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American Morning
McCain Predicts Upset Victory; Stocks Rally; Obama Battles for Toss-up States; Shop and Vote in Nevada; Obama Election Rally; The Story Behind CNN's Magic Wall; Early Reports of Voting Problems
Aired October 29, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Last round.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I choose to fight.
ROBERTS: John McCain jabs the Obama camp over its definition of rich people.
MCCAIN: You get an idea on what's on their mind.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama blitzing the airwaves today and hitting the trail with a secret weapon.
Plus, rolling the dice to close the budget gap.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a way for states to generate revenue without raising taxes.
ROBERTS: States asking voters to OK casinos on Election Day on the "Most Politics in the Morning."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And good morning. It's Wednesday, it's the 29th of October. Just six days to go in this election and a big night today. Of course, that big 30-minute infomercial that Barack Obama is putting on the air on network TV, spending millions of dollars.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Really unprecedented in this big buy of commercial time and we're going to show a little snippet about it a little later.
But first we begin with some breaking news and tensions ratcheting up as Pakistan summons the U.S. ambassador to stop missile attacks along the Afghan border. This order comes just days after U.S. officials say that an air strike killed 20 people at a militant compound in South Waziristan. The military says the attacks are part of a growing campaign targeting Taliban and al-Qaeda bases.
The world's markets are reacting to a late rally we saw on Wall Street yesterday when the Dow shot up nearly 900 points. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed up more than seven percent. Hong Kong also up slightly overnight. And in Europe where trading is underway now, most stock markets are up but this morning Dow futures are pointing to a lower open.
And gas prices dropping another four cents overnight. AAA reporting the current national average for unleaded regular gas is now 2.59 a gallon, the 42nd consecutive decrease. Gas prices have not been this low since March of 2007.
ROBERTS: Now to the "Most Politics in the Morning" and as we said just six days until the election. And the candidates are going all out in battleground states that could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Barack Obama leads John McCain by eight points in our latest national CNN poll of polls, 51 percent to 43 percent, and is unchanged from the day before. And new polling numbers in key swing states don't appear to favor John McCain.
In Ohio, McCain now trails by six points. In Pennsylvania, he's down by 10. In Nevada, seven points behind. And in Florida, McCain's deficit is four points. Still the Republican is staying positive while continuing to slam Barack Obama's economic plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama is running to spread the wealth, I'm running to create more wealth. Senator Obama is running to punish the successful, I'm running to make everyone successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: John McCain spends the day in Florida. That's where our Ed Henry is live this morning.
And, Ed, McCain is certainly hoping that the economic message will sway voters. But now he's got some big Republican names like Mitt Romney and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty saying things, at least, nationally not looking great.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And I can tell you McCain aides realize this is an uphill climb. They're trying to craft a scenario where they can still win, and it really involves three layers. All three though have big hurdles.
The first one is to hold what have been Republican states like here in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, where John McCain was yesterday. They think if they can keep a lot of those strongholds they can get to about 260 electoral votes, 10 short of victory, that magic number of 270.
Then the second layer would be winning Pennsylvania, where as you mentioned McCain was yesterday talking up the economy. It's been hard hit by the financial crisis. Twenty-one electoral votes, that would put him over the top. The problem, though, as you know, CNN's latest poll of polls has him down about 10 points there. So they can't carry Pennsylvania. The third and last layer is to have a basket of smaller states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada. He's got to carry those, some combination of that to get those last 10 electoral votes. But there, again, you look at the CNN latest poll of polls in all three of those smaller states, McCain's down anywhere from seven to 12 points.
So look, can he still do it? Yes. But as we've said over and over, he's got to run the table. He's got to carry a lot of these key states. All across the board, there's really little margin for error, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. Yesterday morning there on the Sunshine State, Ed, we had a poll of polls that had it at one-point race, with Barack Obama narrowly on top. But then about nine hours later, another poll of polls came out that's got him four points on top. So this kind of movement all over the place.
But this idea that we've heard in the last couple of days about infighting in the McCain campaign between the Sarah Palin faction and the John McCain faction, Senator McCain came out nationally in a joint appearance in Hershey, Pennsylvania, yesterday talked about that. Let's listen to how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: By the way, when two mavericks join up we don't agree on everything but that's a lot of fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, Ed, was that just an attempt to paper over that story and try to put it aside?
HENRY: Well, I guess fun is one way to put it but I'm not sure that a lot of McCain people are having much fun or Palin people for that matter when there's all this sniping back and forth. I mean, first of all, you remember Sarah Palin's nickname which is a basketball player with Sarah the barracuda. I think, obviously, if McCain advisers keep firing shots at her, she might fight back a bit more and the final six days could get a lot uglier. So they've got to pull back at some point, first of all.
And second of all, everybody has got to get on the same team. Even if they're not getting completely along here, these final six days have to be all about Barack Obama and closing this deal for John McCain, otherwise then he's got no chance at all, John.
ROBERTS: Anybody who scuba dives knows that when you see a barracuda you just leave it alone.
Ed, thanks very much.
HENRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: John McCain, by the way, is going to be a guest on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, at this moment, Barack Obama is moving on to North Carolina. The traditionally red state is supposed to be a long shot, but he could win it. The state right now, one of six toss ups with 15 electoral votes. And this evening he moves on to another toss up of Florida. Twenty-seven electoral votes up for grabs there and the race narrowing now to just a handful of states. Obama is hitting back hard at John McCain's attack that his plans border on socialism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John McCain -- I'm just amazed by this. He calls making everybody have a chance and give them opportunity, he calls that socialism. I call it opportunity. And there's nothing more American than that. That's American as apple pie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux is live for us in Philadelphia. The polls are coming out in Barack Obama's favor, as you know, Suzanne. But behind the scenes, what is the campaign saying about how much stock they're actually putting into them?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, some of the concern, I mean, obviously they're excited about the poll numbers but they're also not taking anything for granted. You may note he was in the rain, that rainstorm in Pennsylvania yesterday. And essentially he was saying, look, you know, demonstrating a lot of people if it rains on Election Day he still wants people to come out. And he says, you know, this is the kind of thing. We want to see this kind of crowds.
Even we heard from the governor, Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania saying look, get back to this state. Earn this vote here. Don't take it for granted. So that is what you're hearing behind the scenes.
Obviously, they're excited about those poll numbers but there's a lot of unchartered waters here especially those western states that they're trying to win over. They're, you know, confident about these numbers but at the same time they just don't know when people go to the polls, what's going to happen -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, also tonight, we have Barack Obama buying up 30 minutes of prime time on the major networks. That's not something that we normally see in these campaigns. We know he's flushed with cash. It's just -- you know, he can spend it any way he wants to. He can actually speak directly to the American people by buying up this time.
MALVEAUX: It's really quite amazing because it's the multimillion dollars to actually pull something like this off. We've never seen this before.
This gives him a chance to kind of be unfiltered here, to reach the American people directly without listening to us, without listening to the pundits. It's a highly produced video, Kiran. We're talking about Barack Obama sitting at a kitchen table talking to some folks. They're talking about their problems, and he's talking about how he believes his administration will actually be able to help them out.
He directs the -- he directly goes to the American people and says me and Michelle, we've learned so much in the last 20 months about what you're facing. And there's going to be a live component as well. In fact, he's going to be in Florida during that segment and he's going to come live and talk to the American people. So this is his last, not his last opportunity but certainly a very unique opportunity for him to do that, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Philadelphia. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: And during this election there's only one equation that you need to remember. CNN equals politics not only on television but online. You know, we got our magic wall. Everybody loves the magic wall. But now we've got some new programming on our CNN politics.com Web site that lets you have your own little magic wall and a whole lot of information that frankly isn't in the magic wall itself. Let me take you there and show you here.
It's on CNNpolitics.com Web site. It's called the "ELECTION CENTER 2008." Lovely picture of Campbell Brown there. Here's the mini magic wall. We can just pull this out here.
This allows you, in the course of the next few days, to decide based on polls and other information like that, how you want to allocate the vote. So let's say Colorado, let's say we give that one to John McCain.
Go over here to Nevada. Barack Obama is ahead there. Let's allocate it to him.
You could see the numbers start to change on the top here. So you got your own little magic wall here that you can play. Let's try to game out how you think the election is going to go. And then there's a lot of other functions here across the top bar. This one is particularly great.
The election tracker '08. It allows you to take a look just by mousing over, see what the polls are. The latest CNN poll of polls and all of the various states. And then there's also some other great information here as well, things like fundraising. If you want to see how much money has been raised in each and every state, you just mouse over that as well.
There's all kinds of things you can game out. You can also put your own races in there and the function that we'll be telling you about soon. It's not quite functional yet. But this is a great place where you can go, at home or at your office, or wherever spend a little bit of time gaming out Election 2008. It's really great. CHETRY: Very neat. You know, let's take a look at how things shook out in 2004 and 2000, as we take a look at the different battleground states.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. That's all there just like the magic wall.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: The only thing you can't do is make Michigan bounce.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, I heard you can but we're not allowed to reveal that secret.
Record shattering turnouts in states that allow early voting. In one battleground state they're making it easy for voters. We're going to show you how you can buy milk, pick up the (INAUDIBLE), cast your ballot.
Also, big stock rally. The Dow jumping 900 points in just one day, the second biggest one day jump ever. When we come back, Christine Romans is with us. She's going to be taking a look at what's in store for the markets today at nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Christine Romans joins us now. She's talking about a big rally. We were up nearly 900 points yesterday, the second biggest jump on the Dow.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I just couldn't believe it. I kept looking at it and I just couldn't believe it.
And just a couple of weeks ago, we had the Dow -- the Dow was up I think 936 points, and I didn't believe it then either. I mean, this is really remarkable the kinds of gains and losses you're seeing in the Dow and the S&P and the Nasdaq day-to-day. It just shows you what we call in the markets' volatility. The volatility has been wild and that is, I guess, indicative of just all the uncertainty that's in the underlying economy and in the financial markets.
Let's take a look at the Dow's wild ride yesterday. And this is for the month. I mean, we started the month at 10,831. Then we got all the way down to, you know, I think 7,800 or something, and then yesterday popping back above 9,000, 11 percent gain, the sixth biggest percentage gain ever.
Only a handful of times have we seen a percent move that's 10 or 11 percent almost for the Dow. Really remarkable in the end, up 889 points.
So, what's the damage year-to-date? Well, you shaved a little bit of those losses off of your 401(k). And the Dow now down 32 -- this is an improvement, folks, from yesterday. When I came in, there were fours on some of these numbers.
Nasdaq down 38 percent, and the S&P 500 this year down about 36 percent. Later this afternoon, we're going to get results from a Fed meeting. Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, and his colleagues are meeting in Washington for a two day meeting to talk about interest rates. That Fed funds target as its called, a lot of people expect that Ben Bernanke and company are going to lower that today; 1.5 percent is where it stands right now. The prime rate is 4 1/2 percent.
What would a cut mean for you? Well, you remember, we've seen a lot of cuts recently. We had a big inter-meeting cut, an emergency cut at the beginning of the month.
Basically what it's meant to do is make money cheaper to borrow. It allows businesses to expand and hire more. People can save on some of these lower rates, and consumers are able to spend more. But it was just less than a month ago we had that big emergency move where the global central banks all got together and cut their -- cut their earnings target -- sorry, their Fed funds target and now talking about doing it again.
Not the global coordination, just the Fed?
CHETRY: Well, we'll see what happens. We'll see what that -- how that shakes out.
ROMANS: In fact, I think they're down. The Dow futures are down maybe 200 points right now, so we'll see if that holds through. See the opening (ph) bounce.
ROBERTS: Like riding the cyclone at Coney Island.
ROMANS: It really is. Whiplash, whiplash. I mean, isn't that great?
ROBERTS: Up and down. Up and down.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Hitting the jackpot at the voting booth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Made it very easy. The polls open every day in your neighborhood. And every mall, it pretty much is open every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: With early voting already underway, why Nevada leads the way in creative and convenient ways to vote. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, we have a long winter ahead of us if we're already playing "Let It Snow." It's only October. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
It is not even Halloween it's looking a lot like Christmas though in parts of the northeast. A surprise autumn snowstorm dumping up to three inches of snow in parts of New Jersey and Upstate New York. In other parts even more than that, half a foot. In fact more than a foot of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania, northeast part of the state.
The storm shutting down major highways leaving tens of thousands without power. The weather also scrapped plans to resume the World Series last night in Philadelphia. Now it is tonight, so hopefully this weather will move through.
We can find by talking with Rob Marciano. He's tracking extreme weather live in Atlanta. And I shouldn't say surprise snowstorm because you did tell us yesterday that we're going to -- some parts we're going to see some snow.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, it's the liberation (ph). The writers like to throw the surprise snowstorm in this. So, I'm not too offended by it. But you know the Dean Martin, it's not even Halloween. Come on, what's --
CHETRY: I know.
MARCIANO: God, the Christmas tone's already.
I guess it does get you in the mood. Check this out, Kiran. We've got big swirl of clouds up here now into Quebec and cold air driving down behind us. You mentioned some snow totals. We dug some out that are pretty impressive here.
Slide Mountain, that's in the Catskills, 20 inches. These are all New York snow totals obviously upstate. But they were some totals in Jersey that were upwards of a foot. Same in Pennsylvania. So the center of it again north of the border and a lot of cold air coming behind it. So a fair amount of lake-effect snows will continue to crank up.
Adirondacks still a winter storm warning posted. Three to five inches of additional snow on top of what we've already seen. And so that will continue through this afternoon then things will begin to wind down just a little bit.
From Erie, PA, though, down to Pittsburgh, even Snowshoe, West Virginia, they'll continue to see snow pile up. Some flurries possible across the northeast. Philly will be cold tonight but it should be for the most part dry.
Cool on this side of the highs and then record breaking heat on the west side. So we're definitely a tale of two different spots in the U.S.
Yesterday So Cal saw some record heat. Thirty-two tonight in New York and 37 degrees in Atlanta. Really chilly and cold across parts of the south. I'm sure we'll see some records today because of that. Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: Yes. You guys aren't used to that.
(CROSSTALK)
All right.
MARCIANO: I like it.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
ROBERTS: More of the "Most Politics in the Morning" now. And one key to victory this election is the state of Nevada.
According to the latest CNN poll of polls in the Silver State, Barack Obama leads John McCain 50 percent to 43 percent, a seven-point margin now. And all of the states that allow early voting or at least of all of them Nevada may be one of the easiest places to cast your ballot before Election Day. CNN's Gary Tuchman explains why.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, 31 states have this kind of early voting. But in some states, there are not a lot of locations so the lines have been very long -- three, four or five hours. But here in the state of Nevada, like many things in this state, the voting is easy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Wonder through a shopping mall in the state of Nevada, ask the stores in kiosks and there's a good chance you'll be able to vote for leader of the free world. No state makes it easier to vote early than Nevada.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Made it very easy. The polls open every day in your neighborhood. And every mall, it pretty much is open every day.
TUCHMAN: November 4th may be Election Day but in 31 states where you can vote early without giving a reason, it's one of many election dates. In some states like Indiana, North Carolina and Florida, the lines are often long. You can wait for hours. But in Nevada there are so many voting machines and so many places, long waits are uncommon.
(on camera): County election officials here in Nevada worked to come up with creative, convenient locations for early voting. Casinos, bars and brothels, this being Nevada, are not considered. But there are plenty of other options.
(voice-over): Besides malls, outlet centers, health clubs and grocery stores are just a few of those options. Nevada generally votes Republican, but Democrats are voting early by more than a 3-2 margin. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thank you for voting early.
TUCHMAN: This McCain/Palin phone center in Las Vegas, GOP officials say they're not concerned about that. Mingling with the volunteers, John McCain's daughter Meghan and Linda Ramone, the wife of late punk rock legend, Johnny Ramone.
MEGHAN MCCAIN, SEN. JOHN MCCAIN's DAUGHER: I think early voting is important, but I don't think it's vital. I think it's important but I think just going out and voting in general is important.
TUCHMAN: As they canvass neighborhoods, Democrats say --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you be voting for Obama?
TUCHMAN: They will win Nevada for the first time since 1996.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we can count on you for an Obama vote?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And are you going to early vote?
TUCHMAN: Across the nation, up to one-third of voters are expected to cast early ballots. Democracy may be hard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love it. It's easy.
TUCHMAN: But voting doesn't have to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: The prevalence of early voting is only likely to increase as the years go on. People really like it. I talked to a woman a short time ago, she's 19 years old. It's her first presidential election and this may not sound dignified but she told me this is the easiest voting for American Idol -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Not quite that easy. You don't text it out in your cell phone just yet.
With just six days to go until the election, CNN is in the key battleground states. We're on the ground across the country.
Still to come this morning, Sean Callebs looks at how your driver's license could keep you from voting in Florida. Plus, Dan Lothian on a fight to protect the minority vote in Virginia.
And if you see any voting irregularities, we want to know about them. From now until Election Day, call 1-877-GOCNN-08 to report any problems. That's 1-877-462-6608.
Twenty-three minutes now after the hour.
CHETRY: Casino Royale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's almost like an arms race. Among the states, the gambling money. It's a way for states to generate revenue without raising taxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Betting on gambling initiative. More states are rolling the dice on the November 4th ballot.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This election is going to be close too. It's going to come right down to the wire. And that's why we're taking our cause for reform to every voter of every region, every background in America, whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, an independent, maybe no party at all. Pennsylvania, we're asking for your vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning" and 26 minutes after the hour.
Sarah Palin rallying the troops in Pennsylvania where the McCain campaign hopes to pull off a game-changing upset. Just six days out from the election, the CNN national poll of polls shows McCain trailing Barack Obama by eight points, 51 percent to 43 percent. That's unchanged from where it was yesterday.
Joining us now to talk campaign strategy in these final days, Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins. Good to have you here this morning, Ed.
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good morning.
ROBERTS: Let's start with the tonight prime time 8:00 p.m. Barack Obama has got this, I guess you can call it a campaign infomercial and extended advertisement, whatever. Six percent of the population still undecided according to our latest polls. Will this presentation at 8:00 tonight reach those people, those undecided voters? And what about people who may still be in the mood to potentially change their minds?
ROLLINS: Well, most campaigns never have the resources to do what he's doing tonight. Perot did it in '92. Reagan did in '84. We did a five-minute block and, of course, there are only three major stations and CNN then.
My sense is that it will mainly be his own supporters who will listen again for sort of one last reinforcement. The problem with the six percent undecided that are still out there after two years to still be undecided means they might make one or two decisions. Either they're not going to vote, which obviously occurs in some cases, or they're going to make a last moment which may sometimes go to a Nader or Barr or to sometimes the front-runner.
ROBERTS: Hey, 2004 exit polling showed that nine percent of voters made up their minds up in the last three days.
ROLLINS: It's very unusual. My sense is I think people are getting a little more accustomed to the fact that they think Obama is going to win. And I've always felt and scientifically I can't prove it, but I've always felt having watched this for a long time, there's a certain segment a couple of percent who like to be on the side of a winner.
ROBERTS: Right.
Would he be able to do something like he's doing tonight without this tremendous money advantage that he has?
ROLLINS: No. Absolutely not. If you were living on $84 million limit, you'd be -- this would be your last commercials on Virginia or Nevada or somewhere that would matter.
ROBERTS: Right.
And so, what about the McCain campaign? Where do you think it is now? We're six days out. Is it slipping away?
ROLLINS: Well, it's slipping away. I mean, I think they need to get Joe the plumber off the stage. The tax issue is correct but I think the bottom line is that you got a campaign that's in a lot of disarray. They know what their private polls are and obviously that's what's important. They're fighting among themselves.
The Barack campaign is just trying to get their vote out, which I think it clearly means that they know they're ahead and kind of (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: Any time a campaign starts to fight amongst themselves, is that a sign that --
ROLLINS: That's a good sign. As they say, they know the private tracking. You know, John certainly is a happy warrior and a cheerful warrior. He's going to go to the bitter end, but I think you're hearing the stories of disarray.
ROBERTS: Ed, earlier this week, we talked about this column that Dave Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush, head in the "The Washington Post", in which he urged Republicans to take all the money available, put it towards all these senatorial races, try to stop a filibuster-proof majority among the Democrats in the Senate. They now seem to be some other Republicans who have jumped on to that idea.
Mitt Romney was out yesterday saying, "We face a very real possibility of an Obama presidency," urging people to give money to the Mitch McConnell race. He's in trouble there in Kentucky. Is there a realization here that the White House may be lost and that the best bet that Republicans have now is to try to forestall that filibuster majority in the Senate?
ROLLINS: Yes. I think we have three or four of these Senate races that may be salvageable, Elizabeth Dole, being one in North Carolina. Certainly Mitch McConnell.
The problem is even if you shift money you can't buy the time.
ROBERTS: Right.
ROLLINS: And these things -- these states that are, you know, in competition, pretty much the time is bought.
ROBERTS: So could Tuesday be decimating for the Republicans?
ROLLINS: Tuesday could easily be decimated. This could go back to a Watergate year or be the equivalent the Democrats had in 1980 with Reagan.
ROBERTS: Ed Rollins, always good to see you. We'll see you a little bit later on this morning as well. Thanks.
ROLLINS: Great. Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: There's some new developments surrounding the man that police call a "person of interest" in Jennifer Hudson's brother, nephew and mother's murder. Police say Hudson's brother-in-law, William Balfour, was arrested for cocaine possession back in June and could have been sent to jail for violating his parole. Police say the triple homicide likely stemmed from a series of family arguments, and Balfour remains the focus of the investigation.
Governor Sarah Palin will leave the campaign trail next Monday to return to her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, to vote on Election Day. She'll then fly back to Arizona to spend election night with John McCain in Phoenix.
Also an election night rally for Barack Obama. Could be one for the ages. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is predicting a million people could show up in Chicago's Grand Park. Daley says the Secret Service has expressed concern about security for the open air event. Just last week, city officials said they expected about 70,000 supporters to attend.
And with just six days until voters have their say, there is a heightening sense of urgency and excitement on the campaign trail. Barack Obama is up in the latest CNN Poll of Polls -- 51 percent to 43 percent. The McCain campaign though is hammering Obama on his tax policy. Is what they're saying true? Alina Cho and the "Truth Squad," keeping the candidates honest. Alina joins me now.
Good morning. ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're finally doing one that I've been wanting to do for a long time, Kiran. If you only watch one "Truth Squad," this is one you should watch. We are finally checking the facts in depth on Joe Plumber. Sarah Palin brought him up again on Monday. Using him once again to attack Barack Obama's tax plans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obama calls it spreading the wealth but Joe the Plumber said to him it sounded like socialism.
CHO (voice-over): It's an encounter we keep hearing about. But here's a look at the actual tape. The two met on October 12th outside Toledo, Ohio.
SAMUEL WURZELBACHER, "JOE THE PLUMBER": Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?
CHO: That's Joe whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher. He told Obama he was hoping to buy a business bringing in more than $250,000 a year. Meaning that under Obama's plan, his taxes could go up.
WURZELBACHER: If I buy another truck and added something else to it, and you know build the company, you know, I'm getting taxed more and more.
CHO: In part of his response Obama made the comment that is now routinely used against him.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.
CHO: But we screened the entire tape and Wurzelbacher never used the word socialism. He did use it two days later in a television interview saying Obama wants to distribute wealth and, quote, "that's kind of a socialist viewpoint." So, did Palin get it right?
PALIN: Joe the Plumber said to him, it sounded like socialism.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And the "Truth Squad" verdict on this one is -- true. But with one big caveat. The man known as Joe the Plumber did make the comment about socialism, though, to be accurate, he never said it directly to Obama. Of course Palin said he did.
And Kiran, one other thing we should mention, I found this interesting, in an interview with CNN earlier this month, he actually said that the business he wants to buy would make well less than $250,000 a year so under Obama's plan his taxes actually would not go up.
CHETRY: All right. Alina Cho for us, thanks so much.
CHO: You bet. CHETRY: And coming up at 8:00, Obama says McCain wants to give $200 billion to the biggest corporations and $4 billion to the oil companies. Is he correct? We're going to check it out. It's 32 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Battleground Florida. It could go either way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: And if you want to win the war then Florida we are asking for your vote.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bringing 120,000 new jobs right here in Florida.
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ROBERTS: The economy, taxes, the bailout, health care. What are the issues most on the minds of voters? You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Actually a large percentage of voters have already voted using early voting which is smart for older voters in Florida who aren't sure if they'll still be alive by next Tuesday.
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CHETRY: Anyway, well, today the race for the White House heads south. John McCain and Barack Obama campaign in battleground Florida. The latest CNN Poll of Polls has Obama leading McCain by four points. Still tight, though, 49 percent to 45 percent. Too close to call, but Florida is a state that McCain cannot afford to lose.
Scott Maxwell, columnist for the "Orlando Sentinel," joins us from Orlando this morning.
Great to see you, Scott.
SCOTT MAXWELL, COLUMNIST, "THE ORLANDO SENTINEL": My pleasure.
CHETRY: Boy, you have everybody in your state today. You have Barack Obama campaigning with Bill Clinton in your state. John McCain is going to be in Miami talking about his tax plans. What are these six percent undecideds wanting to hear from the candidate before they cast their vote?
MAXWELL: I don't think the voters in Florida are whole lot different that the rest of the nation. It's really the economy, except to fit the economy on a scale of 1 to 10, eight nationwide. It's a complete 10 or 11 here in Florida, where the housing bubble was among the first to collapse. Where if you can drive through even the wealthiest of neighborhoods here in Florida and find houses that are up not because people are leaving, but because they can't afford the payments anymore.
CHETRY: Right. Tough situation as you pointed out there with the housing market in Florida.
MAXWELL: Right.
CHETRY: Now, we have almost 2 million Floridians right now who've taken advantage of the early voting allowed in that state. And by some of the reporting, I guess, it's 2 to 1 for Democrats. Is this a trend that we're going to be seeing and what do you think is behind that?
MAXWELL: I have to tell you, it has been really surprising. In fact, I have always said that I thought McCain would carry this state and I've about changed that in the last 24 hours as I've started to look at more of the numbers. We have counties -- basically, what you have to look at in Florida is there are three different states here in Florida.
There's South Florida, where the residents usually like Democrats second only to early bird specials. You've got North Florida, which is traditionally conservative and you've got the I-4 which is where we are. And that's usually the group that decides Florida and has decided who got into the White House for the last couple of years -- elections.
And here we have seen, even in a county like Seminole, which is a heavily Republican county, early voters have gone 2 to 1 by Democrats and that can't be good for John McCain.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about this because you said that you also thought Florida was going to go for John McCain and have since changed your mind about it. There's an article, a really fascinating one in "The New York Times" over the weekend that I was reading suggesting that McCain sort of let this early lead which he had slip away.
It says, quote, "Even a state Republican set up flares over the summer warning that the Florida of 2008 is not what it was in 2004. McCain yielded the airwaves to Obama focusing his attention, money and energy on other states. So, did he take Florida for granted? And in a way, what has changed so dramatically, I know, besides the economy?
MAXWELL: I think you're absolutely right about that. This should have been McCain's state. It went for the Republicans, the last two elections. It hasn't gone for a Democrat since most everybody went for Clinton in '96. But what happened is that -- and it's a question of resource. There are some bad campaign decisions on the McCain side. But you can't blame everything on that because they just don't have the resources here.
And to put it in perspective, Obama has about 58 field offices. That's almost one in every single county in Florida. John McCain only has half of that. And they have got neighborhoods canvassing going on on the Obama level that I haven't seen except in a city council like election.
CHETRY: So, you think, it is more of the resources than the message?
MAXWELL: Well, I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's a little bit of both. But we have not seen a campaign this organized. Usually, Democrats in this state find a way to lose elections. They're very good at that. But this has been the Obama folks and they have run this thing like a military opt, and they've really done it finally with a fine-tooth comb, and they've focused on the economy which is what voters here want to here.
CHETRY: All right. And the governor of the state announcing extending early voting hours because so many people trying to take advantage of that. Scott Maxwell, columnist with "The Orlando Sentinel." Thanks for joining us this morning.
MAXWELL: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Just playing around here in the magic wall this morning. Oh, look at that. That's where we are. That's the Time Warner Center. The time when it was actually under construction. Of course, everybody loves the CNN magic wall. It's become a staple in our election coverage. Providing people with the latest political polls, information from all the battleground states. But just how does this weave its magic, making for the United States. On my pocket there, here's CNN's Deb Feyerick with the touchable technology on the edge of discovery.
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DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was first made famous by CNN's very own John King.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The biggest changes in American politics.
FEYERICK: Or maybe you caught the parody on "Saturday Night Live".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michigan, I can make it bounce.
FEYERICK: We here at CNN call it The Magic Wall. To the man behind the technology, Jeff Han, it's called a Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall.
JEFF HAN, MULTI-TOUCH COLLABORATION WALL: Multi-Touch is a whole new way of (INAUDIBLE). Actually, it's more than one thing at a time without using both hands, (INAUDIBLE). It might mean multiple users in front of the screen, also.
FEYERICK: The computing power has been around for years.
HAN: It's that interface, that last final few inches between the person and the computer that we had had. FEYERICK: But it's not only good for explaining elections or providing patter for comedy shows, Han says there are some very practical uses. Like military intelligence and medical research.
HAN: This is a close up of a blood vessel cross-section.
FEYERICK: And collaborative learning from students to architects, artists, engineers and scientists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never had you been able to make believe this many objects.
HAN: This made real freedom at the same time.
FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
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CHETRY: Casino Royal.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's almost like an arms race among the states for gambling money. It's a way for states to generate revenue without raising taxes.
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CHETRY: Betting on gambling initiatives. More states are rolling the dies on the November 4th ballot. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the end result of all the bright lights and the comp trips of all the champagne and free hotel suites and all the broads and all the boos. It's all been arranged just for us to get your money. That's the truth about Las Vegas. We're the only winners. The players don't stand a chance.
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ROBERTS: A scene from Martin Scorsese's "Casino." And like Las Vegas which is built an entire economy on gambling, this election a number of states are hedging their bets that offering you more ways to try your luck will cover growing budget short falls. Here is CNN's Carol Costello with that.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, do you realize that in 1988, there were only two states with casinos. Today, there are 38. And come November 4th, there could be two more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO (voice-over): Hey, governors, got budget problems? Roll the dice. State-sanctioned gambling is so common it's hard to remember when gambling was a sin.
Remember "Guys and Dolls."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You who gamble at cards and dice and horse racing, let us help you not to lose your hard-earned money in gambling dens and bookie joint.
COSTELLO: Today, every state has some form of legalized gambling -- horses, slots, lottery, except Utah and Hawaii.
PAMELA PRAH, STATELINE.ORG: It's almost like an arms race among the states for gambling money. It's a way for states to generate revenue without raising taxes.
COSTELLO: And with state budgets running dry, five states are asking voters on November 4th to check yes to expand gambling. Ohio wants to build a casino. Arkansas, long opposed to a lottery now wants one. And Maryland, where they've been betting on horses for almost a century is pining for Racinos, where you can also play the slots.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can bring those dollars home by passing slots.
COSTELLO: The state actually wants to install 15,000 slot machines statewide, hoping this gamble will offset a $700 million state deficit. Opponents are crying foul with TV commercials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't let Annapolis fool you again. Slots won't fix our economy.
COSTELLO: And they say slots will prey on lower income people hoping for a big payday. But Maryland and other states say they can no longer afford to lose gambling revenue to their neighbors.
PRAH: Maryland estimates that about $650 million are spent among its residents in other states. So, that's money that Maryland would like to have in its cover.
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COSTELLO: Oddly enough, revenue from gambling is actually down. Atlantic City rescinded its smoking ban because revenue fell in September, a whopping 15 percent. That's because of our lousy economy and because people don't have to leave home any more to gamble.
John?
Kiran?
CHETRY: Cuddly candidate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I buy that and bring home, my mother will kill me.
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CHETRY: From dolls to drapes. Jeanne Moos has another most unusual look at life on the campaign trail.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Did you actually measure the drapes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did.
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CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: Move over Tina Fey. There is a new Sarah Palin impersonator in town. And she's just one of the cutest candidates on earth. Jeanne Moos shows us more in another edition of campaign follies.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Cuddly candidates?
There he is.
(voice-over): Cold candidates. In jacket and jeans, Senator Obama addressed supporters in a monsoon that left Obama fans shivering.
CROWD: We want change!
MOOS: Change of temperature, change of drapes?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama is measuring the drapes.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Got measuring the drapes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not measuring any drapes.
MCCAIN: He's measuring the drapes.
MOOS (on camera): Did you actually measure the drapes?
VOICE OF KAKI HOCKERSMITH, CLINTON INTERIOR DESIGNER: Yes, I did, on January 2nd. (voice-over): Interior designer Kaki Hockersmith changed The Oval Office drapes to gold after Bill Clinton was elected. Changed them from the blue drapes favored by George Bush Sr.
(on camera): Do they have to change the drapes for every president?
HOCKERSMITH: Most presidents do change the oval office.
MOOS (voice-over): Currently, the drapes are gold again. Even "Saturday Night Live" may have to change its drapes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thumbs up, everybody.
MOOS: Just imagine the drapes Paris Hilton would install.
SONG PLAYING: Paris for President. Your commander in bikini.
MOOS: This is her new Paris for president video. Other political videos are capitalizing on the false story told by that McCain supporter who claimed an Obama supporter carved a B in her cheek. Here come the parodies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he said, you are going to be a John McCain supporter.
MOOS: And on the daily show, face business correspondent Samantha B. claimed Alan Green's fan disfigured her.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": The G on your cheek is backwards.
SAMANTHA B., FACE BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh no, he must have done it from inside my mouth somehow.
MOOS: And speaking of initials, there's the "N" word controversy that wasn't. Someone screamed something about Barack Obama at a Sarah Palin rally. Left wing blogs thought the "N" word had been hurled, but soon right-wing blogs were analyzing the sound bite.
Most listeners concluded the woman yelled he's a redistributor, referring to redistribution of wealth. The bite was even slowed down for analysis. With all this hostility, maybe it's time for a hug.
(on camera): So, let's get them in the right order here.
(voice-over): Cabbage Patch candidates, Obama and Biden and McCain and Palin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I buy that and bring it home, my mother would kill me.
MOOS: Actually, these are one of a kind to be auctioned off on eBay to mark the 25th anniversary of the Cabbage Patch kids with proceeds going charity.
(on camera): Sarah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, it's cute. I like her.
MOOS (voice-over): At least no one is asking her where the outfit is from. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ROBERTS: A tiny legal loophole in a big battleground state.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I recently moved and my driver's license says one address and my voter registration card says another.
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ROBERTS: No match, no vote, no fair.
Plus, a dire message of alarm. They say if McCain loses, it's the end of the world. Really?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's not needless alarm, I think that's prudent.
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ROBERTS: Apocalypse Obama?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most negative, vicious stuff that I've seen in quite some time.
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ROBERTS: Outrageous, extremist and in your inbox. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: 56 minutes after the hour. Early voting has started in more than 30 states including several key battlegrounds. People all across the country are calling CNN's voter hotline with her stories of problems that they faced at the polls. Let's get some more on this. Find out what those problems are.
Lawrence Norden is the director of the Voting Technology Project for New York University's Brandon Center for Justice. He joins us now with some of the most common problems facing voters this year.
Good morning to you.
LAWRENCE NORDEN, DIRECTOR, VOTING TECHNOLOGY PROJECT: Hi, John. ROBERTS: Everybody remembers the famous Palm Beach County ballot back in 2000. It was called the Butterfly Ballot where if you voted for the second slate on the ticket by punching the second button you are actually punching for an independent candidate. You weren't voting for al Gore and Joe Lieberman.
Why these days, even now, eight years later after all of that, even after all the advice that you've been giving election boards across the country, we still see this patch work of balloting across the nation.
NORDEN: Well, there are a couple of reasons for that. One is there's just this -- we recently have had some federal recommendations for best practices for ballot design. But the fact of the matter is we still have a patch work of machines across the county. Different machines from -- even within the state, from county to county. Different laws from state to state. And the fact of the matter is, it's still -- our whole system is decentralized. You still often have county board of elections that are really in charge of designing their ballots.
ROBERTS: Now, we've got three examples this morning of ballots that you think are problematic. The first one is from the State of Ohio. What's wrong with this? I'll use the telestrator here to draw on it.
NORDEN: You know, this is -- this is 12 counties in Ohio. So, it's not the entire state. But in some ways this is a little bit similar to the problem that you talked about in Palm Beach County. All of the candidates are not in the same column.
ROBERTS: OK, so these are the candidates for president and so over here we begin with the candidates for president. So, you might look at that and say, well, there's all my presidential candidate, but then they also continue over here in the next column?
NORDEN: That's right. And very often, I've watched as people vote. We've done some usability test. People identify races by box. So they may say I'm going to vote for all the Republican candidates. Here's on the second -- the second candidate here is John McCain, a Republican. I'm going to vote in this box. I'm going to go to the second candidate in this box. And the second one after that.
ROBERTS: OK. We've also got one from Mecklenburg in North Carolina. Let's bring that up and you can tell us where the problem with that one is here?
NORDEN: OK, so, this is -- there's a very strange law in North Carolina that says if I want to vote straight party, I want to vote for all the candidates in the Democratic slate, I can press Democrat under straight party.
ROBERTS: OK, let's just set it up. So, over here, you've got your presidential candidates, but then over here you've got straight party line voting. NORDEN: That's right. And this is a computer screen that you're going to see when you come in to the polling place. I see this and I may say, all right, I already know I want to vote for all Democrats. And I just go right to that and vote all Democrats.
Now, the strange thing about North Carolina law is I also have to vote separately for president. It's not included there. And that instruction is all the way at the bottom there on the right.
ROBERTS: And the same thing -- let's pull up one from Durham as well, as we've got the same problem with that one. Let's take a look here. So, this is -- you've got your presidential candidates above. Here's the presidential candidates and then you get your straight party votes here. Again, you're seeing the instruction comes way down here.
NORDEN: Comes way down there. So, I go into the voting booth. I may have been waiting for a long time. There people waiting behind me. I want to get through quick. I see straight party, I pick a party and I don't realize that I've skipped the presidential contest.
ROBERTS: So, we're seeing a lot of this around the country?
NORDEN: This particular problem is so uniquely North Carolina problem. The problem with split ballots has been a problem -- of split contest for the presidential contest has been a problem in a lot of ballots, unfortunately, for several years and hopefully it won't be this time, again.
ROBERTS: Well, we thank you for coming in Lawrence, and showing us some of these problems. And obviously, you guys over at the Brennan Center for Justice are keeping a close eye on this, as are we here at CNN.
Remember, if you're having trouble at the polls, call our CNN Voter Hotline. We're tracking the problems leading up and on election day. Just call 1-877-GOCNN-08 -- Kiran.
