Return to Transcripts main page
Campbell Brown
Bill Clinton and Obama Set to Campaign Together; Joe Biden Muzzled?
Aired October 29, 2008 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, everybody.
Tonight, the Obama campaign looks like a giant steamroller speeding along on jet fuel. Right now, in Florida, Obama and Joe Biden are getting ready to go live from coast to coast. It is the finale of an unprecedented multinetwork infomercial. Within a couple of hours, he will be in Orlando for a second, even bigger rally. Guess who is going to be at that one?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to Orlando for a rally with Senator Obama tonight, and we are going to light it up in Florida.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: John McCain may be outgunned, he may be outspent, but he is not out of the picture. He is throwing pretty much everything he can at Obama today: taxes, socialism, character. And he's trying to connect Obama to America's enemies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The question is whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and other grave threats in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: If Obama is getting worried here, it isn't showing. At a huge rally earlier today, he just laughed off McCain's attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't know what's next. By the end of the week, he will be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: As for McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin is on the attack about something else tonight. And we're going to take a no bias, no bull look at what brought this on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R-AK), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It must be nice for a candidate to have a major news organization looking after his interests like that. And maybe other politicians would love to have a pet newspaper of their very own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Also tonight, big changes in our Electoral College map, three states changing color, now leaning to a different part. John King is going to tell us who that helps, who it hurts. We will get to that in just a moment.
But, first, cutting through the bull, no, politics not for the faint of heart, especially in the final days of a tight race. And amid all the attack ads out there on the airwaves right now competing to out-ugly one another, we think we have found a winner.
Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican of North Carolina, is trying to hold on to her seat and in an extremely close race. And to that end, she is attacking her opponent, Kay Hagan's faith.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, DOLE CAMPAIGN AD)
SEN. ELIZABETH DOLE (R), NORTH CAROLINA: I'm Elizabeth Dole and I approve this message.
NARRATOR: A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fund-raiser in Kay Hagan's honor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no God to rely on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no Jesus.
BILL O'REILLY, HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": Taking under God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, you're down with that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're down with that.
O'REILLY: In God we trust, you going to whip that off the money?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we would?
Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras, took Godless money. What did Hagan promise in return?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is no God.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: Yes. You heard that right. "There is no God."
The only problem is, Kay Hagan never said that, never, just a picture of her face over someone else's audio. Kay Hagan is a member of the Presbyterian Church. She's a former Sunday school teacher. The fund-raiser the ad mentions was not hosted by the Godless America Political Action Committee. A member was one of 40 different co- hosts. Senator John Kerry was at this fund-raiser.
The information in this ad is so ridiculously misleading. And, yet, Senator Dole is standing by it and continuing to raise questions about Hagan's so-called Godlessness on the campaign trail.
Is this really what it has come down to? We're fighting two wars. Our economy is a disaster, and Senator Dole's message to voters is to falsely accuse her opponent of not believing in God? Again, a false accusation.
Elizabeth Dole is hardly alone here. Her ad is just one of the most egregious.
So, to all your politicians desperately trying to hold on to your jobs, wallowing in the mud right now, willing to stoop to any level, just say no to your own craven ambition. Just cut it out. Reclaim your dignity.
And with only a few days to go, please, please, just tell us what you think you can do to help get this country back on track. That is really all we want to hear.
We're going to turn now to the latest headlines, to the Obama juggernaut, our big story tonight, a multimillion-dollar media buy to run a 30-minute commercial coast to coast, huge rallies today, even Bill Clinton, all of that stunning show of force just tonight.
And we have got a lot to talk about here.
Let's head to Florida and senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, who is with Barack Obama tonight.
Candy, Obama soon going to be taking the stage right where you are now, tapping off quite a day for him, huh?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
In fact, he's here now, Campbell. And this is going to be sort of interesting because right now Obama has purchased half-an-hour across almost all the networks at this point. We're figuring it cost him about $3.5 to $5 million to purchase 30 minutes of airtime in a pretty broad spectrum of networks.
What he is going to do here is, toward the end of that infomercial, he's going to appear live right from here. It's just one of the things that he's doing at this point. They put out some tough new ads. He has gone from red state to red state, North Carolina earlier this morning, followed by, of course, Florida. And then tonight -- and sometimes the biggest bang you get for your buck is a freebie. Tonight, he will appear for the first time campaigning with Bill Clinton.
They will be in Orlando, Orlando a hugely important city in a hugely important region. They call it the I-4 Corridor. It basically cuts across Florida. And that's where the swing voters are, Campbell.
BROWN: And, Candy, here we are at the very end of the campaign, usually the time that campaigns go positive, they're rallying the base, just trying to sort of get out the vote. But that's not what they're doing in these final days, is it?
Candy, you there? Can you hear me?
Apologies. Technical problem there. We lost Candy's live shot. You can hear it was very loud at that rally. We will try to get her back in a few minutes. But we're going to move on here.
Despite Barack Obama's extreme force, John McCain only turning up his own afterburners. He's fighting as hard as he can, throwing pretty much everything in the world at Obama tonight. Even if some of it sticks, is it too late?
Dana Bash is in Ohio. She's traveling with the McCain campaign.
And, Dana, McCain really struggling to get attention today, in light of all that Obama had going on out there, wasn't he?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
I talked to one McCain aide and he said the hard, cold reality is, we can't compete with the money that Barack Obama has for this kind of infomercial. We can't compete with the kind of crowds that a headliner like Bill Clinton is going to draw in the state of Florida. So, you know what? We're not even going to try.
So, what he did was kind of a series of small targeted events today, Campbell. He went to Miami and he tried to reach out to the very important Cuban American community there. He went to the center of the state to the veteran-rich areas there and talked about national security, tried to raise doubts about Obama's readiness with a kind of a sector of the voters that maybe would be willing to listen to that.
So, I think the best way to describe what he tried to do was some pinprick message targeting today -- Campbell.
BROWN: And, Dana, Sarah Palin, she gives today her second big policy speech. Behind the scenes, though, for the last couple of days, as you well know, everybody has been buzzing about her political future. How is all this chatter sitting with McCain aides?
BASH: Well, you know what? They actually welcome the kind of speech that she gave today on energy. They welcome the event she's going to have tomorrow, which is going to be focused on national security, because she is hurting John McCain with some of those independent and suburban voters who say she's not experienced enough, she's not substantive enough.
So, from that perspective, they're happy. For those Republicans who we know are pushing this idea of her getting out there more on issues because of her own political future, that as you can imagine doesn't sit well inside the McCain campaign. They're very sensitive to any talk of 2012. And the reason is pretty obvious, because talking about 2012 is a tacit acknowledgment that this coming Tuesday, November 4, is not going to be a successful one for John McCain and Sarah Palin -- Campbell.
BROWN: Not quite ready to go there yet.
Dana Bash for us tonight -- Dana, thanks.
BASH: Not at all.
BROWN: And we can't say this enough. The McCain-Obama race boils down to the Electoral College and those all important battleground states. Tonight, some of those states are about to change color. They have changed color. John King is standing by at the magic wall with some brand-new poll numbers for us.
And then later, a role reversal here, as Sarah Palin begins to open up, share a little of herself with reporters and go on the attack, Joe Biden now under wraps. Has the campaign really muzzled him?
And our rogue's gallery gets a new member tonight. He is from a state that already has somebody on our wall of shame.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: And I hope, when we finish this meeting, that you get in line and that you vote early. What the heck. We're in Florida. So, vote often.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who remembers the 2000 campaign very well. Early voting has been massive in Florida, still a genuine battleground state, its 27 electoral votes a big pot of gold for whoever wins this thing.
Our newest polls show important shifts in other hotly contested states.
We have got chief national correspondent John King ready and over at the magic wall for us tonight.
John, let's start with these big changes in the electoral map. Obama has gained some ground. Show us where.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely has, Campbell. Here's the bottom line. We now have Obama with 286 electoral votes. That's enough to win the presidency if he holds what he has. How did he go up? He went up for starters because we have moved Colorado to light blue. It was a tossup. We have moved it lean Obama. I will show you why in just a minute. And let's keep that blue on the map.
We have also taken Indiana, 11 electoral votes, and taken it from lean McCain to put it back in tossup. Now, let me explain to you first Colorado. Then we will talk about some more states. Let's just go out to Colorado, a Bush state, of course. Why are we leaning it in Obama's favor? Well, let's look at our new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 53 percent Obama, 45 percent for McCain in the state of Colorado, twice voted for President Bush, Bill Clinton won a while back. This has been a red state, though, Campbell, it's trending blue.
And let me quickly show you why. The people live here, Denver, Boulder, in the suburbs. Barack Obama with a double-digit lead in the suburbs. It's happening in Colorado. It's happening in other key battleground states. As we watch the race go forward, his lead in the suburbs and his lead among African-Americans and Latino voters making the biggest difference right now -- Campbell.
BROWN: And, John, let's look at some of those other traditionally red state poll numbers. We have got some new numbers in other states as well. What are they telling us?
KING: It is striking as you come across. We do have more numbers. It is striking as you come across. Let's come into the middle of the country.
You see the state of Missouri. This is a state right now, Missouri has been right for the past century. The winner of Missouri has won the White House 50-48. That's still a tossup, of course, but Obama on top. If it's a close race, you would like that one- or two- point edge, a very close edge in the state of Missouri.
Move that away. We will come down here to the state of Florida. We mentioned that just a minute ago. This state right now -- we will bring up the poll graphic -- look at that, 51 percent Obama, 47 percent for John McCain, again, a tossup state, but Obama with a slight edge, perhaps a little bit of momentum here.
Want to stay on Florida just a second to show you why. A lot of population right down here in this part of the state. Barack Obama is winning by a huge margin, Campbell, in Miami and what they call the Gold Coast in the state of Florida.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: OK, John, my apologies.
KING: OK.
BROWN: We lost your shot there for a second. But we will -- oh, wait. You're back.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: We will bring the jib in. We will try and do a little magic here.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: You lost me here in the state of Florida.
What I was trying to explain is, the reason -- I don't know if you could see the numbers when I showed them before, 51-47 for Obama in the state of Florida. One of the big reasons is the population, a lot of population in the state down here in Miami and the Gold Coast, it always goes Democratic, but it is going Democratic by a huge margin right now. And that is helping Barack Obama.
Let's keep moving up the coast. We also have new polling here in the state of Virginia. And this one is fascinating. Not since 1964 has a Democrat carried the state of Virginia. Look at that, Obama 53, McCain 44. I talked to a senior McCain adviser tonight who said they simply can't get to 270 if they don't win the state of Virginia. You look at those numbers right there.
We will bring this up again. The main reason for this, the Washington suburbs down here in southeast Virginia, Barack Obama is winning heavily. Campbell, in all of our polls, the only bright spot for John McCain was down here in the state of Georgia. In all our new polls tonight, 52-47, but even that remarkably close in Georgia. Those numbers have flipped. It's McCain 52, Obama 47. Those numbers have flipped there, but, even there, African-American support putting in play a state that in the past has been comfortably red for some time.
You look at the map, five days to campaign after tonight, Campbell, significant edge for Obama, without a doubt.
BROWN: Yes, without question.
John King for us tonight.
And for all of those people out there watching right now who long to be John King -- we know you exist -- in this last week of the campaign, things are moving so fast, at CNN.com, we're ready to help you out and give you all the details you want.
Seriously, you can do the map yourself. Go to CNN.com/map. You can track every development, every major poll, changes in the electoral map. Everything John just showed us is all there, a ton of information, really fast and really easy to use. Again, log on to CNN.com/map. Check it out.
Coming up, one vice presidential candidate being kept on a short leash by the campaign, not the one you think. Why would the Obama camp put a muzzle on Joe Biden? And, later, is this the future of the Republican Party? You are going to hear more about Sarah Palin and the conservatives who love her now and maybe four years from now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The first rule of being a good running mate is, don't trip up the person you're running with. Whatever you do, don't put your foot in his way, and never put it in your own mouth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO")
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": I guess there seems to be some trouble brewing between the Sarah Palin and John McCain, the two campaigns. McCain aides say that Sarah Palin is going rogue and not taking advice or notes from the McCain campaign.
Have you heard this story? They say it's hard to keep her from going off script and making statements that hurt the campaign. Well, it's gotten so bad, her Secret Service code name now, Joe Biden.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: OK, funny, yes, perhaps a little out of date. Reporters covering Biden say that the famously chatty senator hasn't been nearly so breezy for weeks now, which raises the question, is the old free- range campaigner being cooped up to keep him from laying an embarrassing egg or two?
Jessica Yellin has been talking to her sources about this.
Jessica, he certainly lived up to his reputation as a gaffe-prone candidate and gave team McCain some much-needed ammo with some of the off-the-cuff remarks from Biden. But has the Obama campaign really put a muzzle on him, as we have been hearing?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Campbell, in fact, before Barack Obama spoke, Joe Biden gave an incredibly tight, fully scripted speech, no ad-libbing, none of the freelancing we're used to hearing from Joe Biden.
And that's what we're seeing from him day after day on the stump, none of the typical Joe Biden freelancing we're used to. Ever since in fact he made that gaffe at a fund-raiser a week-and-a-half ago when he suggested that as president Barack Obama would be tested by an international crisis, he hasn't attended another fund-raiser, he has not been talking to national press, and, as I say, he is sticking to the talking points with a teleprompter at every speech.
Now, when I talk to Obama's top advisers, they say to me, look, we knew what we were getting with Joe Biden. We knew that he was prone to gaffes. And, sure enough, he is what we expected. But they said they will take the bad with the good, because they think his good far outweighs that problem. But the bottom line is, in these final days, the Obama campaign, they're pulling ahead. They just don't want to mess up. And if you have got to plug a hole, one place to start is with Joe Biden. So, they are making him stick to the talking points. And that's what he's doing -- Campbell.
BROWN: Jessica Yellin at the very rowdy, very loud Obama rally tonight -- Jessica, thanks.
We are going to bring in our political panel now to talk about a strategy for both V.P. candidates now here in the homestretch, "New York Daily News" columnist Errol Louis, who is also morning host for WWRL Radio in New York, CNN senior political analyst here with me in New York for a change Gloria Borger, and back again, our chief national correspondent, John King, with us as well.
And, Gloria, let me start with you here.
You heard what Jessica was saying, keeping him on a short leash now. Let me read you what Dana Milbank from "The Washington Post" wrote in his column today: "The muzzling of Biden seems unnatural and inhumane, like taking a proud lion into captivity. Even Palin is taking questions from reporters on her campaign plane. But the wordiest man in Washington has to make his remarks short, sweet and canned."
Was this inevitable, that we would reach this moment?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, yes, it's like they have shot him with a tranquilizer dart just to kind of calm him down, the proud lion, because it became inevitable when he started giving the McCain campaign fodder for all of their ads, saying that a terrorist attack was -- or a test was inevitable because -- if Obama were elected.
So, yes, they had to quiet him down. And every time you talk to people in the Obama campaign in person, they roll their eyes and they say, we love Joe.
So, I bet that Barack Obama himself has had to say something to Joe Biden about cooling it.
BROWN: Errol, is there a double standard here a bit? Because for weeks we have been beating up the McCain campaign for not letting Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin. And now we're seeing the Obama folks essentially do the same thing with Joe Biden.
ERROL LOUIS, "THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well, believe me, I think, if they could get away with it on the Republican side, they would lock her up just as tightly and script her just as tightly.
The reality is, they have a bigger burden to carry. They have to do more. They need press, frankly. It's not as if Joe Biden needs to go out and do a lot of extemporaneous talking to the press because they need the attention. They have got so much money, they have bought so much advertising, they don't need any of that. What they need him to do is to stay on script. And the surest way to do that is to not let me him open his mouth unless there's a teleprompter in the room.
BROWN: John, do you think double standard in the coverage of these two vice presidential candidates?
KING: Well, certainly, Sarah Palin has received more scrutiny than Joe Biden has.
Now, is that a double standard or is it a fact that one is having an impact on the race and one isn't? And, by that, I mean, if you look at the polling data or if you travel, Campbell, anecdotally, you don't find voters who say they're not going to vote for Barack Obama because of Joe Biden. In fact, independents will tell you they think Joe Biden helps because he is serious and has that foreign policy experience.
You do find, A, the plus side of Sarah Palin. Without a doubt, she has intensified the Republican base. She is a factor in helping McCain there. But, in those same places, the suburbs and among independents, you find compelling evidence, anecdotally and in all the polling data, that she's hurting John McCain, that people think that it's a reflection of his bad judgment, because those specific voters, independents and suburban, more affluent suburban voters don't think she's qualified to be president.
So, if she's getting more coverage, I would hope it's in part because she is actually influencing the race more than Joe Biden is, both pro and con.
BROWN: Go ahead, Gloria.
BORGER: And the Obama campaign is very happy about Biden's performance in that vice presidential debate. They know that he pulled back. There were lots of times he could have gone after Sarah Palin. They told him not to do it, and he listened to them during that debate.
And that was really important for them, because it helped their campaign, and it hurt the McCain campaign.
BROWN: Let me go back to the Palin question, though, and ask you this, John, because there's been a lot of talk about this over the last couple of days, especially that she has certainly been criticized in terms of her seriousness, or her image as a serious candidate out on the trail.
And there's been a lot of attention given to the idea of her trying to change her image right now and focusing on that, frankly, rather than the campaign and John McCain.
KING: Well, she's trying to fix her image. She gave an interview to ABC today in which she says she still thinks they can pull this out and that's where her focus is. She is going to be talked about in the 2012 scenario, Campbell, no matter what, if McCain loses, and even before that, in the final days of the campaign. But she's giving a policy speech for the very conversation we were just having, in that if you look at where she is affecting the ticket, the Republican ticket, in an adverse way, independents, especially Hillary Clinton supporters, among soft Democrats, don't think she's qualified to be president, don't think she's up to the test.
So, she's out giving policy speeches on energy, another one to come in the final days, to try to convince people, look again; I'm ready and I am getting better as we go on.
But, without a doubt, at the same time, we know she's frustrated that she thought her rollout went miserably bad. And some of it is her fault, she concedes internally. But she's also blaming a lot of the McCain aides, thinking they didn't handle it right.
BROWN: Could she be, Errol, the standard-bearer of the Republican Party going forward? Some conservatives, some prominent conservatives, are trying to push her in that direction.
LOUIS: Well, certainly. And, certainly, she thinks of herself as having a future in national politics, whether it's as vice president or as a potential presidential candidate.
But I think John is right. I mean, listen, what she wants and what the ticket needs actually happen to coincide in this case. Those persuadables, that shrinking pool of independent, persuadable voters out there, who want to see somebody who has got some policy chops, who has got a good head on her shoulders, what she's doing I think could appeal to some of them.
BORGER: But, Dan Quayle, remember, he won and he had a rough time.
BROWN: Right. Right. Right.
BORGER: And he tried to run for president, didn't work out so well for him.
BROWN: John King, you get the last word.
KING: One quick correction I want to make before we go, Campbell.
BROWN: Yes.
KING: When I showed you the map earlier, we had the map graphic out of the state of Missouri had Obama at 50, McCain at 48, still a statistical tie, but the numbers are flipped. It's McCain at 50, Obama at 48, so a slight McCain edge in Missouri, not a slight Obama edge, still within statistical margin of error.
BROWN: And you just saved yourself from a lot of angry e-mail about that, John King. Thanks for that correction. To John, to Gloria, and to Errol, appreciate it, guys.
In a minute, we're going to take you to Florida for Barack Obama's big rally, which will be included in his infomercial. Is he going to score any points here? Is it worth the millions of dollars he's spending? We have got the best political team on television to sort through it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We want to take you to Florida right now. This is live, Barack Obama on stage in Sunrise -- that's near Fort Lauderdale -- part of the campaign infomercial.
Let's listen for a moment.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
OBAMA: ... across this nation to achieve their American dream.
And, Florida and America, in this last week, if you will knock on some doors for me, if you will make some calls for me, if you will go to BarackObama.com and find out where to vote, if you will stand with me and fight by my side, and cast your ballot for me, then I promise you we will not just win Florida. We will win this election.
And, together, we will change this country and change the world.
Thank you. God bless you. May got bless the United States of America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BROWN: Barack Obama down in Florida. You were watching the end there of this infomercial that aired on a number of television networks tonight that the Obama campaign paid millions of dollars for.
We're going to have more on that later in the show.
Coming up, tonight's no bias, no bull test for Sarah Palin. Was she telling the whole truth when she said Barack Obama was tied to a PLO supporter?
And, later, this state senator allegedly found a novel way to take a bribe. What on earth is she doing? Why she is our pick for the bullseye tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We have other important news to tell you about tonight. Police may have found the gun used to kill three of Jennifer Hudson's relatives. The Oscar winner's mother and brother were found Friday in their Chicago home. Her nephew's body was found in the brother's stolen SUV on Monday. Police tells CNN the gun was found near the SUV. They'll test the gun to see if the killer used it. A powerful earthquake in southwest Pakistan killed hundreds of people today. The magnitude 6.4 quake hit at dawn and destroyed thousands of homes.
Antitrust regulators cleared the Delta Northwest Airlines merger for takeoffs. Just hours later, Delta executives closed the deal to form the world's biggest airline. Final FAA approval could come next year.
And homeowners facing foreclosure could get federal help as soon as tomorrow. The "Washington Post" reports the government's mortgage guarantee program could help millions of homeowners. Today the government announced it just bought billions of dollars of stock in nine financial institutions. It's part of the $700 billion federal bailout.
And a quick program note, for tomorrow night, I sit down with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. As you might guess, she has a lot to say about where we all find ourselves today with the crisis, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, facing this country and the presidential candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Do you think that our enemies would be more likely to challenge Obama than they would John McCain given his years of experience on foreign policy?
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: The thing I said, Campbell, is that no matter what, the unexpected will happen whoever is president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Our one-on-one with Madeleine Albright, that's tomorrow night 8:00 Eastern time.
Barack Obama took over much of network TV tonight, as you may know. While you've been watching us, we've had some of the smartest people in politics watching Obama's multimillion dollar infomercial. Was it a coup, or was it overkill, or was it something in between? We're going to tell you everything you need to know when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OBAMA CAMPAIGN AD)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm reminded every single day that I am not a perfect man. I will not be a perfect president. But I can promise you this. I will always tell you what I think and where I stand.
I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you when we disagree. And most importantly, I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved in your own democracy again. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Barack Obama's big infomercial just wrapped up. His campaign spent between $3.5 million and $5 million to buy 30 minutes on seven broadcast and cable TV networks. Tonight, did he or the voters get their money's worth?
We have asked three of the savviest political observers around to watch the Obama ad while it was happening, and they are joining us now to debrief on it.
CNN political analyst and radio talk show host Roland Martin who is an Obama supporter, Stephen Hayes, a senior writer for the conservative-leaning "Weekly Standard" magazine, and Mark Halperin, editor at large and senior political analyst for "Time" magazine.
Hey, guys. So, in all honesty, I was anchoring a show I didn't get to watch it. I have my transcript and my notes, but you're going to be leading me here along or leading me through this.
Mark, let me start with you. Just give me your general take on it? What did you think?
MARK HALPERIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, Campbell, I worked in television news for almost 20 years. And I have to tell you the most important thing I think to say about it from a technical point of view was it was brilliant.
I saw you on "The Daily Show" the other day and I noticed you used profanity. I don't know that we have a bleep on this show, so I'll just say it was a thing (ph) well done.
It was brilliantly produced. They used live element at the end. They had incredible choices of real people like you want to do in television news to tell a story. Barack Obama appeared quite a bit and incredibly dignified and emotional ways. Some biography.
Again, not endorsing Barack Obama, not saying I agreed with his message. But from a technical point of view, it was a brilliant half an hour of television and a far 17 steps above Ross Perot and his flip charts, the last candidate to buy prime time infomercials.
And, Mark, I know that you meant a freaking well done job, right?
HALPERIN: I don't think so.
BROWN: OK.
HALPERIN: Thank goodness for the seven-second delay. That's all I have to say.
BROWN: Steve Hayes, you're obviously not an Obama supporter so give me your take. Did you think this rose to the level technically that Mark did?
STEPHEN HAYES, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Yes, I mean, look, if you're a voter and all you saw of this entire campaign or all you knew of Barack Obama was this 30 minutes of, you know, extended commercial, he looks great. I mean, the thing that struck me I think -- well, two things basically.
It was sort of Barack Obama's plea to and on behalf of the middle class. He's essentially saying to the middle class, look, you support me next week and I'm going to get your back for the next four years, the next eight years. I don't know how many --
BROWN: And that's really been his closing argument, reaching out and connecting with middle class voters.
HAYES: I think it has been.
Yes. I don't know how many times he actually said middle class. But several times, you know, in the beginning of his live remarks, at the end of the taped version of this, he said starting with the middle class. He began the presentation starting with the middle class. So that was I think the one take-away.
The second thing I would say is that at times Barack Obama sounded like a conservative. I mean, you know, he had Kathleen Sebelius on there, the governor of Kansas, talking about his values and, you know, Midwestern common sense roots. You had him talking the language of a conservative. At several points throughout the presentation, I think that's probably something that will work well in battleground states.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But, Campbell, in this --
BROWN: Roland, let me ask you, Roland, though, because there are going to be people who say this is overkill. You spend millions of dollars. You take over all but one of the major broadcast networks. Could there possibly be a backlash?
MARTIN: Well, first of all, you could have a backlash but the reality is candidates spin all kinds of money on robocalls, billboards, placards, you name it. And so you decide how you want to spend the money.
Well, let me say this. I got to come back what Stephen said.
Stephen, talking about family values is not sounding like a conservative. That's sounding like an American. And I think what you saw here, Obama was trying to make the point that, yes, I'm also a family man. I'm a married man. I'm a father of two daughters.
Campbell, also, and you saw the stories that they also told. You have families from Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, one from Kentucky. Five different families for those battleground states. That also jumped out at me as well.
Last point, he nailed three issues consistently, jobs, health care and education. And so he was clearly talking to families in this particular infomercial. And as Mark said, technically it was an absolutely brilliant job in terms of a production standpoint. BROWN: Mark, let me go to you on this, Roland touched on this. He did spend a lot of time on his bio, talking about his family. How much of that is still a bit of a hurdle for him to overcome, to get people comfortable with who he is, where he comes from, this reassurance that somehow is needed for certain voters?
HALPERIN: Campbell, it's incredible. All the money he spent, all the time he spent in the national spotlight, I know you have the same experience. All of us do.
In New York, traveling around the country, I spoke to a group of very sophisticated New Yorkers the other day. Afterwards many of them came up to me, continued to ask me questions about Barack Obama's biography. They have been absolute ignorance about him, and in many cases having a more derogatory view of his background than actually exists. He still has educating to do, and this was an expensive and very well executed way to try to continue that education process even though we're just five days away from Election Day.
BROWN: The other striking thing, Steve Hayes, no mention here of John McCain or George Bush for that matter.
HAYES: It was striking. I noted the same thing. I mean, he spent a lot of his time on the stump talking about John McCain and the things that John McCain is saying, the things that John McCain wants to do. But tonight he clearly turned the attention back on himself and sort of refocused the American public on himself, on the things that he was going to do.
You know, look, I think in 2004, he gave this famous speech at the Democratic National Convention. He presented himself as a new politician. Now, I'm dubious of that and I think he's campaigned in a way over the past 20 months that suggests he's not actually a new politician. But the Barack Obama that we saw tonight was the Barack Obama who presented himself to the American public on that night in 2004 as a new kind of politician, as a problem solver, as a pragmatist and as someone who puts -- who is bipartisan, able to work across isles.
BROWN: Roland, you get the last word.
MARTIN: Look, bottom line is when you have five days left, you do everything that you can to appeal to the voters. This is what he was trying to do with this. And so, again, by stressing -- look, you so tons of American flags as well in this whole piece. He was making the point, my name might be Barack Obama, but I'm just as American as you are, whether it's Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois or California.
BROWN: All right, guys, appreciate it. To Roland, Steve and Mark Halperin, thanks for being here. Thanks for your time tonight.
Coming up, Sarah Palin has started asking questions about another of Barack Obama's acquaintances, then pivoting into an attack on the press, especially the "L.A. Times." Tom Foreman is going to be here in just a minute to put this new attack to our "No Bull Test." And then later, one of the 50 states adds a second lawmaker to our "No Bias, No Bull Rogues Gallery." Is it your state or even your congressman?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Coming up, John McCain sat down with Larry King tonight. Larry asked him what he thinks about this multimillion dollar ad by Barack Obama's. We're going to have his reaction for you coming up in just a moment.
But first, our "No Bias, No Bull Test." At a rally today, Sarah Palin changed her attack strategy in a big way. She hammered away at Barack Obama's friendship with a man she called "another radical professor." This time she added a new twist, accusing a major newspaper of trying to cover up news. Let's listen to some of what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It seems that there has been yet another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent time with Barack Obama. This fellow's name is Rashid Khalidi. And in addition to being a political ally of Barack Obama, he's a former spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
So the twist here is that there's a videotape of a party for Mr. Khalidi. Barack was there, and we know that some very derogatory things were said about Israel and about American support for that nation. And what we don't know, though, is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs against this country that he now professes to support, because the reason we don't know is that the newspaper that has the tape of all this, the "L.A. Times" refuses to release it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: This is sort of a greatest hits collection from the McCain campaign. Again, the so-called radical from Obama's past and the mainstream media allegedly covering it up. Is there any truth to the story?
Tom Foreman ready to put it now to our "No Bias, No Bull Test" -- Tom.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, the McCain camp as you said is accusing the "Los Angeles Times" of suppressing this videotape of Obama at a 2003 banquet with Rashid Khalidi, what McCain's team, as you heard, says is Obama's political ally and a former spokesman for the Palestine Liberal Organization.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): The PLO has, of course, long been tied to past terrorist attacks against Israel, and McCain was raising questions in an interview with CNN's Larry King. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Frankly, I've been in a lot of political campaigns, a whole lot. I've never seen anything like this, where a major media outlet has information and a tape of some occasion -- maybe it means nothing. Maybe it's just a social event. I don't know. But why should they not release it.
FOREMAN: The "L.A. Times" says look, we reported back in April that people at that banquet spoke against Israel, against American policy and that Obama called for Palestinians and Israelis to find common ground. Furthermore, the paper says it got the tape from a confidential source on the condition that it not be released to the public.
The Obama campaign says Khalidi is not a political ally. They were both neighbors and professors at the University of Chicago, but Obama says he stands firmly with Israel and often disagreed with Khalidi about the Middle East. Khalidi told the "Washington Times" in 2004 as a professor he spoke to news reporters about the PLO but never for the group.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Khalidi has written extensively about Palestinian causes and the need for more dialogue on Palestinian issues. But the bottom line, unless McCain has some evidence he is not rolling out, some of what he is hinting at is misleading. The rest appears to be flat-out false.
Now that said, we should note some liberal bloggers are trying to link McCain to Khalidi because a group McCain was involved with funded some research about Palestinians by a company that Khalidi was once connected to. There was such a deal, but to suggest McCain and Khalidi have a relationship also appears to be flat-out false -- Campbell.
BROWN: Yes. We are in the final days of the campaign, aren't we, Tom?
FOREMAN: It's getting messy.
BROWN: Tom Foreman -- Tom Foreman for us tonight, as always, thanks.
Tomorrow night, we're going to put both Barack Obama and John McCain to our "No Bias, No Bull" final exam. Subject matter tomorrow, the economy. That's at 8:00 Eastern time.
Coming up, our "No Bias, No Bull" "Bull's-Eye." You don't want to miss this one.
This is a Massachusetts state senator. And she is, well, padding her bra with cash. This is not a fashion statement, but it did interest the FBI who snapped these undercover photos. The incredible story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: Despite Barack Obama's multimillion dollar infomercial, John McCain won't be shut out from prime time TV tonight. He sat down with our own Larry King to talk about the race and about Barack Obama's multimillion dollar infomercial. Tonight here's McCain's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He signed a piece of paper back when he was a long-shot candidate. And he signed it. It said, "I won't -- I will take public financing for the presidential campaign if John McCain will." I mean, this is a living document. He didn't tell the American people the truth.
Then twice, he looked into the camera when he was in debate with Senator Clinton and said, "I'll sit down and negotiate with John McCain before I decide on public financing." Well, he didn't tell the American people the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Larry King joining me right now. Larry, I know big interview. Finally, finally got that interview. What else did you and the senator talk about?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Oh, lots of things. I think you'll find it fascinating. You just played the clip where we talked about that supposed Palestinian story with the "Los Angeles Times." He's got a lot to say about his chances as the election gets even closer.
He's a little hot about all that money Barack Obama had to spend, and he tries to put all the Sarah Palin controversy behind him. John McCain, reaction and more, too, coming up.
Dan Rather is going to be with us to comment on what he heard next on "LARRY KING LIVE" -- Campbell.
All right, Larry. We'll be watching. See you in a few minutes.
And again, see much more of John McCain, as Larry just mentioned, on his show coming up top of the hour.
When we come back, our "Rogues Gallery" gets a new member. He should feel right at home, someone else from a state already on the wall. See what Alaska's Don Young has done that is so roguish.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: In our "Bull's-Eye" tonight, a state senator who aimed and hit her target.
That's Dianne Wilkerson. You're seeing her right there. She's a Democrat from Boston. That's an FBI photo dated June 2007, and it kind of looks like she's stuffing something inside her bra, doesn't it? Well, that something was allegedly a handful of $100 bills. Yesterday she was charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes. That would make her about a double F cup I think.
In a statement today, Wilkerson said she is still running for re- election. Spoken like a true "Rogues Gallery" wannabe. But she does have plenty of competition.
Tonight's inductee into our "No Bias, No Bull Rogues Gallery" is a 17-term congressman from Alaska, a former tugboat captain with a big appetite for pork barrel projects. Like Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, he's got his own troubles with federal investigators and is in the middle of a tough re-election fight. He is Representative Don Young. And Joe Johns tells us how he made our dishonor role.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Timing, timing, timing. For Republican Don Young of Alaska, it's not a good time to be Senator Ted Stevens' loyal wingman in the House of Representatives. You know Stevens, the powerful Republican senator from Alaska who was just found guilty of filing false financial disclosures. Not a good connection for Young, especially since polls show him behind or at best even in Tuesday's election.
Yes, Young also has fingerprints all over the infamous and wildly expensive Alaska bridges to nowhere. One would have his name on it. In fact, along with Stevens, Young has been an expert in getting billions in federal funds funneled to Alaska. And like Stevens, he's been successful because of seniority and his tactics. He's old school, tough and gruff.
REP. DON YOUNG (R), ALASKA: There's always another day when those who bite will be killed, too. And I'm very good at that.
JOHNS: Another problem with timing. Like Senator Stevens, it's been wildly reported that Congressman Young is being investigated by the Justice Department. Young and his office have been connected to a number of shady characters, super lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now in jail and oil fields services company executive, Bill Allen, who pleaded guilty to bribing public officials.
Young denies wrongdoing, but there are other issues. No one is certain why Alaska's only congressman went to the mat to get $10 million to fund a road project 5,000 miles away in Fort Myers, Florida. County officials there didn't even want it, but Young insisted.
YOUNG: This has always been a good project. The residents of this community deserve to have a safe and effective evacuation route for themselves in case of a natural disaster.
JOHNS: Congress never voted for the project, but it somehow got slipped into a huge transportation bill any way. Young says he has no idea how that happened, but questions have been raised about a developer who benefits from the Florida road and a campaign fund- raiser Young had in Fort Myers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Campbell, we asked Young's attorney about this, also requested an interview with the congressman through his office. Both declined. The office said it's not news. And so for Congressman Young's ability to find himself surrounded by scandal, he's the latest candidate for our "No Bias, No Bull Rogues Gallery."
BROWN: All right, Joe Johns. And, Joe, before you go, let me ask you about another "Rogues Gallery" member. That is, of course, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, just found guilty of seven counts of corruption back in the state tonight to campaign for his re-election. What can you tell us about the reception he got there?
JOHNS: Well, we do know that he's got an ad up right now. It's an ad that calls the conviction hogwash, talks about the jurors actually being 12 non-Alaskans and that could be quite an event, Campbell.
BROWN: Joe Johns for us tonight. Joe, as always, thanks.
And that is it from us tonight. We will see you right back here tomorrow.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
