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American Morning
Bill Clinton and Obama Hold Joint Rally; Foreclosure Bailout on the Way for Homeowners?; Obama's Prime Time Pitch; Cable Companies to Raise Rates; Syrian Demonstrators Have U.S. Embassy Security Heightened
Aired October 30, 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)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The big sell.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I'll do as president to restore the long term health of our economy and our middle class.
CHETRY: Barack Obama's 30 minutes of prime time real estate.
OBAMA: And how I'll make the decisions to get us there.
CHETRY: Spending millions less than a week before Election Day. This morning, John McCain responds to the financial power play.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These are the "small contributions."
CHETRY: Plus, the new polls that shows it's anything but over on the "Most Politics in the Morning."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Thanks very much for joining us. It's Thursday. It's the 30th of October. It's Friday eve, it's Halloween eve.
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: And five days more to go.
CHETRY: And we got a lot to talk about today. We begin with the "Most Politics in the Morning."
The race appears to be tightening up just five days before America chooses a new president. In the latest CNN poll of polls, Barack Obama leads John McCain by seven points, 50-43 percent. Now yesterday, he was ahead by eight points. A little bit of a shift there and a little bit of time, of course, before Election Day. And both candidates are reminding voters that this contest is far from over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're still the underdog. We're now two or three or four points down, and we got six days to go to make that up. Good thing. It's not a matter of worry. It's just -- you know, you and I have been together long enough, you know I love the underdog status.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can't do this by myself. Don't believe for one second that this election is over. Don't believe one second in these polls. Power concedes nothing without a fight. We are going to have to work over the next five days like our lives depended on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And in a moment, we have some brand new polls from key battleground states that will decide this election.
AAA reporting yet another drop in gas prices. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is now $2.55. That's four cents less than yesterday's price. Gas prices have now declined for 43 straight days. The current national average also a $1.57 below the record high of 4.11. Do you remember that? That was back in July.
And the Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champs. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays, finally, if you're a Philadelphia fan. Game five was finally completed last night. It was suspended Monday because of rain and they couldn't play yesterday because of the weather as well.
Well, it set up a wild celebration on the field also in the streets of Philadelphia. Thousands of Philly fans celebrating the end of 28 years of frustration, their last title back in 1980. And tomorrow, the city is going to be holding a parade to honor the champs.
ROBERTS: Well, back now to our top story this Thursday morning and some major political developments just coming in to CNN to tell you about. Brand new polls that you're seeing for the very first time here from five key states. Let's start in Ohio.
Barack Obama leads 51 percent to John McCain's 47 percent. That's a four-point split. That's about where it's been for the last few days. In North Carolina, though, take a look at this. Obama ahead now, 52 to 46 percent, a six-point margin. Also back up to 12-point difference in Pennsylvania. Remember the maximum was 13 there last week.
And now in Nevada, Obama leads McCain by seven points. But in McCain's home state of Arizona just to the south, John McCain still with the advantage, 53 to 46 percent. A little less than George Bush had in 2004 but still a significant advantage.
In other polls released late yesterday having a direct impact on the electoral college map, let's show you where that poll was. It was here in the Mountain State of Colorado. Take a look at this.
Barack Obama now eight points ahead of John McCain. Eight points ahead of John McCain. That is enough to change the electoral map here. And let's show you how it's going to change now.
Colorado up until now has been a toss up state. Yellow. We are now going to put that in the lean Obama category. That increases his margin in the electoral college above John McCain.
Now, another significant development here, Indiana which was leaning John McCain is now in the toss up category. And one more change here, Washington State, which was leaning Obama, is now solidly for Barack Obama.
Now what does that do to the electoral college calculation? Barack Obama now has a projected, theoretical only, 286 electoral votes to John McCain's 163, with 270, of course, needed to win the White House.
So, Kiran, the road for John McCain just got a lot tougher now with Colorado going in the lean Obama category. Indiana going back into the toss up. That took away from John McCain a number of -- and let's see how many it was -- it was 11 electoral votes and put nine in Barack Obama's column. So things a little tougher this morning, Kiran, for John McCain.
CHETRY: And that's why he's still trying to hammer home Pennsylvania, even though for the last eight years that has gone to a Democrat. So we're going to talk more about that throughout the day.
Barack Obama begins today in another key battleground state, Florida, where he still has an edge over John McCain. Obama leads McCain by four points in Florida, another crucial battleground state, 51 percent to 47 percent in the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll.
Obama getting a big boost from former President Bill Clinton. The two appeared at a huge late night rally in Florida. It's the first time they've been in the same place on the same side during the campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is America's future. This is a future state. Barack Obama represents America's future and you got to be there for him next Tuesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Suzanne Malveaux is live in Sarasota this morning.
Suzanne, did Obama and Clinton accomplish what they hope to in their joint appearance?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, it was brief, it was late in coming but the campaign was very pleased to see these two together. And it was interesting because Bill Clinton's message and speech was really just 13 minutes long but what was more important was the visual to see these two men side-by- side and really kind of the elder statesman passing the torch.
As you know, there was some bitterness between the two before in that kind of rough primary season. None of that was evident. And Bill Clinton did something -- President Clinton did something that publicly people don't really talk about this.
They compare these two men. They are from humble roots. They had great vision, relatively inexperienced. Clinton did not talk about the inexperience, but he said look, he's like me. And that's perhaps is the best compliment that President Clinton can give Obama. He says, I was teased far too long (ph), so is Obama here. If you like me, Clinton still widely popular here in Florida, remember me, remember Obama, remember the good economic times, this could be more of the same -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And Obama's campaign also releasing that 30-minute infomercial on some of the major networks last night. Did you hear anything new that we didn't already know about him when you took a look at that last night?
MALVEAUX: Well, you know, covering him for the last 12 months, no, I didn't hear anything new necessarily in this infomercial. But what was striking here was the tone was completely different here. It was very soothing. It was calm, especially when he was the narrator of those vignettes (ph) talking about these couples who are having health problems or employment problems. And you got the sense that these could be people who live right down the street from Obama.
I think that that tone was something that the campaign really wanted to express from Obama. And it's kind of hard to do in a campaign trail when people are yelling fired up, ready to go, that type of thing. So I think he not only put out his economic message, but he really kind of set a different kind of tone for what type of president he might be -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You didn't hear him mention anything negative or his opponent in that 30 minutes either. So very interesting.
MALVEAUX: It was striking. No John McCain at all.
CHETRY: Yes. I noted that as well.
All right. Suzanne, great to see you in Sarasota this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Well, at this very moment, John McCain's Straight Talk Express is about to crisscross Ohio, a crucial state that he cannot afford to lose. Today, he's going to stop in at least five smaller towns hoping to sway voters after Barack Obama's 30-minute prime time campaign ad last night.
CNN's Dana Bash is live for us this morning in Maumee, Ohio, and Senator McCain addressing that big money ad on that Barack Obama had last night. And how is he doing? What's the strategy today?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, he's trying to find any way he can really to mock it. But he also is saying that it was a gauzy, feel-good commercial based on broken promises. Specifically, John, what he has been trying to say is remember, the only reason Barack Obama is able to put up this kind of massive money infomercial is because he, from the perspective of John McCain, did break a promise to take public financing. Listen to what he told Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And frankly, what's disturbing about it is that he signed a piece of paper back when he was a long shot candidate. And he signed 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 the debate with Senator Clinton and said, "I'll sit down and negotiate with John McCain before I decide on public financing."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, John, you talk to McCain aides and they tell you, look, the hard, cold reality is there's no way he can compete, McCain can compete with that kind of money. But they are also saying that the name of the game right now is to try to tell those undecided voters, try to put any kind of doubt in their mind possible at this point about Barack Obama. And what McCain is trying to do there is try to say, you know, he says he's for hope, he says he's for change, he says he's different, but he's just another politician.
ROBERTS: Dana, that new polling out this morning still shows a four- point lead for Barack Obama. What's really interesting, though, is when you look at the regional breakdown, he's got strength in the Cincinnati/Dayton area. Dayton went Democratic in 2004. Cincinnati, though, very heavily Republican area.
BASH: That's right.
ROBERTS: So what can John McCain do to try to combat that?
BASH: It is very difficult and it is certainly surprising. It is those Republican areas that Republicans obviously generally rely on to counter the other swing areas. So, basically what he's going to do, John, you'll love this. He's going to start a bus tour in Defiance, Ohio. A little symbolism there. And he's going to keep pounding away on the economic message that we've heard.
He's going to keep pounding away on Barack Obama, particularly on this issue of Democratic control. He's going to say do you really what unchecked power in Washington with Democrats controlling the White House and Congress? But you know, it's not just Ohio that is alarming. This is obviously always a swing state. Listen to this.
In John McCain's home state, they are now starting to put up robocalls, those calls to voters. They're spending money in John McCain's home state of Arizona. They're saying that Barack Obama lacks the judgment to be president. And basically, I talked to a Republican who said look, we can't afford to take any chance and right now Arizona looks a little too close for comfort.
ROBERTS: Right. Starting this morning in Defiance, Ohio, a little better symbolism than Waterloo, Iowa, where he was on Sunday.
BASH: Yes.
ROBERTS: Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, could a mortgage bailout be in the works? Help could be on the way for Americans facing foreclosures. Gerri Willis will give us details. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning.
And a key battleground on guard. The steps one state is taking to keep what's expected to be a record turnout on Election Day in line.
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And welcome back. Twelve minutes after the hour.
Gerri Willis is here "Minding Your Business" this morning. And we're hearing word of this possible bailout I guess you could say for troubled homeowners.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Troubled homeowners, people having trouble with their mortgage. Listen up, there could be big help for you, a $50 billion program to bailout people with bad mortgages, to guarantee those mortgages.
The deal has not been announced yet. It's reportedly in talks between treasury and the FDIC, a big banking regulator. And we expect some kind of details as early as today. The amount of money being spent here, $50 billion, could help three million homeowners out there. The money could go up though to $600 billion. We're waiting for details on that.
Could be a fascinating plan. We don't know precisely how they'll guarantee these mortgages. We're waiting to find out.
Also, though, also being reported today -- you guys will like this. This is a real political story. Of the $163 billion guaranteed to banks for new lending to get them to make loans to people, to give you a new mortgage, an auto loan, whatever, half of that money is now said to being used to pay dividends to shareholders. And I think there'll be a lot of conversation about that. After all if you can afford to pay dividends, why do you need a government bailout?
We've already got Chuck Schumer complaining about that one, and I think you're going to expect a lot more questions about that. Also yesterday, you probably know this, guys, 50 basis interest rate cut. That should be helpful to banks.
It's not going to be a big help yet to consumers. Certainly if you have an adjustable rate mortgage that is tied to prime, you'll get some help. But nobody is expecting credit card rates, nobody is expecting auto loan rates, nobody is expecting general mortgage rates to move any time soon.
ROBERTS: Stock markets are likely down.
WILLIS: Well, you know, it ended up down just a little bit.
ROBERTS: No, no. I mean overseas.
WILLIS: Overseas overnight, yes, it was very popular. And you're going to expect the stock market here in the United States to also rally this morning.
CHETRY: Back to the money being used for dividends, I mean, it wasn't part of that entire huge bill that was finally passed increased oversight and a little bit more of a hand in what happens?
WILLIS: Well, you know, apparently the banks did not want to give up paying dividends. They wanted to continue paying dividends no matter how much money they took from this bailout bill, unlike what happened in Europe where the banks said, OK, we will stop paying dividends.
One thing to keep in mind here, though, there are a lot of seniors across the country who rely on dividends...
CHETRY: Right.
WILLIS: ... for their retirement. This is good news for them, but I know this is going to become a hot political potato.
CHETRY: Gerri, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: We'll check in with you throughout the morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Obama's infomercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president, here's what I'll do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In case you missed it, we're taking another look at Barack Obama's prime time performance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll use companies like McKinstry as a model for the nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Barack Obama had a half-hour television special. Did anybody happen to see it?
(LAUGHTER)
It's a lot of money, ladies and gentlemen. Don't kid yourself. A half-hour prime time network television. I mean it cost a lot of dough, and they say it was the most money spent by a Democrat for a half an hour since Eliot Spitzer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: David Letterman there weighing in on Barack Obama's multimillion dollar television buy last night. In the 30-minute prime time advertisement, Obama urged Americans to choose hope over fear and unity over division. He called the election a "defining moment" and outlined his plan for health care and the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years, and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9/11, we'll provide low cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open.
None of that grows government. It grows the economy and keeps people on the job. This is what we can do right now, to restore fairness to the American economy and fulfill our commitments to the American people. Just as I believe every American should have access to an affordable college education, I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care.
In the last year, I visited many hospitals that are computerizing records and implementing technology that improves patient care and dramatically reduces cost. That's why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and preexisting conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year. And you can keep your same coverage and your same doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, John McCain for his part mocked Obama's message as a feel good infomercial paid for with broker promises.
Now CNN chose not to carry the Obama ad. The network statement saying, "We would rather use our air to continue to cover the campaign, candidates and issues like we always do from all points of view with the best political team on television."
CHETRY: The best political team on television and, of course, a lot of political junkies out there as well. So if you're following this race as closely as we are, we want you to check out our Web site, CNNpolitics.com. We have some really cool new ways to give you all the information you want. I have it up here on my laptop, right here at the desk.
Just show you some of the really neat highlights of this. First of all, it's our big electoral map. This is the map you can click on and you can see the estimate right now of where states are leaning, which ones are safe in the Barack Obama category, according to our estimates, and in the McCain category. And you're able to click on each state and find out more information about each one.
There's also a couple of other cool things. A big forum where people can discuss the issues together and you can sign up based on whether you're a liberal or whether you're a conservative, whether you're a stay-at-home mom and you would find like-minded people and can debate.
Also, any of the issues, if you want to know where the candidates stand on anything from the economy to health care to immigration, you can click on it. Find out information and really just find out the truth as opposed to how some of the other campaigns are trying to spin it.
Another cool thing is our election tracker right here. You can go on this, click on any state and you can see the polling.
For example, here's Minnesota where Barack Obama is up 57 percent to John McCain's 38 percent, and it explains where that polling information is from and the margin of error. You can click on any of these. So a really interesting way from right at your desktop to keep track of one of the most exciting elections we've seen in our lifetime.
Again, it is CNNpolitics.com. A lot of cool stuff to check out.
It's 22 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Battleground Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look for suspicious people, suspicious items, suspicious behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Poll workers on guard as the state's largest county gears up for a tough fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to prepare for the fact that people are not going to act normal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." Just five days to go now and CNN's latest national poll of polls shows a slight shift in John McCain's favor. Barack Obama leads McCain by seven points now, 50-43 percent. He was up eight points yesterday.
Obama took a so-called closing argument to prime time last night with a 30-minute advertisement carried by most broadcast and cable networks. Joining us now from Washington with reaction to all of this is Stephen Hayes. He's a senior writer for "The Weekly Standard."
Stephen, it's good to see you. So the national polls slightly moving in John McCain's favor, but Colorado just went into the lean Obama column. McCain is down by seven in Nevada. He is down by six now in North Carolina. Does he still have a viable route to the White House?
STEPHEN HAYES, SR. WRITER, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Well, I think it's a tough route to the White House, to be sure. But you know, one of the things the McCain campaign will tell you and this echoes something that Barack Obama has been saying on the stump, don't forget New Hampshire. You look at the Democratic primary in New Hampshire in early January.
I was just looking at the polls that were taken on Election Day in New Hampshire, and you had some polls saying Barack Obama had a lead over Hillary Clinton of 13 points, 10 points, seven points. So I think, you know, there's been some discrepancy in the polling and there have differences in the way that the polls have been done such that I think it gives both campaigns, you know, in the case of John McCain, some hope, in the case of Barack Obama some pause.
ROBERTS: Yes. But I mean, New Hampshire is only four electoral votes.
HAYES: Right.
ROBERTS: John McCain needs a lot more than that.
HAYES: Yes. It needs to be a national phenomenon rather than one state with a couple hundred thousand voters.
ROBERTS: Yes. So let's look at Obama's, "Obama-mercial" I guess you could call it last night. We'll take a quick listen to it and then I want to ask you about its potential effectiveness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've been talking about the same problems for decades and nothing is ever done to solve them. This election is a defining moment. The chance for our leaders to meet the demands of these challenging times and keep faith with our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: On the political blogs that was called everything from boring to brilliant. What did you think about its effectiveness, Stephen?
HAYES: Quite by the distance in terms of its execution, it was brilliant. I thought, you know, it was a relatively safe video. And if you're a voter and you're not -- you haven't been paying attention to the twists and turns and contours of the election as we have, and this is your introduction to Barack Obama or something that sort of advances his case for you. He comes off I think as a very reasonable guy who's a solution-oriented politician who wants to just get things done.
ROBERTS: Another big story last night in addition to the "Obama- mercial" was Sarah Palin in an interview to be aired this morning with ABC was asked about her aspirations, potential aspirations for 2012. She eventually got around to the idea. She's saying, hey, what I'm doing now is not for naught.
You know, that's typically not what you hear from a candidate this close to an election. It's usually hey, the only thing I'm focused on is Tuesday and focused on winning and haven't thought about anything else. Is she a little off message here?
HAYES: Well, I don't think so. I mean, I thought that the way that the Obama campaign spun that when it's released to reporters, is released to the media was really misleading. And I think she did when she was asked a question say exactly that.
She said, look, we're focused on Tuesday. All that matters is Tuesday. Then she was asked a follow-up question and she said, in effect, I'm working hard. You know, I'm not going to let this -- I'm not going to let all of this and all of my work and all of my hard work go for nothing in the event that we lose. So I think it was much more nuance than the Obama campaign suggested.
ROBERTS: Do you think she'd be a viable candidate for 2012?
HAYES: Well, sure. Look, she is I think, at least in the short term, she is a rock star in the Republican Party. She's a huge, huge money raiser, I think. If they go on to lose on Tuesday, she would be somebody that you would see House candidates, House Republicans dying to have come and campaign for them. She's quite popular.
ROBERTS: I mean, of course, not everybody is in love with her. George Will writes today in "The Washington Post" about Sarah Palin. "Some polls show that Palin has become an even heavier weight in John McCain's saddle than his association with George Bush."
HAYES: Yes. Look, I think, there are especially among conservatives, there's serious and deep splits about Sarah Palin and the effect that she's had on John McCain's candidacy. On the one hand, you talk to Republicans who will say she's energized the base, she's excited evangelical Christians in a way that was not anticipated John McCain's candidacy would do. She's very importantly helped Republicans raise money. I think that's been often overlooked in her contribution to the ticket.
On the other hand, she's had some bad moments. She had her interview with Katie Couric in which she didn't do well. You know, I think she's been sort of kept under wraps in a way that was not helpful to the campaign. She hasn't been making policy arguments until recently. And I think when she has, she's done those fairly effectively.
ROBERTS: Well, I know that we as journalists have got enough to focus on in the next five days, let alone the next four years.
HAYES: We'll be busy.
ROBERTS: Stephen Hayes, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks for coming in.
HAYES: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: We're just about 30 minutes past the hour now. A check of the top stories.
Riot police in Syria standing guard outside of the U.S. Embassy as several thousand anti-American demonstrators hold a rally about a mile away. Syrian government now demanding Washington apologize for a cross-border raid targeting militants earlier in the week, which killed eight people.
It's costing you less to get to work this morning according to AAA. The national average for a gallon of regular now down to $2.55. That's down more than four cents overnight. And we're seeing gas prices continue to drop every day for more than a month now. Gas prices have not been this low since March of 2007.
There's a good chance you'll soon be paying more for your TV. The country's biggest cable companies are planning to raise rates next year. Cablevision customers will see a 3.5 percent increase on average. Comcast, Time Warner customers can also expect larger bills. The FCC says cable rates have doubled over the last decade. And officials are concerned about consumers being charged more but getting less.
The "Most Politics in the Morning" now. Barack Obama and John McCain fighting to the finish in key battleground states. And this morning we have some brand new polls from four of those key states. Let's start in Ohio now and take a look at this. Barack Obama leading John McCain 51 percent to 47 percent. Still quite close in that state. He also has a 12-point advantage in Pennsylvania. In Nevada, Barack Obama leads 52 percent to McCain's 45 percent. And in Virginia, Barack Obama holds a nine-point lead. It's remarkable because Virginia has not voted for a Democrat as president since 1964. But this year, election officials are bracing for a record turn out and stepping up security just in case.
CNN's Dan Lothian is live in Norfolk, Virginia with more for us.
Why are they paying special attention this year?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it's not because they have any credible threats but they really just want to be cautious here in the state on Election Day. In past elections, they've always focused on security. They have plans in place in case anything happens. But this time around, they have sort of taken up a notch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Virginia has long had its battlefields, but only recently has it become a battleground state -- a record number of registered voters, the threat of turning blue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: McCain-Palin.
LOTHIAN: And passionate supporters fighting to win. It's what some call the perfect storm for security problems.
AL SPRADLIN, CHAIRMAN, CHESAPEAKE, VA. ELECTORAL BOARD: We have to be prepared more than ever before. You're talking about a great deal of emotion in a polling precinct, so we have to prepare for the fact that people are not going to act normal.
LOTHIAN: Al Spradlin, chairman of the electoral board in Chesapeake, says his city is taking unprecedented security steps just in case. For security reasons, he gave few details.
ROKEY SULEMAN, FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA. REGISTRAR: This is Mason here.
LOTHIAN: Fairfax County registrar Rokey Suleman has been working on his "what if" plan for weeks.
SULEMAN: We've have talked to county and city police to let them know that we have -- to be aware, to be prepared to go out to the polls on election day in case something happens.
LOTHIAN: Poll workers in the state's largest county have also been put on guard.
SULEMAN: To be more vigilant, to look for suspicious people, suspicious items, you know, suspicious behavior. And realizing that everybody has sort of an amped up atmosphere this election.
LOTHIAN: Caution, but security experts say no cause for alarm.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER DC POLICE DETECTIVE: There is no specific threat to the election process or anything else on Election Day.
LOTHIAN: Officials in several of Virginia's largest cities and counties tell CNN that police officers will be present at some polling places, but will most likely be wearing plain clothes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Virginia. LOTHIAN: That's something that voter rights groups say they'll be closely monitoring. Training sessions like this one give volunteers a sense of what to look out for.
BRIAN MCLAUGHLIN, LAWYERS COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: Are they in any way causing voters to be intimidated or threatened?
Security is an important issue. But we want to make sure that every voter feels comfortable actually going into the polling station.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Now, one official told me that there is this fine line between security and not intimidating voters. He said that they have talked over this issue with law enforcement officials and he's very comfortable with the fact that there won't be any problems with that.
Kiran?
CHETRY: I hope so. Fingers crossed. Dan Lothian for us in Norfolk this morning. Thanks so much. And just five days until the election. CNN is on the ground in key battleground states.
Still to come this morning, Sean Callebs on the length that some schools in Florida are going to make sure young people get to the polls. And if you see any voting irregularities, we want to know about them, from now until Election Day, you can call 1-877-GOCNN-08 to report any problems.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama hitting John McCain on one of the top issues of this campaign, your job security. But is it true that McCain wants to give tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas? The "Truth Squad" separates fact from fiction this morning.
Racy robocalls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike Thompson's been a bad boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jeanne Moos looks at some unusual dirty politics. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, the City of Brotherly Love is feeling it this morning for sure. The Philadelphia Phillies World Series champions finishing off the Tampa Bay Rays last night in five games. The victory set off a wild celebration for fans. They poured into the streets, spring beer and setting off fireworks. The city holds a parade for the Phillies tomorrow.
They're fired up, Rob Marciano. This doesn't happen to them every day or every month or every century. Poor Philadelphia. Well, it's been since 1980s than say we're able to pull one these victories off.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: 39 minutes now after the hour. To the "Most Politics in the Morning." The fight over tax breaks showing no sign of fading in the home stretch of this presidential campaign. Alina Cho and the "Truth Squad" here this morning keeping the candidates honest.
Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Five days out and you have that. That's great. Let's keep that. Good morning, John. Good morning, everybody. You know, in this economy, we hear the candidates talk a lot these days about trying to create jobs and, of course, trying to keep jobs here in the U.S. at a time when companies are outsourcing. But as John McCain actually offering tax incentives to companies who ship jobs overseas? Well, that's what Barack Obama is saying. So we went looking for the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: More tax cuts for jobs outsourcing. That's what Senator McCain proposed as his answer to outsourcing. He said that's quote, "simple fundamental economics."
CHO (voice-over): Simply put, Obama claims McCain wants to give more tax cuts to companies that ship jobs overseas as a way to keep jobs here. The Obama campaign said doing that would be ridiculous. But here's the problem. McCain never said it. McCain said he supports cutting the corporate tax rate for all companies from 35 percent down to 25 percent. He says that will keep jobs here and prevent outsourcing. McCain laid out his case right here on CNN last week saying companies are leaving the United States because they get better tax incentives overseas.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And guess what? If they go to Ireland, they're only paying 11 percent. So, where are they going to go where they can create wealth and create jobs? It's simple fundamental economics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Well, in politics, rarely are things black and white. But the "Truth Squad" verdict on this one is false. CNN found no evidence of John McCain ever saying that he'll offer tax cuts to companies that ship jobs overseas. What he did say was that corporate tax cuts will help keep jobs here. A bit of a difference.
Coming up at 8:00, John McCain says Barack Obama's tax plan involves some fuzzy map. We'll explain, coming up.
And I want to encourage people -- you know, a lot of undecideds out there, still, even five days out. I want to encourage people to go to our Web site, cnn.com/am. Never was there a better time to look at "Truth Squad" reports. It's now the time to do it.
ROBERTS: And that is an effective buzzer, too. Even more effective than the one --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: Even more effective than the one P.C. plays when Max's (INAUDIBLE).
CHO: What? I'm sorry. (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, guys. Well, a big night for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. They shared the stage in Florida and what a difference a few months can make. Do you remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well now look, Clinton and Obama got from there to here. 41 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." An ex- president and the man who wants to be the next president share the stage for the first time in this campaign. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama set aside any hard feelings from the primary to help Obama get elected president. Now, many thought they would never see the day after all the bitterness during the primary season. CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look at that for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): It started to get ugly in January and boy did it get ugly fast.
B. CLINTON: Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen.
KAYE: That was Bill Clinton, the day before the New Hampshire primary, criticizing Barack Obama's plan for Iraq. 2-1/2 weeks later, the former president set off a firestorm when he said this after Obama's South Carolina primary victory.
B. CLINTON: Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice in '84 and '88. And he ran a good campaign. And Senator Obama is running a good campaign here.
KAYE: That to some African-Americans was code to diminish Obama. Hillary Clinton apologized. Her husband labeled a racist. He accused the Obama campaign of leading the charge.
B. CLINTON: I am not a racist. I never made a racist comment and I didn't attack him personally.
LARRY SABATO, POLITICAL ANALYST: That's at the heart of the rivalry between Bill and Barack. Bill was supposedly the first black president. Well, now there may be a real one.
KAYE (on camera): Political expert Larry Sabato says Bill Clinton was snarky, petty and pouty during the primary season. Yes, he was trying to get his wife elected. But Sabato says he crossed the line, then had a hard time stepping back.
(voice-over): Obama told "Good Morning America," he felt like he was running against both Clintons.
OBAMA: They're having President Clinton on the trail and attacking -- spending most of his time attacking me. It can be a distraction during the course of the campaign.
KAYE: But it wasn't just what Mr. Clinton said, it's what he didn't say. Some Democrats find he's short on enthusiasm for Obama and compliments have been slow in coming.
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: On different sides of, you know, divide and the most protracted long primary struggle probably in American history.
KAYE: At the convention, he only went this far.
B. CLINTON: Barack Obama is the man for this job.
KAYE: This awkward moment in Mr. Clinton's Harlem office in September was the last time they were seen together.
B. CLINTON: I predict that Senator Obama will win and will win pretty handedly.
OBAMA: There you go. You can -- you can take it from the president of the United States. He knows a little something about politics.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Racy robocalls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike Thompson's been a bad boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jeanne Moos looks at some unusual dirty politics. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: It's 49, almost 50 minutes after the hour. And today's look at some of the unusual moments from the campaign trail, features a couple of Joes, some racy robocalls and the kitty caucus. Here's Jeanne Moos now with a look at some of the most unusual moments on the trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sometimes the elephant in the room really is the elephant in the room or at the rally.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We'll tell you where those dollars will come from.
MOOS: Though this little Republican needed pacifying. According to our latest polls, Senator Obama is ahead in supporters fainting.
OBAMA: Did somebody fall down? Got another person who fainted?
MOOS: Two at one rally. The candidate tossed some water.
OBAMA: Eat before you come to these rallies.
MOOS: Don't say that to your running mate.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Joe, not the plumber, Joe the Biden.
MOOS: This ice cream shop was the setting for Joe the Biden versus Chocolate Chip the Cone.
Senator learned the perils of campaigning with a loaded cone.
BIDEN: I shouldn't have ordered this ice cream. I should have called -- I'm sorry.
MOOS: At least he didn't dump it on anyone.
BIDEN: We all got to eat this ice cream.
MOOS: He seemed reluctant to give it up, taking one last bite before posing.
BIDEN: Who's got the camera?
MOOS: Who's got the volume? Can't hear you very well?
PALIN: I'll talk louder. OK.
MOOS: You can hear when she introduce this guy.
PALIN: Joe the Plumber.
MOOS: Who got a rock star welcome. PALIN: I knew I'd like him, wearing his Carhartts and steel-toed boots. He's our kind of man.
MOOS: Hand in his jeans pocket.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MOOS: He took it out to sign autographs afterwards.
(on camera): This election what a "Get Out the Vote" message is organic. It's funnier.
(voice-over): Feeling pretty good about the polls? Feeling like you can take it easy? The Obama campaign is trying to ward off complacency with messages like. At least the presidential campaign hasn't stopped this low.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote, yes.
MOOS: They sound like phone sex but it's a robocalls. One candidate for Congress used against another.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike Thompson's been a bad boy. We all said no to the bailout but Thompson backed bush. Uh! Vote Yes! for Zane.
MOOS: Zane had to pull his robocall. He blamed the staffer who read the script for too much enthusiasm. The same might be said of the kitty caucus. An Ohio radio station is using kitty-liter boxes as ballot boxes. Counting votes deposited by the cats performing their civic duty.
After a month, Obama is ahead just barely. That's enough to make even Senator Biden lose his appetite.
BIDEN: All right. How are you?
MOOS: This is one candidate who doesn't believe in cone of silence. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Five more days, the scare tactics continue. Should you be afraid of one party rule?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: My friends, this is a dangerous threesome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Plus, pipe dream. How a regular Joe rocketed out of a rally and wound up on a first name basis with you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Joe the Plumber. PALIN: Joe the Plumber.
OBAMA: Joe the Plumber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now Joe the Country Music Star? See why. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID ALAN GRIER, CHOCOLATE NEWS: Black people, we are on the precipice of history. Now, we are within spitting distance of putting a brother in the White House. But right now Barack's chances are shakier than Whitney on the Pipe. So black people, I am begging you until November 4th stop doing stupid (BLEEP).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, that is a clip from "Chocolate News" on Comedy Central starring David Alan Grier. It's a new sketch comedy and it's been around for about two weeks now. It's part "Daily Show," part "Colbert Report," part "Chapelle's Show," I guess you could say. And it's creator, host and all-around funny man David Alan Grier joins me now.
Welcome, David. Great to have you with us.
GRIER: Nice to be here.
CHETRY: I had a chance to watch a few of the episodes. You had me cracking up. Now, we just saw in that one your plea to African- Americans. Do you still think that race is going to keep some people from voting for Barack Obama?
GRIER: Yes. Obviously, it will keep some people from voting for Barack Obama. It may keep some people for voting for John McCain. I mean, race is a part of the election. As we get closer, it seems like that's the unknown factor. Nobody really knows what a lot of the population is going to do once they get in the privacy of the voting booth. But we'll find out the day after election, hopefully, or the week after, or the month after.
CHETRY: What are your predictions, if you're willing to make any for the outcome of the election?
GRIER: I predict that my show will be a big hit and it will run for five years.
CHETRY: That's actually (INAUDIBLE), you know that, in California, right? It's one of the propositions. It's about Chocolate News.
(CROSSTALK)
GRIER: Well, no, to be serious, to answer your question. What is my prediction? I don't know but this last six days is killing me. I just hope it is a clean and fair election, and I can't wait to find out. I mean, I hope Barack Obama wins. That's who I'm going to vote for.
CHETRY: Right. Now, unlike a lot of other celebrities, though, you have kept that -- you know, you haven't been out in the spotlight as much with your support for Barack Obama. A little bit at your comedy events. Why -- why haven't you'd been out there more for him?
GRIER: Well, just because I know my comedy and I didn't want to impact his candidacy in a negative way. And seriously, I've been asked to perform at charity raising events and I've chosen not to, just because it seems like everything is so politically correct right now, you say the wrong joke, he's going to be apologizing for two weeks. So I can support him in different ways.
CHETRY: Now, speaking of your being politically incorrect, Chocolate News is certainly politically incorrect but pretty funny. And you have a lot of sketches based around the election. I want to show this clip right now about possible problems with the electronic voting machines. In fact, we had one -- one of our viewers write in and tell us about some problems with touch screen voting. And you have a play on that. Let's check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)=
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seriously?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know he's black, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. One more time. One more time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for voting for John McCain.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Do you really worry about voting irregularities whether it be with the touch screens or whether it's with this early voting that's taking place at historic levels around the country?
GRIER: I do worry about it. I mean, that's a concern that's out there. We actually did that sketch before there was a problem with the voting machines, but based on the last election that's what prompted that sketch. But shortly after it would aired, I saw a story on CNN about basically the same thing. Those voter who went in, touched Obama and it kept coming up McCain. So, it's there. CHETRY: All right. Well, "Chocolate News" is there as well. It airs Wednesdays, 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.
David Allan Grier, great to have you with us. Thanks for being with us this morning.
GRIER: Thank you for having me.
ROBERTS: It's a minute now to the top of the hour, and checking stories making news on the "Political Ticker." Alaska Senator Ted Stevens vows to keep on fighting. The Republican Senator told hundreds of supporters at a rally in Alaska that he would appeal his conviction on corruption charges and he said he will keep battling to retain his seat in the Senate. Governor Sarah Palin has called on Stevens to resign.
An effigy of Sarah Palin is now down from a home in West Hollywood. The homeowner removed it after a discussion with the city's mayor. The mannequin hanging by a noose that draw national media attention and crowds of protesters to the home.
Todd Palin may be in the McCain campaign's secret weapon in Maine. Palin, an avid snowmobiler is featured on mailings to the state's rural voters. The mailings warn that Obama's environmental policies could impact snowmobiling in national parks. But if McCain is elected, quote, "snowmobilers will have a voice in the White House."
A Texas woman turns her front lawn into a huge Barack Obama sign after her sign was stolen from her yard. Shannon Bennett wanted to create a sign that thieves couldn't take, so she used 12 cans of spray paint to create what surely is the mother of all political signs.
