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Barnstorming Through Battleground States; Sarah Palin: Going Rogue?; University Shooting: Police Investigate Killing of 2 Students; U.S. Strike in Syria; Palin's Final Push; Asian-American Vote; Driving Less

Aired October 27, 2008 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And here are the headlines from CNN on this Monday, October 27th.
Tragic discovery on a Chicago street. A boy's body found in an SUV. Is it the missing nephew of an Oscar-winning actress?

Making their case all across the battleground states. We're on the trail with the presidential candidates. And the latest polling.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Actress Jennifer Hudson's heartbreak. CNN crews on the ground in Chicago are following new reports of a child's body, possibly Hudson's missing nephew, found inside a white SUV.

Here's what police told reporters just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

A further investigation revealed that a body was inside, but can't identify the body pending the medical examiner's examination. The vehicle has been towed for further processing and the investigation is ongoing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Police had been searching for 7-year-old Julian King since the shootings. Hudson offered up a $100,000 reward for his safe return.

We are awaiting a press conference from police. And our Susan Roesgen is on the scene gathering information, and will join us as soon as she can.

Here is a timeline of the tragic events in this case.

Seven-year-old Julian King disappeared Friday. That's the same day the police discovered the bodies of his grandmother and uncle in actress Jennifer Hudson's family home.

On Saturday, police picked up his stepfather, William Balfour. They're holding him right now on charges related to a parole violation. Yesterday, police started a door-to-door campaign, passing out flyers with pictures of the missing boy. And that brings us to today, with the reports of a body found in a white SUV.

We are in the home stretch. Eight days until Election Day, and the candidates are barnstorming through battleground states.

Both presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain are making a final push in Ohio today before moving on to Pennsylvania. McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, also heads to Pennsylvania after visiting Virginia. And Joe Biden travels from North Carolina to Florida.

As always, CNN has the campaigns covered. Ready with their take are Senior Political Analyst William Schneider; Ed Henry, with John McCain in Dayton, Ohio; and Suzanne Malveaux, who is with Barack Obama in Canton.

Let's go first to Suzanne.

And Suzanne, as Barack Obama gears up for what his campaign is calling a closing argument, Barack Obama behaving like the attorney that he is.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right. He is the closer, if you will, presenting that closing argument.

You'll remember 18 months ago. And it was 18 months ago, Tony, the chant began, the battle cry, "Yes we can."

What we're going to hear from Barack Obama today is, in one week, you can fill in the blank. That fill in the blank being voting for policies for the middle class, creating jobs, bringing about change. Those are the kinds of things you're going to hear from Barack Obama.

And what is he doing? He's trying to lay out his broad vision for the American people, for voters. He is saying that this is not only about a common purpose, but a higher purpose. He essentially is making that case, a very simple message he's been saying throughout very consistently, and that is simply a call for change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Sprinting to the finish, Barack Obama in Ohio Monday, a state that is a must win. Over the weekend, Obama was out West, hitting three states that went for George Bush in 2004.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages on affordable terms.

MALVEAUX: Nevada, which has the nation's highest foreclosure rate.

OBAMA: Five times the national average. And we're going the put in place a three-month moratorium, give folks the breathing room they need to get back on their feet and work things out with their bank.

MALVEAUX: New Mexico, where Obama leads in the polls.

OBAMA: What we need right now is a real debate about how to fix our economy and help middle class families.

MALVEAUX: And Colorado, where supporters broke attendance records at a Denver rally, showing up more than 100,000 strong.

OBAMA: How many people have early voted?

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. No point in waiting in lines if you don't have to. You know who you're going to vote for.

MALVEAUX: For the end game, it's all about getting out the vote.

Here in Colorado, early voting means they're already going to the polls. The campaign is also spending record amounts of money in the final days, unveiling new TV ads targeting John McCain's economic plan.

OBAMA: The question is, will our country be better off four years from now?

MALVEAUX: On the stump, the same message but a new line, ridiculing McCain for distancing himself from George Bush.

OBAMA: John McCain attacking George Bush for his out-of-hand economic policies is like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy. It's like Robin getting mad at Batman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Well, Tony, you're going to hear some of those lines, but more pointedly, what you're going to hear from Barack Obama, he's going to be making the case that he says John McCain has not offered this last year and a half an alternative to President Bush's economic policies. You're going to hear him talk about the contrasts between himself and John McCain, but specifically, trying to make that comparison, that link with President Bush -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Canton, Ohio.

And when that event begins, we will of course take you back to Canton.

Switching over now to John McCain, also in Ohio.

Our Ed Henry joins us from the McCain event in Dayton, Ohio.

And Ed, you know, I saw some of the reporting over the weekend indicating that there may be some cracks developing within the McCain campaign. You know, it's easy for us to read a lot into some inconsistencies, but I'm curious as to your take. Is there a crack, maybe some cracks, developing within this team?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There certainly is, Tony. I'm going to have to compete with the marching band, and maybe that's appropriate, because it doesn't sound like they're all marching to the same drummer right now, the same beat, if you will.

What's going on is some McCain advisers are basically saying that Sarah Palin -- in private, they're saying that she's going rogue, that she's a diva, is the word is they're using, saying she's off message, she's not staying with the message that John McCain wants on everything. And they're speculating that maybe it's because she's concerned McCain is going to lose, she wants to go her own way, set herself up for 2009 and beyond as a Republican leader.

Palin advisers say no, she's trying to break free because the rollout for the McCain team was not very smooth, and they sort of smothered her and didn't let her go out and talk to the media. And then this whole wardrobe malfunction was mishandled, the $150,000 wardrobe, was mishandled, in the eyes of some Palin advisers, by the McCain team.

So, for the record, a Palin spokeswoman is insisting, look, we're all on the same page, Sarah Palin's only focused on helping the Republican ticket win next week. But the bottom line is, any sort of talk of strife, division is not what you need in the final eight days.

Here's John McCain today in Ohio trying to talk up the financial crisis, push back on Barack Obama with that closing argument. But instead, he's dealing with some of these questions, and we're talking not just about the economy, but we're talking about a split in the McCain camp -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Ed Henry for us.

The band died down just in time for you to offer up your final thoughts there.

Ed Henry in -- OK, in Dayton, Ohio. And strike up the band.

And in the next half hour, we will have Dan Lothian live from Virginia, where Sarah Palin is holding a rally.

Let's check the CNN projections map. There it is in all of its red and blue and yellow and whatever colors there.

Obama showing 277 electoral votes; 192 of those are considered safe, 85 what we call leaning. McCain, according to our projections has 174 electoral votes lined up, 52 of those considered leaning. Our projections show 87 electoral votes are tossups, and, of course, 270 Electoral College votes are needed to win.

So, which states, as you look at that map, are most important here? That is a question for our facts and figures man, CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider, in Washington.

And Bill, if you were advising the John McCain campaign right now -- he's in Ohio today -- would you sort of build a condominium there in Ohio, stay there? And what other state would you be spending a lot of your time in these closing days?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he might consider moving to Ohio. Ohio is the critical state. Look, John Kerry, back in 2004, carried states with 252 electoral votes. All of those states right now look pretty good for Obama. McCain is trying to peel off Pennsylvania, but the polls in Pennsylvania indicate that Obama has a pretty sizable lead.

So, if all those 252 electoral votes that Kerry got hold for Obama, he needs 18 more. How many electoral votes are there in Ohio? Twenty. He carries Ohio, he wins.

There's one other state that he could do it in if he wants to do it in one state. That would be Florida, which has 27 electoral votes. So, along with Ohio, Florida is an absolutely crucial state.

Now, couldn't do it in either Virginia or North Carolina, but he could do it in both of them. He is ahead right now in Virginia, which has 13 electoral votes. North Carolina has 15. If he carries both of those, he's over the top.

And another strategy would be the famous western strategy. New Mexico, where Obama's ahead; plus Colorado, 9 electoral votes; plus Nevada, 5; add those three together, you've got 19. Those three states would put Obama over the top. So there are various ways that he could do it, but if Ohio is lost to John McCain, to the Republicans, it's very difficult to see how he can win the election.

HARRIS: I'm just struck by the size of these rallies for Barack Obama over the last few weeks. If you're advising the Obama campaign, what are you saying at this point? And I know there's some concern about Pennsylvania. The governor there voicing some concerns.

Is Pennsylvania in play for John McCain?

SCHNEIDER: Well, he obviously believes it is. He and Sarah Palin have been there several times. The polls indicate a double-digit lead for Obama, most of them do. But McCain does believe he has a chance there.

Generally speaking, in states that border there -- or are part of the Appalachian region, that's where Barack Obama did poorly in the primaries against Hillary Clinton, and that's where he's not doing too well right now. Pennsylvania has a large Appalachian region where Obama is not very strong, but there's a lot more to Pennsylvania.

There's Philadelphia. There's the Philadelphia suburbs, which are not exactly Appalachia. The states that are purest Appalachia, like West Virginia and Kentucky, Obama is behind McCain.

So, generally speaking, Obama's weakest area is the south and the Appalachian region.

HARRIS: Bill, good to see you. Thanks for your time, as always.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

HARRIS: And CNN has all the bases covered, as you can see, for your election night one week from Tuesday, November 4th. From the first vote to the last, we're bringing you the results from all 50 states.

We are watching it for you, the markets. A report on home sales making investors a little bit happy this morning. As you can see, the Dow in positive territory, up 70 points.

We're going to continue to follow the market throughout the day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A manhunt going on right now for two suspects in a deadly shooting at the University of Central Arkansas. That's in Conway. Police say two other suspects have been arrested.

The shooting happened last night near one of the dorms. Two students were killed, another person wounded. Classes have been canceled for today while school officials work with police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM COURTWAY, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS INTERIM PRESIDENT: Our campus is silent (ph). Chief Larry James, seated here to my left, and the UCA police, working with the Conway Police Department, Thalmer (ph) County Sheriff's Department, and other law enforcement agencies, acted very quickly and professionally to ensure that the matter was brought under control. Our police officers at UCA are well trained, and I'm very proud of their work last evening and as this investigation is continuing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And checking in with the crews on the ground for the latest in the case, Lauren Trager is with affiliate KARK.

Lauren, good to talk to you.

What can you tell us -- what's the very latest beyond what we just heard from officials investigating the case?

LAUREN TRAGER, REPORTER, KARK: Well, earlier this morning, we knew we had one suspect detained. They actually were able to identify a suspect's car and stopped him in a routine traffic stop. And they have him in custody, and he's cooperating.

They say that he's been interviewed and has identified someone else. They have now detained that person because he actually turned himself in.

But as you mentioned, officials here met today and they said they're very confident that they have these suspects identified. There's four of them, in fact. They would not release any information about them because we believe there will be developments here soon. They have identified a location for these suspects, and I believe they will be apprehended shortly.

But what we do know is this was a targeted incident. It was not random, according to police. And they say they do not know an exact motive yet, but they are still working on that.

Again, they're questioning witnesses, as well as suspects, to try and figure out just what happened here. And as you mentioned, campus police and campus officials say this was, you know, an incident that was pretty isolated. They believe the campus was alerted well and the response was well done, and they say that the campus is safe.

HARRIS: All right. Lauren Trager for us from our affiliate KARK.

Lauren, good to talk to you. Thank you for that information.

Arkansas mourning the loss of a television anchorwoman who was brutally assaulted last week. Outside the home of Anne Pressly people, as you can see here, paying their respects. She died from her injuries over the weekend. Police say they still don't know who attacked her or why. The television station where she worked is offering a reward leading to an arrest and conviction.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: Targeting al Qaeda on Syrian soil. New details of a U.S. attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: In Seattle, a deadly fire sweeps through a four-story apartment building. The victim, the only person inside this building. It was scheduled to be torn down. Fire officials say it somehow started in a first-floor unit, then raced up a corner of the building.

Look at these pictures.

Left by his mom. A 12-year-old boy from Georgia abandoned at a Nebraska hospital. Officials say the woman dropped her son off under the state's unique safe haven law, which makes it legal for anyone to desert children as old as 18 at local hospitals. The boy is now in Nebraska state care.

Tainted eggs, the latest item on the list in China's widening food scandal. Those eggs discovered to have twice the legal limit of the industrial chemical melamine. Hong Kong says the chemical may be traced to feed given to the chickens. China has been dealing with a food safety scandal over dairy products tainted, as you'll recall, with melamine.

Two coalition soldiers killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan today. Afghan officials say one American was killed and six other people injured. They say the bomber was wearing a police uniform when he blew himself up inside a politician station in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban claiming responsibility for that attack.

Every voter counts in this election. Find out how Asian-Americans are weighing in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Actress Jennifer Hudson's heartbreak. CNN crews on the ground in Chicago are following new reports of a child's body, possible Hudson's missing nephew, found inside a white SUV.

Susan Roesgen is on the scene for us gathering information.

And Susan, I know you're on -- I believe you're on the beeper line with us. What are you learning? What is the latest on this horrible story?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest now -- yes, Tony, the latest now is that the FBI is saying that -- and this is a quote here -- they "believe the body to be that of the missing boy." Now, that is the most that we've had so far in terms of confirmation.

Chicago police earlier this morning said simply that there was a body found in the back of a white SUV that they had been looking for, that had been posted in the Amber Alert for 7-year-old Julian King. Now, once again, the FBI is telling us that they believe that body to be that of the missing boy -- Tony.

HARRIS: Susan, I have to ask you, have the authorities learned anything of any usefulness from this William Balfour?

ROESGEN: Apparently not of enough usefulness, Tony, to charge him as a suspect. He's simply being held now as a parole violator.

He is still considered a person of interest. Chicago police told me that this morning. But they could not hold him any longer than they had already, 48 hours. And so, he is now in the custody of Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation.

Tony, William Balfour served seven years in prison for attempted murder and carjacking. This was apparently before he married Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia in 2006. But he has said that he and the family were always childhood friends.

The police have said publicly that they believe this was some sort of domestic situation. And yet, more and more, Tony, I have to say from looking at what's been happening over the weekend, it perhaps was not a domestic situation. For one thing, car, this SUV, was stolen after Jennifer Hudson's brother was killed.

It was his car that was taken, and that car was discovered this morning in a different part of town. It was not discovered when William Balfour was picked up -- Tony.

HARRIS: You know, Susan, I know you're continuing to work this story. One of the questions that I have and I know you're going to seek an answer for is how the authorities came to find this SUV. If you get some additional information on that, please let us now. Maybe it was a tip, maybe it was something else. Susie Roesgen for us following this story in Chicago.

CNN now confirming a U.S. strike on Syrian soil. According to a U.S. official, the military conducted what it describes as a successful strike into Syria yesterday. Our Cal Perry has covered Syria extensively and he joins me now live from Beirut, Lebanon.

Cal, Jamie McIntyre's sources at the Pentagon confirming the strike. What are you hearing from the Syrians?

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, we're talking here about one story and two different versions of what happened. We're hearing from Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon that the U.S. military special forces hit a al Qaeda target. A man who was smuggling money and weapons and fighters into Iraq.

Now the Syrians, for their part, are saying that these were all civilians that were killed. They're putting on a very friendly face saying that we are trying to secure this border. We've heard from Syrian diplomats in Washington. They say that this is timed with the U.S. election. That seems to be their reasoning for why it's happened now.

I suppose, Tony, we should not be surprised that this happened. We were just along the border some three months ago. I'll play for you what one of the Syrian commander told us just three months ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL KHALIL AL KHALED, MILITARY & SECURITY CMDR, AL HASKEH PROVINCE, (through translator): Every now and then there are air space violations. Sometimes no less than five to six times per month, with their military jets and helicopter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: Now, Tony, I mean, we've heard from Syrians say five, six times a month their air space is violated. But this changes the rules of engagement. Now the Defense Department in Iraq has said -- the Defense Department, excuse me, in Washington has said that they always reserve the right to go across borders, whether it be Iran or whether it be Syria, to go after these terrorists, as they say. But they have not done that in Syria until now. Up until now it's been only talk. This seems to be the first time they've gone five miles into Syria, which is no short order, to go after a target. They killed at least eight people according to the Syrian. But I think it's fair to say, Tony, we're going to hear the diplomatic rhetoric only rise in the coming days.

HARRIS: I have to ask you about the timing of this, Cal. It comes at a time when many of America's European allies are trying about, Britain in this case and France, are trying to broaden their ties with the government in Damascus.

PERRY: Absolutely. And we've seen the government in Damascus put on a friendlier face, if you like, in the previous months. We know that they're negotiating indirectly with Israel through Turkey. The big question and the one that you're asking is the same one that the Syrian diplomats are asking around the world, why now? We've heard them say this is because of the U.S. election.

But we have to look at this from the American perspective. Do the Americans lose anything by going after a target if they believe they have a foreign fighter? The Syrians, first of all, just simply can't stop the Americans from doing that. They don't have the military power. There is no ambassador in Damascus. There's a (INAUDIBLE). Certainly that person could be kicked out of Damascus.

Is it a big deal? Probably not. From the Syrians perspective, they're really here in a corner because no matter how this thing comes across, they're going to be seen as weak. Either they were unable to stop the Americans from coming across into their sovereign territory, or, on the flip side, they're unable to stop these foreign fighters. So they're in a very difficult position. And no matter how you slice it, they're going to look weak.

Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's Cal Perry for us in Beirut, Lebanon.

Cal, good to see you. Thank you.

Eight days until the election and the last lap for presidential hopefuls and their number twos stumping across battleground states. We've got Obama coming up live from Canton, Ohio, just a few minutes from right now. John McCain hit the trail a little earlier at an Ohio rally. His running mate, Sarah Palin, live at the top of the hour.

Our Dan Lothian is at a rally in Fredericksburg, Virginia. That's a Sarah Palin rally.

And, Dan, the message today seems to be, you can't turn over the entire government to Obama, Reid and Pelosi.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's the message that you're hearing as she's making that swing through Virginia. I'm at this rally, where she will be appearing in about 20 minutes or so. A very large crowd here. The McCain/Palin ticket really working hard to keep Virginia from turning blue. This is a state where Barack Obama is leading in the polls by 10 points. So Palin working very hard today, criss-crossing the state of Virginia, highlighting small business owners that she says will be hurt by Obama tax increases. Prior to making her way to this event, she was in Leesburg, Virginia, this morning, where she stayed on message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's committed to nearly a trillion dollars in promises of new government growth, new spending, but he doesn't tell you where the dollars will come from to spend on those proposals. It has to come from higher taxes. So you can either do the math or just go with your gut. And, either way, you draw the same conclusion, and that's that Barack Obama is on the side of bigger, more controlling government and higher taxes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now, Tony, as you know, we've spent several weeks in the state of Virginia talking about Democrats and Republicans. But one of the things that we've noticed as we've been talking to Republicans is that they feel very energized by Sarah Palin. They say that she has added a spark to the ticket. One Republican telling me that she only wished that Sarah Palin had come to the state of Virginia a lot sooner and spent a lot more time on the ground here. Now Governor Palin will be doing a round of local press interviews through the day here in Virginia, really working hard in that get out the vote effort with about a week to go -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right, Dan Lothian for us. Dan, good to see you. Thank you.

The Asian-American vote. Another voting group that could make a difference in this year's election. Our Veronica De La Cruz conducted a little experiment. OK. And she joins us now with the results.

You peaked my interest.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the experiment right here, Tony. I'm going to tell you all about it. You know, Asian-Americans make up 5 percent of the U.S. population. And I know, Tony, that it probably doesn't sound like a lot. But in a tightly contested race, it's actually something that could end up being quite significant, that 5 percent.

So what I did was I headed to Chinatown. I really wanted to figure out what was on the minds of Asian-American voters. So I grabbled this little guy right here. This is the camera. This is called a flip. And I shot some video, went around and talked to people to figure out how they were going to vote. And I plugged it right in my computer and here's how it came out.

HARRIS: OK.

DE LA CRUZ: Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DE LA CRUZ: (INAUDIBLE) Chinatown. It's the second largest Chinatown in the country. And we're here to talk to people to find out what's on their minds. And how they're going to be voting in this election.

Who are you voting for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obama.

DE LA CRUZ: And do you think race is going to be an issue in this election?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would hope not. But, unfortunately, I come from the Midwest, so race is always an issue.

DE LA CRUZ: What issues are important to you? Why will you be voting the way that you will in this election?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The issues that are really important to me is jobs and the economy. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that for sure a lot of the Asians are business owners. So the economy, definitely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Besides health care, it's probably education. And pretty much, you know, our, you know, kids are going to be running this place. So I would say, you know, education is definitely important. We have to make education affordable.

DE LA CRUZ: Are you leaning either way for a candidate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I probably will vote for Obama.

DE LA CRUZ: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he just identifies more with the people in America. I'm looking for him to really like shake up the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obama supposedly is the stronger candidate for the economy. But to me personally, I just again feel that McCain has that experience and I know Obama's got the style. And so from what I see, what I've heard, that's why I'm voting for McCain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DE LA CRUZ: All right. So it didn't look too bad. It was a little bit grainy.

HARRIS: No, it wasn't bad. No.

DE LA CRUZ: But what was important is -- yes, it wasn't to bad, right. But what was important here is the issues that were important to them. Jobs, the economy, health care, education.

But, Tony, take a listen to this. The more interesting perspective from the web, this is from blogger Joseph Bui and "The Washington Post" who says, "since the start of the election, an Asian-American advocacy group, known as the 80-20 Initiative, has been pressing hard for the presidential candidate to commit to issues disproportionally plaguing Asian-America. They're asking for commitments to fight the very real racism that Asian-Americans face in the workforce, from racialized glass ceilings, to hiring discrimination practices to being consistently overlooked for federal judge appointments."

Tony, in a "Washington Post" article, a Korean-American lawyer says that Asian-Americans feel that Obama will open the door to minorities. A report released this month by the national Asian American Survey shows that Asian-Americans across the country do favor Obama over McCain. But here's the thing, Tony, one-third are still undecided, which is why this is a voting block that could actually end up making a huge difference.

HARRIS: We have not done nearly the work in reporting the aspirations of Asians going to the polls. I'm glad you took a stab at that. Let's do more of that.

DE LA CRUZ: Well, what did you think? The experiment? Should I try it again? It works?

HARRIS: Yes, go for it. Absolutely go for it. We can't encourage it enough.

DE LA CRUZ: All right.

HARRIS: All right, Veronica, good to see you. Thanks.

Now talking politics. Our i-Reporters get in on the action. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Countdown to the election. Ten issues, 10 day. We've already looked at the economy and where the presidential candidates stand on taxes. Today, we turn the page to energy. You know, it looks like many of you have come up with your own energy fix by deciding to drive less. And that is sending oil and gas prices sharply lower. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has her "Energy Fix" from New York.

And, you know what, we ought to give the American driving public credit on this one for making a change and deciding, I've had enough. I'm not spending all of my money on these high gas prices. Sorry.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: They were sick and tired of it. They (INAUDIBLE) and they stopped. That's right.

HARRIS: That's my rant of the day.

HARLOW: OK. For the tenth straight month, we have seen that Americans are driving less. Significantly less. A government report out shows Americans drove some 15 billion miles less in August than they did in August of 2007. That is the biggest one-month drop on record in the past 25 years. That's since the government started collecting this information.

The interesting part here, the drivers who are cutting back the most are rural drivers. They cut their driving by more than 6 percent. And I want you to take a look at this chart that we're going to pull up for you. It shows you what has been happening -- we're going to try and pull it up for you -- since 1983.

Take a look at this. This is when gas prices went back down after what we saw in the '70s. A huge, steep rise in the amount that Americans drove. And this is where you see it falling off. So, Tony, the big question is here, will this trend continue now that gas prices are back down or will people forget when gas was more than $4.

HARRIS: Well and -- but the prices are falling. So, you know, and I can't imagine that's a coincidence, right?

HARLOW: Yes, it's not a coincidence. Oil prices are way down. Right now, oil prices are, you know, down $2 from what we saw happen on Friday. They're at a 16-month low earlier today. Gas prices are down some 53 cents a gallon over the last two weeks. Something called the Lundberg survey, that tracks gas prices, says that is the biggest drop in the six-decade history of this survey. How fast those gas prices fell.

AAA says we've seen gas prices down for 40 straight days. Of course, weak demand in America and really around the world is part of the equation here. It's all a threat of a worldwide recession. It's affecting the prices that everyone's paying. And it's those factors that prompted OPEC to cut production last week. The cartel thought they could boost prices. That was not the case. We saw the opposite reaction. Prices fell and that is not what OPEC was looking for there, Tony. So that's, you know, that's essentially what's happening. But Americans really are changing the way that they drive. I just wonder if they're going to keep doing it.

HARRIS: Well, I'm watching these SUV sales. I, boy, I just -- I wonder if gas prices as low as we're seeing right now, folks might not feel the urge to start buying these SUVs, these crossovers again. But at least they're more fuel efficient then they've ever been.

HARLOW: Yes, I think it's cool to have a little smart car now. Not so cool to have a Hummer.

HARRIS: That's right. That's right.

All right, Poppy, thank you.

HARLOW: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Twenty-five years and still a thrill? How about this. Fans of Michael Jackson's thriller video shoot for a world record.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Yes, plan on a little extra sleep. An hour more. Next week, there you see it, there you see it, daylight saving time ends. Congress changed the date for this year. The change coming a week later. So at 2:00 a.m. Sunday, set your clocks back an hour. And, as always, if you have the smoke detectors, change the battery. It's a good time to do that.

Let's check in now with our Chad Myers in the severe weather -- hey, Chad, fall, certainly setting in. Cooler temperatures in the Northeast. Cooler temperatures in the Southeast. Felling pretty good around here.

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HARRIS: Were you up late Saturday night? Did you catch the fake Michelle Obama on "Saturday Night Live"? Pretty good stuff. The show's ratings, through the roof. And we will show you why.

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HARRIS: Twenty-five years and still a thrill. Now, Kyra, the move is this thing with the hands and, you know, the side to side thing. That's the moment when you're supposed to take us on camera as we're doing the -- Dan, that's the moment -- Scotty, that's the moment when you're supposed to -- when you're supposed to . . . KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not doing the thriller. I'm just trying to -- I'm trying to get mic'd up and sit down and get ready for my newscast here.

HARRIS: Oh, sorry about that. All right, back to the video. Back to the video.

PHILLIPS: I'm grabbing my computer. I'll be right back.

HARRIS: OK. Bye.

Fans of Michael Jackson's video "Thriller" hoping to set a Guinness World Record for the most people dancing to it at the same time. This is the Los Angeles version. Not bad, huh? A bunch of out of work dancers involved there.

PHILLIPS: (INAUDIBLE) now, don't they?

HARRIS: All right. I think we're done. I think we're done.

All right. Were you watching "Saturday Night Live"? Well, the crew there ought to be really giddy right now. The show's ratings have soared with their election spoofs. On Saturday night, a fake Michelle Obama showed up. CNN's Alina Cho was watching.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.

You know, by now, "SNL" has parodied everyone from Barack Obama, to John McCain, to Joe Biden. Everyone except for Michelle Obama. Well, that all changed on Saturday night. A familiar face was back to play the wife of the Democratic candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO, (voice over): Former "SNL" cast member Maya Rudolph is back.

MAYA RUDOLPH, ACTRESS, PLAYING MICHELLE OBAMA,"SNL": Shake things up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the Barack Obama variety half hour, it's time to have some fun.

CHO: The fake Obama, and the real one, are leading in the polls.

RUDOLPH (singing): Now it's solid. Solid as Barack. That's what this lead is.

CHO: The whole Democratic gang's here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Our house is a very, very, very fine house

CHO: Obama's shadow, Bill Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Don't you forget about me. Don't, don't, don't, don't . . .

CHO: Let's not forget Joe Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "SNL": Remember this, if Barack Obama is elected, we will have a crisis. Live from New York, it's Saturday night!

CHO: "SNL's" ratings are through the roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "SNL": All the rappers in the house put your hands up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She dressed up like Tina for Halloween, I heard, which I think she's still doing.

CHO: Will Ferrell reprised his role as George W. Bush.

WILL FERRELL, ACTOR, PLAYING GEORGE W. BUSH, "SNL": When you're in the voting booth, before you vote, choose (ph) this face.

CHO: And "SNL," once again, spoofed CNN.

FRED ARMISEN, "SNL": OK. Let's get right to the mega map.

CHO: This time, John King's magic wall.

ARMISEN: Check out Michigan. I can make it bounce.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I can make Michigan bounce, too. I mean, we all know that, if necessary.

CHO: Everyone's watching. The stakes in this election and at "SNL" couldn't be higher.

DARRELL HAMMOND, ACTOR, "SNL": I'm not choking tonight. I'm not going to choke.

ARMISEN: I'm not going to trip on that word.

HAMMOND: I am not going to trip on that word. The cost is just to high.

RUDOLPH (singing): We're still solid as a rock. That's what this show is. That what we got got got got got got got got.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: And Fred, Armisen, who plays Barack Obama, was also the guy doing the magic wall last week, or the mega map as "SNL" likes to call it. You know, he said it wasn't easy learning that wall. John King will tell you that. But now that he has that down and Barack Obama down, he told me he's hoping to some day do an impression, Tony, of our very own Fareed Zakaria.

HARRIS: Oh, many, that will be good. All right, Alina, thank you.

Are you in a blue state? Blue and a red state or just plain purple? We are asking you to share your true political colors. Let's do this. Let's take a trip to cnn.com's i-Report desk and check in. Tyson's Corner. Let's do this. Tyson Wheatley is there.

Tyson, good to see you. And let's not leave anyone out here. Let's cover all our bases.

TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM: Let's do it. Let's get to the entire political spectrum.

HARRIS: Yes, let's do it.

WHEATLEY: No, I don't think there's time for that. But we do have time to tell you about this really fun assignment that we did this weekend. A 48 hour assignment. The first time we've ever tried something like this. And the question was, what political color represents you? And we asked people to show us whether they were red, if they were supporting the GOP, or blue if they were leaning Democrat this year, or purple if they were undecided.

And I'm going to show you -- we're going to show you one of each. So let's start with someone who's red. And this comes to us from Nevada -- or, I'm sorry. Yes, it comes to us from Henderson, Nevada. And this is Gayle Cichochi (ph). And he's a male. He lives -- he says that he -- despite having what he calls socialist relatives in Canada, he's always leaned GOP. Said he was fascinated with Thomas Jefferson, even as a kid. This photo, by the way, is taken from 1970. And he says that even during then he says he was devastated at the news when Carter was elected. So, all right, so that's you're red.

All right, let's go blue. This next one comes to us from Portsmouth, Virginia. And this comes to us from Gary Byrne (ph). And, you know, Gary, he said he's voting for Obama. He says he's been following the election very closely this year. He's feeling very blue in what is normally a red state, Virginia. He's been to rallies. He's been to three Obama rallies, including an Obama/Biden rally just last week. He says he's been blown away by the excitement and energy surrounding the election in Virginia. And, of course, this is a state that's been I think for the last four decades . . .

HARRIS: That's right.

WHEATLEY: Yes, for the GOP. And I think this year it's definitely a tossup, right?

HARRIS: That's right. You're absolutely right. Good analysis.

WHEATLEY: And this last one is purple. So this comes to us from Jennifer Peterson of Scottsville, Michigan. And she identified herself with purple because of her children. She says she's a moderate. She says that she's pro-life. And so was feeling -- you know, maybe not feeling good about supporting Obama at first, but now she says economic and education, health care issues are really making her swaying this year.

HARRIS: Outstanding. All right, Tyson, got to run. We will see you tomorrow.

WHEATLEY: All right. Take care, Tony. HARRIS: OK. Take care. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with this lady, Kyra Phillips.

Have a great show, Miss Kyra.