they can see this. This is Anderson Cooper who's going to be helping MTV shine a light on the young veterans' issues. It's called a "Night for Vets, an MTV concert for the brave" with Beyonce, Kid Rock -
CALLOWAY: Kanye West, 50 Cents. CHETRY: Wow. Tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m.. We'll be watching for sure. And also watch "Anderson Cooper 360" special back from the battle. That's on CNN Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 Eastern as well. Great to have you with us, Sway. Thanks so much for joining us.
CALLOWAY: Thank you. Choose to lose.com, sign the petition.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
CALLOWAY: OK. All right.
CHETRY: Thanks so much, Sway.
CALLOWAY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Sarah Palin has been defending her experience taking some shots at the number of days that Barack Obama has worked in the Senate. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do have more executive experience than Barack Obama does. You know, how he has served for his 300 days before he became a presidential candidate and that wasn't an executive office of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So we're checking the facts this morning. We put the truth squad on Sarah Palin's claim.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: This just in to AMERICAN MORNING. Billionaire Richard Branson joins us now live via satellite phone. He is out in his racing yacht, the "Virgin Money," in the Atlantic Ocean. The Virgin group chairman attempted to cross the Atlantic in world record time on a mono-hold sailboat. He left New York City yesterday morning at about 2:00 a.m.
Sir Richard, thanks for being with us. I have been checking you out on the blog, and we got you about 600 miles out there in the ocean. How is the trip going so far?
VOICE OF RICHARD BRANSON, CHAIRMAN OF VIRGIN GROUP: We've had incredible days so far. We have had to basically go to the gaels (ph) and it's given us which is so very strong, strong winds and we have been getting up to 40, 45 knots. So it's been brutal, but it's been an amazing trip so far.
ROBERTS: Yes. The reason that you couldn't join us yesterday morning was you had to leave early to jump out ahead of these storms (INAUDIBLE). That's heavy weather in anyone's estimation. You are -- I have been checking your blog on the Web site, you been saying it's an incredibly wet ride there and they promised you it was going to be like being in a washing machine for six days?
BRANSON: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) just wave after wave goes straight over the head of all the sailors. But that's what we want, we need -- we need that and I think as long as the boat doesn't break, we're in for a good show. But you know, we'll see, we've done our first 24 hours. And we got 453 miles clocked in and so some things are relatively expected. Nothing is broken yet.
ROBERTS: Now the current record is six days, 17 hours and 52 minutes, it was set back in 2003 by a fellow named Mike Sanderson who happens to be the skipper on board the "Virgin Money." Are you on pace to break that record?
BRANSON: Yes. That was a fantastic record because he then broke 12-day records that has stood for 100 days. So you really need to push the technology forward to break the record. But right now, as I'm talking to you, we're going 26 knots which is quite something in a sailboat.
ROBERTS: Wow. If you keep up that pace, Sir Richard, will you be able to beat the record?
BRANSON: If we keep up this pace, we'll break the record. The first 24 hours was better than we expected and the forecast ahead is good. I mean, there's really strong winds.
ROBERTS: Wow.
BRANSON: And but I have been in this situation before in the first time we tried to cross the Atlantic in a speedboat. We didn't make it and the boat sank. So we're not going to count our chickens until we're there.
ROBERTS: That's it. Until you cross Lizard's Point there. The line at Lizard's Point, you certainly don't want to make any guesses. Sir Richard, thanks very much for being with us. We're watching this video that you've been posting on your Web site. It's just incredible. We'll check back in with you because I guess you'll be out there probably through about Monday or early Tuesday. Sir Richard Branson there joining us this morning.
It's just amazing, isn't Kiran, this guys was just -- he was in our studio a couple of weeks ago, he was up in Toronto.
CHETRY: Where does he get the energy?
ROBERTS: And yesterday morning at 2:00 a.m., he flies in and leaps on a yacht and he's off in a trans-Atlantic record setting chase.
CHETRY: Well, he's running on adrenaline for sure. He got the whole family involved.
ROBERTS: I think I'll do that in my next life.
CHETRY: Maybe you can be buddies with and he'll let you come next time.
ROBERTS: I was just thinking about coming back as an eagle. I thought that would be cool. But no, Richard Branson is much better.
CHETRY: Much better choice. You know, at least you have more money as Richard Branson as opposed to being an eagle.
Well, CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Hey, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. Re-incarnation discussion this morning. Fascinating.
Here's a check of what we're working on in the NEWSROOM today.
Potential problems at the polls, your questions, your concerns about making sure your vote counts. We'll be talking about that and new fears of a recession send the Dow plummeting. Will Wall Street respond today?
And German engineering, three guys give a new twist to a classic car. We got it all and the pictures to prove it when we get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. Kiran.
CHETRY: Heidi, thanks.
Well, the black McCains. Yes, there are the black McCains. we visited the ancestral home of John McCain and we talked to a couple who say they're descendants of slaves owned by McCain's family. We're going to tell you how they feel about the candidates. 51 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I'm entitled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't handle the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Can you handle the truth? Well, it's now time to check in with the truth squad. Sarah Palin taking a shot at Barack Obama's time in the Senate. Alina Cho has been looking in to the comments.
We can handle it.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We can. Oh yes, we've been handling it for a while, Kiran. Good morning.
You know, good morning, everybody. In a recent interview with CNN's Drew Griffin, Sarah Palin called into question Barack Obama's experience, saying she has more experience than he does.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PALIN: I do have more executive experience than Barack Obama does. You know, he has served for his 300 days before he became a presidential candidate.
CHO: Palin is talking about Obama's time in the U.S. Senate. But is she getting it right? Here's Obama being sworn in, the date? January 3, 2005. Two years later, on January 16, 2007, Obama took the first step in getting into the presidential race.
OBAMA: I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee.
CHO: We asked the secretary of the Senate how many days the Senate was in session between those dates. The answer, 304. But senators also work when the Senate is not in session. If you count all of Obama's time as a senator before he announced his candidacy for president, that adds up to 768 days.
PALIN: He has served for his 300 days before he became a presidential candidate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And the truth squad verdict on this one is -- delayed reaction -- misleading. Palin does not give credit to Obama for the work he did when the Senate was not in session. If you add all of that up, the total is 743 days before he launched an exploratory committee and as you just heard in the piece 768 days before he officially announced that he was running for president. And in case you're curious about Palin's service, she was governor of Alaska for 634 days before John McCain tapped her as his running mate. So that's about the same.
CHETRY: Counting it the same way?
CHO: Yes. Counting it the same way and you know, we're looking at very, very tiny details, but it's all about the details when you're 12 days from the election right?
CHETRY: Good job, Alina. Thanks.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Family secrets. We visit the ancestral home of John McCain and talked with one couple who says they're descendants of the Republican hopeful, the black McCains.
56 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to "the most news in the morning." We are 12 days away now from the election and CNN's Jason Carroll just back from Mississippi where he visited the ancestral home of John McCain and found some very proud descendants in a manner of speaking?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And again this is something that's up for debate. This is really the story of two McCain families, both different, both share the same name and history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): This is McCain country. Carrolton, Mississippi. Senator John McCain's ancestors rural area in the mid 1800s and signs of their legacy still exists. There's a McCain exhibit at the museum. The family still owns land where a plantation once stood and there are the McCain descendants.
Do you feel like you're related to Senator John McCain.
CHARLES MCCAIN , MCCAIN DESCENDANT: Well, I feel like it.
CARROLL: You do?
CHARLES MCCAIN: Yes.
CARROLL: Charles McCain Jr. and his sister Mary say they are descendants of slaves owned by Senator McCain's great, great grandfather.
MARY MCCAIN, MCCAIN DESCENDANT: I feel that it being that his great grandfather once owned our great, great grandfather, there is kinship. There can't help but be.
CARROLL: Like many slaves during the time, Mary and Charles' ancestors adopted their owners' names. Mary and Charles took us to the former plantation where an old home barely stands, an overgrown African-American cemetery waits to be tended.
M. MCCAIN: And this is the grave of Letti McCain here.
CARROLL: It's where their great grandmother is buried. They have a proud history and a tight extended history. Reunions are common and attended by black and white McCains.
M. MCCAIN: And this is a picture of Joe McCain, which is his brother.
CARROLL; This is Senator McCain's brother? So he attended the reunion.
M. MCCAIN: Yes, he attended the reunion.
CARROLL: Mary McCain says Senator John McCain has not attended the reunions. In the past he has said that his ancestors never owned slaves. A campaign spokesman was quoted as saying "the descendants are a testament to the power of family, love and compassion." These McCains look at their past, not to place blame but as a reminder of Americans' shared history.
M. MCCAIN: What has happened in the past has happened. So accept it. Deal with it and go on.
CARROLL: Post slavery, five generations of Mary's family went on to serve in the military, some became professors and nurses.
The question for this generation is who to choose in the upcoming election. Are family ties stronger than the desire to see the nation's first African-American president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) gone on to say.
M. MCCAIN: Barack.
CARROLL (on camera): You're going to go for Senator Obama?
M. MCCAIN: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And in addition to Senator McCain's brother showing up at the last reunion, Mary McCain says the senator's cousin also attended. She said the ground rules were clear, no politics would be discussed.
We did reach out to Senator McCain's campaign about the story, but they did not return our calls. Would like to refer to him.
ROBERTS: Fascinating story.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Jason, thanks so much for that.
That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING and we'll be back bright and early tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: How time files. We're all out of time.
But right now here's "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
