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McCain vs. Bush: Republican Infighting?; McCain Volunteer Pulls Hoax; Weary Eyes Watch Stocks Drop
Aired October 24, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming at you now, 11 days to go, and Americans are mad as hell, a protest on Wall Street starting right now.
The McCain organizer who put a McCain supporter in his place finally allowed to talk to me.
Obama leaves town for Hawaii, so, who is left for McCain to run against? The answer, George W. Bush. McCain blasts the president for -- quote -- "abusing his power," for Iraq and for "a mountain of debt."
Your comments unfiltered on Twitter, Facebook, and more. Like nowhere else, your newscast starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. It is Friday and there is an awful lot of breaking news that we're going to be getting to for you.
First of all, we're going to be watching the market, as you might expect, because this is Friday. And as we often do, we go to see what happens in this last hour of trading. Right now it is down 115, but as you know it has been down as low as 400 throughout the day, so we will be checking that, although things right now look generally good, by comparison measures anyway.
The other story that we are going to be following is the situation outside Wall Street, where we understand that there's going to be a protest march by people who say that it's not the bankers who should be bailed out. It's the American people who should be bailed out.
But, by all means, the biggest story that we are following for right now has to do with what turns out to be a hoax, a story that we here at CNN chose yesterday not to go with, because it seemed like either, A, an isolated incident or, B, and maybe both, an incident that needed to be really thoroughly vetted and checked out before it was reported by any news organization.
Unfortunately, it was reported by several news organizations, and as a result, the story is now looking like it has to be turned around. It is about this young lady. Her name is Ashley Todd. She is 20 years old. You see that B there on her cheek.
Her story is that yesterday, while she was at an ATM in Pittsburgh, she was taking out money when she was robbed by a -- quote -- "big black man" -- 6'4'', she said that he was. Apparently, that man she went on to say held her to the ground, attacked her and then carved that B on the cheek. She called the police, reported it, and since then the story has been going around talk radio and several news organizations.
It is now being reported by police in Pittsburgh that the story was a lie, that it was made up, that what she said about that man putting that B and being a supporter of Barack Obama and telling her that she needed to support Barack Obama, according to these reports, was a lie.
In fact, the Pittsburgh police has reported as such that. This is Maurita Bryant. She is an assistant police chief for the Pittsburgh Police Department. She came on moments ago to give reporters some of the details.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAURITA BRYANT, ASSISTANT PITTSBURGH POLICE CHIEF: All of our radars went up, but this was such, such a case to where, I mean, we had some serious cases going on, and this wasted so much time. It wasted so much time. Detectives have been working through night just to verify the information that we suspected was false from the very beginning, so it is just a lot of wasted man hours.
QUESTION: And there was a racial inference here as well.
BRYANT: It could have really blown up into something, a national incident. And -- and I am glad that we quickly resolved the case and found the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Just to give you some more details on this story, as the report came out yesterday, she told police that she was attacked as I had aforementioned, attacked by a 6'4'' black man. He says that she said to him, you are going to be a Barack supporter, pinned her to the ground, and scratched the letter B on her right cheek, as you can see there.
In a later account, she came on to say that she actually lost consciousness and was not quite sure how much money he had taken or when he had actually scarred her face. That is when police started to wonder whether her story was really going to check out.
They had her take a polygraph, a lie-detector exam. She failed the test. That is when the police moved on. Prior to the police deciding that the story needed to be checked out, she had gotten reports Thursday and had prompted calls from the presidential Republican candidate and his running mate, Sarah Palin, to call Todd to express their concern.
Barack Obama's campaign had also called and issued a statement wishing Todd well and hoping the attacker would be swiftly brought to justice.
Again, part of the story is the fact that it was reported by the media. We would not be telling the story now had it not been carried by so many outlets. As I mentioned before, it was mentioned on -- as a matter of fact, I have a list. Not to mention names, but the initials of the news organizations are FOX News, "The Pittsburgh Post- Gazette" and "Newsday."
Also, radio talk show hosts went on their radio stations and talked ad infinitum about this story yesterday, one of them even seemingly being braggadocious about it when he was on the air with our own Wolf Blitzer yesterday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGH HEWITT, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The big story of the afternoon, Wolf, is that a McCain campaign volunteer was assaulted in Pittsburgh, had the letter B carved in her cheek. Yesterday, Norm Coleman's house in Minnesota was attacked. He was threatened. The FBI is investigating. There's a lot of extraordinarily disturbed people out there. They are on both sides, but the big issues of the last two days have come from that side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: By the way, we should mention that the McCain campaign does want us to point out that she was a phone bank operator for the McCain campaign. She was not a paid worker of the campaign. She was a volunteer for the John McCain McCain. It is important to point that out.
As we continuing following this story, we plan to be able to get some more reaction from Pittsburgh. We will also be joined in just a little bit by talk show host Neal Boortz. He's going to be giving us his take on this story. And obviously, as we continue to flush out the details, we will bring you more.
In the meantime, we're also going to be following the story out of the -- the latest on what is going on, on Wall Street, where there is a protest going on today from citizens who say they are still upset at the government and still upset that the banks are being bailed out and not the people.
And we will be joined by Carrie Lee there on Wall Street in just a little bit, the latest on all of these stories and a whole lot more.
Stay with us. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez picking up on a story we were just talking about moments ago. Neal Boortz has just entered the studio, sitting to my right. Neal Boortz is a conservative talk show host who reaches...
NEAL BOORTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: No, Libertarian.
SANCHEZ: A libertarian talk show host who reaches some five million people a day, and he had this story, he says, nailed this morning.
BOORTZ: Well, last night, when the story came through, I am doing my program notes, and I put in my program notes, there is something wrong here. This doesn't add up.
And because -- I guess, because I slept poorly, I took it out when I posted the notes. But by the time I went on air this morning, I am saying that this -- me my sidekick, Royal Marshall, were saying, this is not right. This is bogus. There is something really wrong here.
And, oh, I got the hate mail.
SANCHEZ: Did you?
BOORTZ: Oh, you are calling this girl a liar. Who are you are to call this girl a liar? You're in the tank for Barack Obama.
Yes, right. But this one was pretty easy to figure out early on.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, a lot of people didn't figure it out. They reported it. they went it.
BOORTZ: And she is an Aggie.
(LAUGHTER)
BOORTZ: I mean, I'm...
SANCHEZ: And that has what to do with the story, Mr. Boortz?
BOORTZ: Because I am Texas A&M. She is Texas A&M. And I am embarrassed. Our school has more integrity than that.
SANCHEZ: We're going to get back to this topic with you in just a little bit.
BOORTZ: OK.
SANCHEZ: Let's go over to Wall Street now. Carrie Lee is checking the market for us today.
There was some scary -- you know, what was interesting was, more than anything else, was the way the market started today.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really didn't start early this morning, in a sense, Rick, because, before the 9:30 opening bell, futures were suspended. That is that, before the official bell, they sank so much, that we had to halt trading for a while. So, considering the Dow is down just 155 points right now, well, it is looking bright in all respects.
SANCHEZ: Could you explain to us somehow, so we could get at least an understanding? If it is too complicated, skip it, but what were those limits on futures that were put in this morning that got everybody in a tizzy, it seems?
LEE: Well, it is called a limit down level, OK? And this is the lowest level stocks are allowed to go in the pre-market before the 9:30 bell before they are just stopped. So, trading basically stopped, halted, until the 9:30 bell, and then resumed again.
Basically, Rick, the Dow was down 550, 550 points -- that is about 6 percent -- in the early market action.
SANCHEZ: And how rare is that?
LEE: How low? Well, it was...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: No, no, no, how rare is it for them to do something like happened?
LEE: Oh, how rare?
Yes, you know, well, I have not seen that since I have been a financial reporter.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
LEE: And that is going back -- well, maybe I am giving away my age if I say so, but, no, but I have not seen that in years and years. And, you know, we have trading curbs. We have things like that during a session, but before a session even starts, very rare indeed.
SANCHEZ: By the way -- thanks so much, Carrie.
We have gotten information. The Associated Press is reporting that in fact Barack Obama is now saying in regards to his visit out to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother that -- quote -- "He is not sure she is going to make it to the campaign" -- quoting Barack Obama on that, so he is gone for a couple of days.
And it would almost appear that suddenly John McCain is running against George Bush. It is an interview done in "The Washington Times" where he blasts the present president in no uncertain terms. You are going to hear exactly what he says when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the world headquarters of CNN. I'm Rick Sanchez. A lot going on.
First, we have got an update for you on what we're going to start doing now. We want you to answer our viewer poll of the day. You know that we have been talking about early voting. Have you already cast your ballot? We would like to hear from you.
You can call 1-800-655-5415 or you can text your response. You can send yes or no to the following number. You ready? -- 71310, 71310. Standard text rates apply, by the way. Important to tell you that.
We are getting a lot of reaction on the Twitter board, as you might imagine. So, Robert, let's go there and show the folks at home some of the things that we're getting from people at home.
This is Karen. She says: "Todd's story sounded odd to me from the outset." She agrees with Neal Boortz.
"The swiftness with which they ran indicates a desire to fulfill a particular agenda, other than quality news," talking about news organizations that ran with this story.
"Joe faux plumber meet Sally self-mutilator."
Interesting.
"Big question now is if she was put up to it, and, if so, by whom.
All right, we could go on forever. But let's leave it at that. Those are some of the ones that have been coming in just moments ago.
As we -- stop chuckling -- as we reported moments ago, it is in fact the case that Barack Obama has arrived in Hawaii. In fact, we have got some video we can share with you. Here it is.
All right. That is Obama arriving in Hawaii. He has now put out a statement saying he is not sure that his grandmother will make it to the election.
With him gone for a couple of days, who is John McCain running against, many would ask. Some may be answering that question with George W. Bush. Why? Because John McCain has done an interview with "The Washington Times" where perhaps for the very first time, he all but assails George Bush and the Bush administration. The attack involves several complaints about really a multitude of items.
Here is just a few in John McCain's own words.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Spending, the conduct of the war in Iraq for years, growth in the size of government larger than any time since the Great Society, laying a $10 trillion debt on future generations of America, owing $500 billion to China, failure to address the issue of climate change seriously. Those are just some of them.
(END AUDIO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Let's be joined now by a couple of guests who certainly would know a lot about this story and have a lot to say.
Mark Halperin is a correspondent with "TIME" magazine. He's good enough to join us, as is Neal Boortz, who is sitting here to my right.
Mark, start us off on the issue of suddenly this statement to "The Washington Times" by John McCain. Does it surprise you?
MARK HALPERIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, what surprises me is that Senator McCain waited so long and used a relatively obscure forum, a newspaper interview, rather than a high- profile television interview, to try to set out his differences with President Bush.
One of his biggest challenges in terms of winning this race all along has been to lay out the real areas in which he does differ from the president. It's interesting. Most of those differences, with the exception of climate change, are areas in which he says basically he is more conservative than the president, that the president and the Republicans have been big-spenders.
That separation is important, but I think it is just the general notion that he is different than George Bush which has really been obscured in the eyes of a lot of voters.
SANCHEZ: Neal, 11 days before the election. If you were going to say this, would you not have said it earlier?
BOORTZ: Oh, sure. He would be a lot better off if he had say it earlier. And he left something out, too. Another real Bush failing was -- and I don't know why McCain failed to mention this -- was signing that atrocious McCain/Feingold campaign finance.
How in the world can a president say, you know, I think this is unconstitutional, but I'm going to sign it anyway? Didn't he take an oath? So, that is another element, but McCain is just waiting too long on many of these issues to get out there.
SANCHEZ: People have described this to a -- an offensive coordinator using gadget plays. Is this another gadget play, or is this the strategy that is going to be used until next Tuesday?
BOORTZ: No, it is a desperation play.
SANCHEZ: Is it a desperation play?
BOORTZ: Well, he should have been doing this -- like Mark said, he should have been doing this two months ago. Look at Bush's popularity rating. If you have honest differences with him, come out with them. Don't let Barack Obama tie you to George Bush for two months, and not respond.
SANCHEZ: But is he really hurt by this now because of this? Let's play -- I think we have this. Gary, I think you have got this for us. This is what Barack Obama is playing with all his newfound money in battleground states all over the country, this particular sound bite. Let's go to it.
All right. I guess it is John McCain essentially saying, I voted with the president of the United States 90 percent of the time, and then now saying this 11 days before the election.
Mark Halperin, to you.
HALPERIN: Look, if you look at all the Obama campaign commercials, based not just on guesswork, but a lot of research from Senator Obama's many pollsters, almost -- well, I won't say almost all of them, but many of them include images of President Bush, those relatively rare images of Senator McCain with George Bush, the famous from four years ago where they are engaged in an embrace, a level of intimacy, Rick, that you would not do around the office, and then the event where they stood together, the one event where they stood together, at the White House.
This is a topic, an area in which John McCain and his advisers should have months ago sat down and said, how do we plan to position ourselves compared to President Bush based on the record? Where do we agree? Where do we disagree? Where do we want to deal with the reality of we need some separation?
They just never did it. And this interview is, if I may lapse into cliche, too little and too late on that score at least.
(CROSSTALK)
BOORTZ: Can I plug something in here?
SANCHEZ: Here is this piece of sound, though, before we go to you. It is only six seconds, by the way. Go ahead and play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I voted with the president over 90 percent of the time, higher than a lot of my even Republican colleagues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Real disconnect there.
BOORTZ: OK, first of all, and why McCain has not made this point. The Congressional Research Service, I believe, they went back over the entire career of John McCain, which spans decades, and the career of Barack Obama, which spans years, and they looked at key votes in the United States Senate, Barack Obama with the Democrats 97 percent of the time on key votes, John McCain with the Republicans 79 percent of the time on key votes.
Why...
SANCHEZ: Where is that message?
BOORTZ: Yes, where is that message? John McCain has to be aware of this statistic. Who is running his campaign? They are missing this.
SANCHEZ: Well, that is an interesting question that you ask, because we are going to be picking up on that theme when we come back as well.
There is now apparently some grumbling within the McCain campaign, even reports that some of the folks in his campaign are sending out resumes to the private sector. We are going to be talking about that.
And then the question of what it takes for John McCain to win, because it is highly, highly possible, still. It is just a matter of a couple of battleground states coming together. And we are going the take you through the scenario.
Stay with us. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Viewer poll of the day, have you already cast your ballot? We want to hear from you. Call 1-800-655-5415, or you can text us. Just send a yes or a no to 71310. Remember, standard text rates do apply.
Watch what happens now when a McCain supporter with a very hateful message is confronted by a McCain campaign organizer who puts him in his place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Are you Muslim, ma'am? Are you Turkish?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm Kurdish.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm one of the campaign chairs. I'm Muslim. I'm chairman of the Maryland campaign. I was an elected McCain delegate.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but he's not with the campaign. So, you don't have to worry...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not with the campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm with the campaign, and we don't endorse that behavior. So...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't endorse this man's behavior?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The McCain campaign doesn't endorse your behavior, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm for McCain. You know that there are some parts...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you're anti-Islam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's not what our Constitution is about. You're here being anti-Islam, but you're complaining against people in Muslim countries being against Christianity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, his actions have been described heroic on this particular newscast, but he has not been allowed to talk to us. This has made the blogs for a week straight now all over the country. Guess what? He has called us this afternoon, and said, he wants to talk to us.
But then along comes another Republican official who says, sorry, you are not going to be allowed to do that interview with CNN.
What gives? What is going on? We will talk about that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Another prominent Republican has come out to say that he supports Barack Obama, did so on our network, new show that we are going to be debuting. It's called D.L. Hughley's show. And this is where Scott McClellan said this to D.L.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D.L. HUGHLEY, CNN HOST: But you have not endorsed anybody?
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Right.
HUGHLEY: You have not endorsed anybody. And it is McCain and it is Obama. You know, I'm a new show, and your endorsement would probably mean a lot. But -- and don't look at the fact that I am black, or nothing like -- no pressure.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: Endorse somebody, damn it. Endorse somebody.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
MCCLELLAN: From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done. I will be voting for Barack Obama and...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: By the way, the show is called "D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS." And he probably will, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here this Saturday.
All right, there is another comment that comes forward now that is somewhat similar. This is a comment from, well, one of the most respected minds in the Republican Party. This is the guy who put Ronald Reagan's, -- who handled Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign.
It is Ed Rollins. And he says this. I think we have this on the screen that we can put up with you.
He says: "It looks like nobody with a political antenna was working on this. It just undercuts Palin's whole image as a hockey mom, a one-of-us kind of candidate."
He is referring, of course, to the $150,000, I guess, fiasco, some have called it, in using that campaign money to get clothes or a wardrobe for Sarah Palin.
Is -- is Ed Rollins right?
BOORTZ: Well, I think perhaps, first of all, it's campaign money. It's being used for a campaign purpose. That's OK.
Why is that a bigger story than Barack Obama's campaign spending $800,000 on ACORN?
Why are Sarah Palin's clothes a bigger story than -- you know, her clothes aren't a scandal. Her clothes aren't stuffing ballot boxes. Her clothes aren't registering illegal voters.
But Barack Obama spends $800,000 -- a grant to ACORN to get out the vote, a minor story. Sarah Palin gets some expensive clothes that I would look very bad in, a major story. I don't...
SANCHEZ: Mark Halperin, let's bring you into this conversation.
HALPERIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: Is it something that was made a bigger deal of by the media than it should have been?
HALPERIN: Neal, assuming you're right, that one was made a bigger deal of than the other, why would that be?
BOORTZ: Because the campaign is in the tank for Obama.
Is that a possibility?
SANCHEZ: Mark? HALPERIN: That's a possibility. I think Senator Obama along, and his staff, have done a very good job of taking the press's natural inclinations in some areas and trying to make sure that he gets favorable coverage.
This is one area, though, Neal where I think it's an obvious story. Even a lot of Republicans I talk to say they recognize why the press is interested in this and how big a mistake it was. Ed Rollins is not the only one who's willing to say that, particularly late in the campaign, particularly with a relatively delicately balanced image on the part of Sarah Palin, that this was a big mistake.
SANCHEZ: But look...
BOORTZ: But, you know, if I...
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
BOORTZ: ...base my vote in 11 days on who spent what on somebody's campaign clothes, then I deserve whatever happens to me for the next four years in this country.
SANCHEZ: Let's move to this -- the idea that there are all these stories -- including the one that's going to be coming out in the "New York" magazine this Sunday -- saying that there is a problem in the ranks of the John McCain camp. Past and current McCain aides warring with each other. The private sector reporting that they're getting resumes from senior McCain aides.
Mark Halperin, you report on this.
Have you been hearing these kinds of stories, as well?
HALPERIN: Well, I -- look, one way to look at is that the circular firing squad has begun. Some Republicans are very gloomy about now just Senator McCain's prospects, but the party's chances overall in November.
I think, in fact, they're holding it together pretty well. Given how bad things are, given how much dissension there is about what's happened in the past, what's happening now in terms of tactics and strategy, I would have expected that we would have seen more of this, particularly because Senator McCain himself has never been particularly popular with rank and file Republicans, with a lot of Republican lobbyists and consultants and with a lot of Republican members of Congress, all of whom are very nervous now about election day on Tuesday and what it could mean for the party's near-term and long-term future.
SANCHEZ: Here's what it said on Politico this morning. I'll read it to you, Neal Boortz: "The cake is baked. We're ending the finger pointing and positioning for history part of the campaign. It's every man for himself now."
BOORTZ: Well, to kind of mirror what Mark just a second ago, what makes this different from any other political presidential campaign we've seen in this country?
You know the real tragedy of this campaign is not Sarah Palin's clothes. It's not John McCain's staff. The tragedy is that it is as important as it is to the American people. The presidential election should not -- really, it shouldn't be as important to the people as their local elections are. The founding fathers said, hey, in times of peace, 95 percent of the governance at the local level. And now people can't name their own congressman and senators, but they're just glued to the news over who the next president is going to be.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's interesting, because what -- who the next president is going to be is certainly not yet decided. It's still a ball game -- very much a ball game.
In fact, we are going to take the CNN board and actually show you how much of a ball game this really is. It's only a matter of about five or six states for John McCain to win. We'll show you how it's done with Preston On Politics in our D.C. bureau.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And I welcome you back.
This is Rick Sanchez, along with Neal Boortz to my right.
This is a story that we first brought to your attention. And it has gotten so much traction on the blogs and all over the country. It is about a rally for John McCain, when someone with a bit of a hateful message shows up and starts spewing some rather hateful things.
Let me show you that part of the story first.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you just said that Obama is a socialist who...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A socialist with an Islamic background.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you defend that claim?
What makes you think he has an Islamic background?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he learned a lot -- he was raised in a madrassa. He has a lot of background in -- you know, there's a lot of stuff you can read on it. But I can't do it right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So the man is saying some things that really is upsetting McCain supporters -- people who showed up because they love the John McCain campaign and they want to vote for John McCain. They watch this guy and they say, this is not what we came here for.
So a McCain organizer shows up and seems to do the right thing. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a Muslim, ma'am?
Are you Turkish?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm Kurdish.
DANIEL ZUBAIRI, MCCAIN GRASSROOTS: I want to talk to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, just...
ZUBAIRI: I'm Dan Zubairi and I'm one of the campaign chairs. I'm Muslim. I'm chairman of the Maryland campaign. I was an elected McCain delegate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
ZUBAIRI: Yes, but he's not with the campaign, so you don't have to worry about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not with the campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
ZUBAIRI: I'm with the campaign and we don't endorse that behavior.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't endorse this man's behavior?
ZUBAIRI: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The McCain campaign doesn't endorse your behavior, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm for McCain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know that there are some...
ZUBAIRI: But you're anti-Islam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not...
ZUBAIRI: And that's not what our constitution is about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am pro-freedom.
ZUBAIRI: You're here being anti-Islam, but you're about -- you're complaining against people in Muslim countries being against Christianity. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That man's name is Dan Zubairi. We have been in contact with him since we first saw this video. We have been asking him if he would come on. And on several occasions, he said he would. But then he was told that he can't because the McCain campaign told him that he couldn't.
This morning, he called us. We didn't call him. He called us and said good news, I'm going to be able to appear on your show today and take you through that video and take you through the story -- something many of you on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook have been asking us for, because you wanted to hear from him.
Well, just about an hour before we went on the air, we got another call from Mr. Zubairi. And he says I'm sorry, but I've been told I can't go on and tell this story. Quote: "I was told this is not the message they want to send," referring to the McCain campaign. He says he wouldn't be comfortable going ahead with the interview.
I don't understand it, but we report it that way.
And here's Neal to tell us, if you can -- can you make sense of this?
Why, if this -- if you were the candidate and this gentleman represented you, and seemed to represent you in a very positive way, why wouldn't you want him to talk about it on the air?
BOORTZ: Well, it's control the message. I mean just putting him on the air with you -- or allowing him to go on the air with you to discuss this incident at this campaign rally will keep this ridiculous Obama is a Muslim thing right up there in front of everybody. They would just as soon see it go away as quickly as possible, so that McCain and the campaign can stay on message and discuss the things that they think might help them on November the 4th. And...
SANCHEZ: Well, you and I are kind of transparent people. We always kind of say what we think and maybe to a fault, but...
BOORTZ: Well, you're -- but you're a lot deeper than I am.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: But wouldn't you want to be transparent about something like this?
BOORTZ: Well...
SANCHEZ: My instinct is to always be transparent.
BOORTZ: Well, I would think so. But I really think, if you bring this issue up, let him go on your show and we're talking about this guy and his ridiculous assertions, then, once again, it just puts it right up there on a platter.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BOORTZ: And I can't tell you all of the time I'd like to spend on my talk show talking about what I perceive to be the danger of Barack Obama. And then every once in a while, I get put into a defense mode where I have to talk to a caller and she he is not a Muslim, he was born in Hawaii. And...
SANCHEZ: Right. And you tell him the reason I don't want to vote for Barack Obama is because of this, not that because of that, right?
BOORTZ: Yes. I mean, come on folks, concentrate on something that is real out there, like his -- the man is all about big government. I've never heard him -- I haven't heard every word he's said, but I've never heard him say a word in praise of private enterprise.
SANCHEZ: All right...
BOORTZ: Concentrate on this. Don't worry about these other issues that aren't real.
SANCHEZ: When we come back, we promised that we would take the board and actually explain how John McCain wins this election. We'll do that.
And then Neal Boortz meet Richard Quest. That will be fun...
BOORTZ: Oh, boy.
SANCHEZ: ...as we talk about the market.
Stay with us.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara Aldrich had always been overweight. But as the years flew by, the pounds added up. And as she edged toward 50 years old, her doctor made it clear it was time for a change.
BARBARA ALDRICH, LOST 75 POUNDS: It got to the point to where my doctor told me that I was borderline diabetic. And when it gets to bad for your health, you've got to make the right decisions.
GUPTA: Determined not to be a burden on her family, Barbara took action right away.
ALDRICH: I just made the decision that I'm going to find a program that worked for me.
GUPTA: A balanced diet, daily exercise and a multivitamin -- the pounds came falling off. ALDRICH: It just seemed to just come off, just eating right. And I mean I wasn't hungry. I wasn't starving myself. It was all store bought food. For me, I would lose sometimes four to five pounds every week. So it was like 20 pounds a month.
GUPTA: Now, looking back on her experience, Barbara says she looks better, feels better and she's proud that even at age 50, she could reach her goal weight.
ALDRICH: It's just a good feeling to know that I accomplished this. I did it on my own. Yes, I had to wait until it was medically necessary. But that's the way life is.
My name is Barbara Aldrich and I've lost 75 pounds.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Let's talk poll numbers. First of all, there's a brand new CNN poll of polls out. It basically combines all the polls that are out there -- all the reputable polls -- puts them together and gives you an average.
And this is where it stands as of right now. Barack Obama 50 percent, John McCain 42 percent, and unsure 8 percent. I remind you that's a poll of polls and this is a national poll, not a battleground state poll, as you always hear referred to.
Now, let's talk about the battleground state poll.
And to do that, let's bring in Preston On Politics.
Mark Preston joining us now from Washington, D.C. -- Mark, thanks for being with us.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's look at a scenario where John McCain wins this thing outright. And to do that, just to get started, let's give him the states that one would think he has a very, very good shot at, because they're considered toss-up states like that one.
We'll go to our CNN thing and we'll give that one to John McCain. Florida goes to John McCain. It's not something too, I imagine, surprising, right, Mark?
Why don't we give him North Carolina, as well?
PRESTON: Sure.
SANCHEZ: All right. We'll give him -- you tell me if I'm not pressing the right buttons here.
Let's go to North Carolina. Let's give him Missouri.
Is that fair?
PRESTON: That's fair.
SANCHEZ: All right. Missouri goes, as well. I'm going to click it again, because I didn't make it red yet. All right, there you go, Missouri.
And I think Ohio would be fair, right?
He could definitely win Ohio, right?
PRESTON: Yes. Well, absolutely. And let's set up the scenario that we're talking about right now.
If you look at the CNN electoral map right now...
SANCHEZ: And I'm looking at it.
PRESTON: ...John McCain has 174 electoral votes to Barack Obama's 277.
SANCHEZ: Right.
PRESTON: What we're doing now is we're taking Florida and North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri, which are toss-up states in the estimate, and we're allocating them over to John McCain.
SANCHEZ: Right. And that just gave -- just to tell our viewers what we're talking about -- see my arrow up here moving around?
There's 247, right?
When I just gave him those four states, that got him to 247. But he needs to get to 271 at least, right?
PRESTON: Yes, he needs to hit 270. Right now he's 23 electoral votes shy. So let's look at two different categories.
Let's look at the toss-up category right now, Rick.
Colorado, nine electoral votes. John McCain campaigning there today.
SANCHEZ: I'm going to give him that then.
You want me to give him Colorado?
PRESTON: No. Do -- no, no, no. Do not give him that. We'll just talk about two categories.
SANCHEZ: All right.
PRESTON: Colorado, nine; Nevada, five.
SANCHEZ: Right.
PRESTON: Again, let's look at another category -- the lean Obama category. Pennsylvania has 21 electoral votes.
SANCHEZ: Twenty-one. We're looking at it right there.
PRESTON: And Virginia has 13 electoral votes.
SANCHEZ: Right. Right there.
PRESTON: So let's talk to the paths for victory right now for McCain, assuming that McCain were to win Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri -- and I have to say, that's a big assumption right now, because Barack Obama -- it's a very close race, but he seems to have a lead in most polls in those states. But assuming that is the case...
SANCHEZ: But not surmounting leads.
PRESTON: Not...
SANCHEZ: They're not insurmountable.
PRESTON: No, absolutely not surmounting leads. But we have to be careful so as not to say that Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri are absolutely in Obama's -- in McCain's camp.
SANCHEZ: I see.
PRESTON: So here are your scenarios. The first scenario is, Rick, that John McCain wins Pennsylvania, OK?
SANCHEZ: Pennsylvania.
PRESTON: Twenty-one electoral votes.
SANCHEZ: All right. We're giving it to him.
PRESTON: And -- and, if he wins Pennsylvania, all he has to do is to pick up Virginia, Colorado or Nevada.
SANCHEZ: Virginia. OK. When you gave him Pennsylvania, we got to 268. If we go Virginia and we give him that one...
PRESTON: Boom, he wins.
SANCHEZ: Boom, he wins -- 281.
PRESTON: Yes. And if you give him Colorado or Nevada -- any one of that...
SANCHEZ: And he's still...
PRESTON: Exactly.
SANCHEZ: And he's still got this. So it's really a scenario that would involve Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania plus Virginia, Colorado, Nevada or any combination of those three.
PRESTON: Yes. Absolutely.
And scenario number two is, let's assume he doesn't win Pennsylvania -- and I have to tell you right now, Barack Obama is up about 10 points in Pennsylvania. That is a Democratic state. John McCain is spending a lot of money in, as well, trying to take that out of the Democratic column. But if he doesn't win Pennsylvania, then he wins -- he needs to win Colorado, Nevada and Virginia.
SANCHEZ: Got it. It makes sense.
Mark Preston.
Sometimes the best way to understand these things is just go state by state and do simple math.
PRESTON: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much for keeping it simple, by the way.
Mark Preston with Preston On Politics.
OK, here we go. Neal Boortz, one of the most famous people in the United States, on the radio...
BOORTZ: Oh, yes, right.
SANCHEZ: ...meet Richard Quest, one of the most famous people across the pond.
BOORTZ: Good day, sir.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE).
BOORTZ: It's nice to see you.
SANCHEZ: You gentlemen will be going at it when we come back.
Stay with us.
This should be interesting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Poll results first. We told you we were going to do this text poll and we've got the results and it's somewhat surprising. Of all the people who texted us -- did I say that right -- and we asked them the question, "Have you voted already? Have you gone to early voting?"
Look at this. Eighty-five percent say yes, they've early voted.
Are they all telling the truth?
We don't know. But if many of them are, boy, I'll tell you, that's significant -- that many people have already been out there voting.
Let's turn things over "THE SITUATION ROOM" now.
And that would be Wolf Blitzer standing by.
I was thinking, Wolf, that this is an unscientific poll. And we should probably let people know that it is an unscientific poll, because it's very different from those that are done as random polls.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right. One of our formal CNN/Opinion Research Corporation polls -- those are very scientific. The texting polls, the telephone polls not necessarily all that scientific.
All right, Rick, let me tell you what's coming up at the top of the hour.
Barack Obama, he's off the campaign trail today to see his ailing grandmother, but his campaign is not slowing down. His wife, his running mate, the Clintons -- they're all rallying out there today. We'll go live to Hawaii.
And Sarah Palin unplugged -- she's talking about the controversy surrounding her wardrobe and unveiling her first new policy initiative. You're going to hear from her. That's coming up.
Plus, trouble in Georgia -- the State of Georgia, we're talking about. Thousands of registered voters are told they have to prove they're U.S. citizens.
Is this a case of voter suppression?
The CNN Special Investigations Unit is on the case.
All that, Rick, and a lot more. Three hours of "THE SITUATION ROOM" at the top of the hour.
SANCHEZ: All right. I wish I had boxing gloves out here. Here we go.
Thanks, Wolf.
This gentleman over here says this bailout should not take place, the American people are getting hosed. This gentleman says the bailout is the only thing that we have that's a plausible solution.
Gentlemen, you have the floor.
BOORTZ: Do you want to leave? We'll just close out the show for you.
QUEST: What do governments have the ability to do that no other institution does?
Tax, borrow and print.
BOORTZ: Ah, you're wrong. What is the main...
QUEST: Well, the first answer and I'm wrong.
BOORTZ: Well, no, you're right.
But what is the main power that government has that you and I and nobody else has?
The power to use deadly force to accomplish its goals.
QUEST: Well...
BOORTZ: Which means the power to tax, which is the power to seize somebody else's property.
QUEST: Now, just a minute. Once again, you've done the typical trick of taking a fact...
BOORTZ: No trick.
QUEST: ...and jumping the gun.
BOORTZ: No trick.
QUEST: The reality is that without a government bailout of banks, admittedly not the way the U.S. was prepared to do it originally with the top, but with a proper equity investment, as the Europeans suggested...
BOORTZ: Oh, yes. You have all the answers.
QUEST: Well, on this one, of course...
BOORTZ: Oh, yes.
QUEST: Oh, on this one, your solutions didn't exactly come forth and fast, did they?
BOORTZ: Yes. I mean your country is still trying to crawl out of socialism.
QUEST: There we go. There we go. When in doubt, raise the red flag.
BOORTZ: It is a red flag, isn't it?
Now, look...
QUEST: It's a red flag and a red herring, Neal, and you know it.
BOORTZ: Here is one -- you know, you need decaf.
Now...
QUEST: Which, coming from you, is a compliment. (LAUGHTER)
BOORTZ: Here is -- I will give you this. This whole financial crisis right now, based on putting people into homes that should be renters.
QUEST: Yes?
BOORTZ: OK?
It was created by the government.
QUEST: Yes.
BOORTZ: Political correctness.
QUEST: On both sides.
SANCHEZ: Five seconds to close him out.
BOORTZ: On both sides.
SANCHEZ: We're out of time.
QUEST: To close them out, it doesn't really matter, though. We agree on one thing. It's going to be the poor people and Joe Schmoe that ultimately will suffer.
SANCHEZ: We'll leave it at that.
BOORTZ: That's right, the people that deserve if will take the hit.
SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.
We'll look at the market and see who's really getting the hit.
Stay with us.
You guys are great.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: A lot of comments coming in. We're going to share those with you in just a minute.
But, first, every Friday -- because there's always big stories during the week that don't allow us to cover some of the other stories that we think are downright interesting -- we do a collection of those stories. We call this What We Missed.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Senator Obama brings... SANCHEZ (voice-over): What a week. Colin Powell, a kidnapped little boy, cops behaving badly and Karl Rove doesn't want to be handcuffed?
There's so much we didn't show you, though. We just didn't have time.
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' corruption trial -- prosecutors say he got his house fixed up for free. The senator's lawyers say he would have paid whatever bills were sent, but he wasn't told the full cost. The jury is expected to resume deliberating next week.
Pretty girls make pretty mug shots -- the reigning Miss Teen Louisiana booked this week for allegedly skipping out on a restaurant bill and carrying what police think is marijuana. Lindsey Evans had to surrender her sash and tiara. Hang in there, Louisiana. You'll have a new Miss Teen next week.
This may redefine the classic mailman versus dog rivalry. A Michigan letter carrier smashed the basement window of a burning house and set free a dog trapped inside. Gretchen's fine. No word on whether other dogs will take it easy on their mailmen in solidarity.
And we didn't show you how the final frontier became less mysterious this week. India shot a rocket to the moon. It's going to fly around and take high res photos for maps.
And Russia went up and came down -- a Soyuz capsule, a rich American tourist on board, hit the ground this morning -- gently -- after a trip to the International Space Station. If only the Dow would let us down so tenderly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And we'll be checking the Dow in just a little bit.
But first, some tweets being some sent to you -- being sent to us by you.
Here we go. Let's go to them if we can.
The first one, this is regarding that story out of Pittsburgh: "The first tip should have been the backward B on her face. What mugger would go through that kind of trouble?"
Now let's go back to the top.
If people really are watching your show, then odds are they're having time to vote early. I'm a student. I watch with my friends."
I think your unscientific poll is believable because if people can see your show at mid-p.m. then they probably have time to vote early.
And, finally, this one. It says: "The problem is my hockey mom wife wants to remortgage our house so she can go shopping like Sarah Palin."
Carrie Lee is standing by now to bring us the very latest on what's going on Wall Street.
And how are things ending for the week -- Carrie?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SANCHEZ: We'll just have to watch it.
Carrie Lee, thanks so much.
Wolf Blitzer is standing by now to bring you the latest in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf, take it away.
Have a great weekend.
