Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Clinton and Obama Together on the Stump; Obama Blitzes Airwaves with Infomercial; McCain in Battleground Ohio; A Look at the Shifting Electoral Map; Broward County, Florida Helping Teens Vote

Aired October 30, 2008 - 07:00   ET

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


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
And for more up to the minute political news, just head to CNN.com/ticker.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: It's 7:00 right on the nose here in New York. New developments in the "Most Politics in the Morning."

CNN's new national poll of polls shows that the race may be tightening. Barack Obama now leading John McCain by seven points, 50 to 43 percent. Last poll he was ahead by eight, but new state by state numbers may tell a different story. The breakdown in just a moment.

Also with all the economic worries, here's one that you don't have to worry about. Gas prices falling yet again. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular is now down to $2.55 a gallon. That's a year and a half low.

And time of the game. Forty-nine hours and 28 minutes but certainly worth the wait for Philadelphia this morning. The Phillies clinched the World Series last night over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the finale of the suspended game five from two nights ago because of that terrible weather there in Philadelphia.

The fans let it all out on Broad Street celebrating the city's first major sports title in a quarter century. And we're talking football, we're talking hockey -- everything. The win gave the Phillies their first championship in 28 years, just the second in the 126-year history of the franchise.

ROBERTS: Well, with five days now until America votes, call it Barack Obama's October surprise. He hit the trail late last night with former President Bill Clinton in the biggest battleground prize, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's not any real question here. This is not a close question. If you make the decision based on who can best get us out of the ditch, who's got the best philosophy, the best position, the best ability and the best judgment, I think it's clear. The next president of the United States should be and with your help will be Senator Barack Obama!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: President Clinton said that Obama can best restore the American dream. He left the how to the candidate himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you are growing the economy from the bottom up, when the nurse and the teacher and the firefighter and the construction worker, when they are all doing well, then guess what? Everybody does well.

It turns out that when they've got money to spend, then they go out and buy the new car, which means that GM and Ford are doing well, and the auto dealer is doing well, and the stock market is doing well, and the investor is doing well. That's how the economy grows. And that's what we're going to do when I'm president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Barack Obama starts the last Thursday of the race in Florida today, fresh off his 30-minute infomercial that aired on seven networks last night. The campaign showing up its financial muscle with an ad that featured stories of struggling families and his high- profile endorsements.

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows McCain trailing Obama by four points in Florida which is still a statistical tie.

Suzanne Malveaux is covering the Obama campaign. She's live for us this morning in Sarasota, Florida. That Obama-mercial, if you will, aside, Suzanne, he's still got a lot of work to do there in the Sunshine State. The poll shows he's doing very well in the southern part of Florida. Down in South Florida, central and northern Florida not so much.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's really, really tight, John, when you look at central Florida and it really is kind of a bellwether, if you will, the I-4 corridor, which way Floridians are going to go. So he really does still have some more work to do.

I want to give you a sense of my impressions of that infomercial, Obama-mercial, as you called it. There was very little new when it came to substance, but what was really different, strikingly different, was the tone of all of this. It was very conversational, very calm. When he was narrating some of those vignettes talking about these families struggling, you almost got the impression these are folks that live right down the street from Obama. Really a sense of empathy, trying to distance himself from John McCain, the image of him, his portrayal as being aloof or risky in some ways.

So he talked about specifics, about tax cuts, the kinds of things he would do, but he talked about it in a very different kind of way. Take a listen.

(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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: John, another thing that was striking about this infomercial is the fact that he didn't mention John McCain. We didn't see John McCain in this particular ad. Obviously, they're spending millions of dollars to put this out, so they want to make it his own story. But it really was a way of showing kind of this is a post- election, post-McCain kind of vision of the world, if you will. This is Obama as president.

That is what he wanted voters to take away, to look at that and imagine what it would be like to have "President Obama." So McCain not in the picture at all there, John.

ROBERTS: Right. And you know, Suzanne, oh, so long ago when I was covering the Clinton White House, President Clinton said to me one day that one of the things that you have to have if you -- one of the critical items if you want to win the White House is people have to be able to envision you as the president. And that presentation last night, very presidential. I mean, even the setting, standing in front of the window was almost kind of reminiscent of an Oval Office presentation.

MALVEAUX: You looked at that backdrop and we're almost looking at it thinking, is this the Oval Office? What kind of room is he in? Because you were almost wondering, you know, does it put him in the White House?

It certainly did give that impression. And the fact that what he kept saying over and over is like, this is what I'll do as president. And then he comes up with these solutions to some of the problems with the vignette. No mention of McCain. No visuals of McCain, but simply this is the kind of relationship I want to establish with you as the voter. That's at least what they're hoping the takeaway was for people who are watching, John.

ROBERTS: But again, certainly no walk in the park for him there in the Sunshine State. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning in Sarasota. Good to see you. Thanks so much for that.

And don't forget that Senator Obama will be Wolf Blitzer's guest tomorrow night at 6:00 on "THE SITUATION ROOM." And if you would like, you can submit questions to the interview at i-Report.com/Obama. It just might become a part of tomorrow night's interview.

CHETRY: And Obama wasn't the only candidate in prime time last night. John McCain sat down with CNN's Larry King, and McCain hit Obama hard on the issue of publicly financing the campaign.

(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)

CHETRY: Larry talked with McCain during his push through Florida yesterday, a state critical to the Republicans' electoral map strategy.

And as for today, McCain is back in the battleground state of Ohio. In the past four elections, Ohio twice went for President Clinton and twice for President Bush. And our latest CNN/Opinion Research poll shows the race is tightening there. Barack Obama currently has a four-point edge over McCain in this crucial state.

Our Dana Bash is traveling with McCain. She is live for us this morning with more. He also talked to Larry King a little bit about his underdog status. He says he relishes that, but eventually it needs to -- he needs to not be the underdog.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And on that note, you know, he's starting his bus tour here in Ohio, Kiran, in a place dripping with symbolism, a town called Defiance, Ohio. Because you know, with no big headliners like Bill Clinton, with no money for an infomercial, he is trying to defy the odds and to do that, he's actually trying to counter program.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): John McCain knows he can't compete with Barack Obama's blockbuster bank account that bought 30 minutes of prime time TV, but he can mock it.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His first address to the nation, an infomercial. By the way, I will never delay the start of the World Series for an infomercial. BASH: And McCain's advisers admit he can't match the enormous Florida crowds Obama will draw so he didn't try. Instead small targeted events. A modest Miami rally. A national security meeting in veteran-rich Tampa, still trying to raise doubts about Obama.

MCCAIN: The question is whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and other grave threats in the world. And he has given you no reason to answer in the affirmative.

BASH: But McCain's big push for attention was suddenly bringing up a six-month-old article, describing a 2003 dinner Obama attended with friend and Palestinian American scholar, Rashid Khalidi, an Israel critic. McCain says 1960s radical William Ayers was there too. The "L.A. Times" has a tape of the dinner but says releasing it would violate a source agreement. Calling Khalidi a PLO spokesman, McCain went on Miami radio to demand the tape be made public.

VOICE OF MCCAIN: I guarantee you, if there was a tape with me and Sarah Palin and some Neo-Nazi or one of those, you think that that tape wouldn't be made public.

BASH: In Ohio, Sarah Palin even diverted from her message of the day, a policy speech on energy to join in.

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism instead of the victim. What we don't know -- what we don't know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he now professes to support.

BASH: Camp Obama was quick to point out that McCain has his own loose ties to Khalidi. An organization McCain chairs helped fund Khalidi's research in Gaza and the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now an Obama spokesman called this all a manufactured controversy. And I actually asked the McCain aide why are they bringing this up now since it is a six-month-old article that this argument is based on, and based on a five-year-old dinner that Obama apparently had. And this aide, Kiran, was strikingly candid saying because Obama may be less than a week away from being elected president -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Oh, all right. Dana Bash for us this morning in that crucial battleground state of Ohio. Thanks.

ROBERTS: Back to our top story this hour. Major political developments coming in just minutes ago to CNN. And a shift in our national electoral college map. Let's begin with five brand new polls from five key states starting in Ohio.

Barack Obama leads 51 percent to John McCain's 47 percent. In North Carolina, Obama ahead 52 to 46 percent. Obama now onto a 12-point lead in Pennsylvania. And in Nevada, Obama leads McCain by seven points. In John McCain's home state of Arizona, by the way, he has the advantage still, 53 to 46 percent. Also, some major shifts to tell you about in the CNN electoral map. First of all we'll show you why.

This is a poll that came out yesterday. In Mountain State of Colorado, now has Barack Obama ahead of John McCain by eight points. And that's enough to change the electoral map. We also showed you what happened in Nevada with that latest poll. Seven points ahead.

So here's the way we were yesterday. Senator Obama with 277 electoral college votes projected, only theoretical to McCain's 174. But some big changes now in this electoral college map because of those shifts in the polls.

First of all, the Silver State of Nevada moves into the lean Obama category. Colorado now moves into the lean Obama category. And Indiana which was leaning McCain now becomes a toss-up state. And you could see how that changes the map.

Now, 291 projected electoral votes for Senator Obama compared to 163 for John McCain. Now, if the election were to be held today and everything were to play out according to how we see it here in the map, that's exactly what would happen.

Now, by the way, one other change to tell you about too. The state of Washington is now solidly in Barack Obama's category.

So what does this now mean for John McCain? Well, he's still ahead by a little tiny bit here in Missouri. Still ahead by a little tiny bit in Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida he's behind.

But let's just, for instance, give him all of those states. Put those in his category. He now has 247 electoral votes. This is why he's going after Pennsylvania so hard because he needs to have that state to try to buttress his plan to get to the White House.

Only with that does he really have a viable route at this point. Then he would need to turn Virginia back into the Republican column. That would get him over the line. He could potentially go after New Hampshire that would give him enough to go over the line. And maybe if he somehow flipped Nevada back, that would get him over the line as well. But definitely the math is not being kind to John McCain at this point, Kiran. He has an awful lot of work to do here.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll keep tracking it because, as we said, it changes day-by-day.

Joe the plumber may end up in a higher tax bracket after all. Why he could hit it big in the country music business? Well, we'll tell you about it.

You're watching the "Most Politics in the Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: We continue to follow the foreclosure problems here in the U.S., and there could be a little bit of help on its way from the federal government under proposal that is being worked on right now.

Gerri Willis "Minding Your Business" this morning with details for us.

Hi there.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. Here's the 101 on this plan. Here's what we're hearing about it. It's not been finalized. It hasn't been publicly announced, but the details are leaking out.

We're talking about $500 billion to secure guarantee loans, mortgage loans for people who are having really big trouble with them. Could help up to three million people out there. And this would mean that they would essentially get their interest rate probably -- that's what we're thinking here -- frozen for a period of five years.

Now, think about this. Most of these folks are in adjustable rate mortgages, which means that their rate resets over time. So if you freeze their rate, that gives them a lot of help in helping them pay for their loan.

Now, I have to tell you, about 4.3 million people are expected to lose their home this year and in the next two years. So through 2010. So a lot of people at risk here with these toxic loans which are really bad deals for consumers. The government, of course, they're trying to help those people. They've been accused of only helping financial institutions and not individuals.

CHETRY: So a big help would be just simply freezing these payments before they balloon.

WILLIS: Interest rates.

CHETRY: The interest rates, rather, and then their payment stays the same. It doesn't balloon out...

WILLIS: Right.

CHETRY: ... to a payment that they can't afford on a monthly basis. But haven't we seen at least some talk of something along these lines happening as well?

WILLIS: Let me tell you, we got a lot of programs particularly out of this administration. It started with Hope Now. You remember this?

CHETRY: Right.

WILLIS: Was an 800 phone number people could call, get help from their lender, from any lender. Then there was FHA Secure, another program that came out from the government administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They've helped some 400,000 people since they started out in 2007. And then this summer, Hope for Homeowners was passed now that's have a lot of money behind it.

Federal government bank rolling it to $300 billion. It just started. Essentially there's forgiveness, mortgage forgiveness of about 10 percent of the total amount due and then the loan is rolled over to a bank or a HUD-backed lender. But I have to tell you, everybody says that these programs have not gone far enough and we're still waiting for the real help out there for homeowners. I know people are really frustrated out there.

CHETRY: All right. Hopefully this program will -- they'll figure out a way to make it work for everyone.

Thanks so much, Gerri.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

CHETRY: Eighteen minutes after the hour.

Virgin voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD: This is fantastic when you can -- we can involve the young people in this voting process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Thousands of students getting ready for their first time. How schools in one district are organizing bus trips so students can cast their presidential ballot.

You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." You know, every election year it's hard to get young voters to the polls. So schools in Broward County, Florida, and that includes Fort Lauderdale as well as Hollywood, are working to change that.

Sean Callebs is live from our Miami bureau this morning. They're trying to make it real easy so that there is no excuse for the kids to get out there and vote.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Also I got to point out these kids know the candidates, they know the issues. They're well versed in all this. But you're exactly right. The district is going the extra mile, literally, to make sure these kids are able to cast their ballots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice-over): It's not a ride to school, rather a trip to the polls. A Broward County public school bus taking students to vote after the district helped register the kids. For some, it's all about the issues.

SIOBHAN MOORE, BROWARD COUNTY STUDENT: The health care, I'm really excited about. The gay marriage, of course, I'm excited about because I think everybody should have their own opinion of what they want to do in life.

CALLEBS: But for many of these 18-year-olds, the presidential race is the draw.

ADRIAN BRACERO, BROWARD COUNTY RESIDENT: I feel as though we need to make a change in the country, and I feel as though that some candidates have qualities that will help that.

CALLEBS: Broward is taking registered seniors from all its high schools. These students are from McArthur High in Hollywood, a mostly minority school. Assistant principal Julie Biancardi helped register the teens and is pleased with their political knowledge.

JULIE BIANCARDI, ASST. PRINCIPAL, MCARTHUR HIGH SCHOOL: They are talking about issues and facts, not emotional issues. And that's what I think I'm impressed with.

CALLEBS: Armed with a sample ballot, these students passed the hour and a half in line like everyone else here, talking candidates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, both of them talked to us today. His mom came.

CALLEBS: It's an important swing state where candidates have always courted the elderly vote but the youth vote is important.

Broward County school board member Benjamin William says it's all fair and legal. And as far as he knows, this is the only public school district in the country registering students and taking them to vote.

BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD: This is fantastic when you can -- we can involve the young people in this voting process. We have registered over 3,600 students that are involved in this.

CALLEBS: A little sticker and a sense of satisfaction is the payoff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course I'm proud (INAUDIBLE) I have voted. I'm 18, I get to vote and have a voice. I feel like I have a voice in the country (ph).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And it bears worth repeating. We checked with the Florida secretary of state's office and they say they don't see any conflict, any violation of election laws. And also the district says they set aside money for field trips and that's where the money came from for these bus trips. So they've heard no complaints to this point, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Very, very unique program for sure. Thanks so much. Sean Callebs, it's great to see you this morning.

ROBERTS: Scare tactics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a dangerous threesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Bush-McCain or Obama-Reid-Pelosi. How the candidates are painting the opposition with five days until the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could see a Republican Congress back in two years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: On the "Most Politics in the Morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." It has been 44 years since the Commonwealth of Virginia has gone for a Democrat in the presidential election, but this year the red state could indeed turn blue. The latest CNN poll has got Barack Obama up by nine points over John McCain, 53 to 44 percent. So will Obama's lead hold through Election Day?

Joining me now is Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia. He's live in Richmond.

Good morning, governor. It's good to see you. Thanks for being with us.

GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: John, great to be back with you.

ROBERTS: So, let's take a look at this. The last Democrat that the commonwealth voted for was Lyndon Johnson back in 1964. What is breaking or appears to be breaking the Republican lock on that state?

KAINE: Well, probably three things. I think, first, Virginians have been discouraged with what they've seen in Washington in the last eight years. Second, we had two Democratic governors in a row that have done pretty well. If I can be modest to say so, we've been listed as the top performing state government in America and the best state for business in the United States in the last three years by "Forbes" magazine. So people see Democratic leaders and they feel like we're doing a good job.

And then, John, the other thing that I'm sure you recognize, there's been huge demographic changes in Virginia.

ROBERTS: Yes.

KAINE: Every time we get an award or an accolade, more people want to move here and they move here from all over the country, and that starts to change some of the politics. So those three factors combined have made the state very, very competitive for Democratic candidates.

ROBERTS: You still haven't done anything about the car tax, though. I know that there are many who don't like that.

KAINE: Governor Gilmore -- yes, Governor Gilmore said he'd get rid of it in '97, and yet here it is. He didn't and it's still here.

ROBERTS: You know when you look at the poll numbers, governor, Senator Obama does very, very well among minority voters, non-white voters, but he's still losing among white voters men and women. It's going to take --

KAINE: Right.

ROBERTS: It's going to take a big minority turnout on Tuesday or in the early voting to push him over the top. Can you be guaranteed that that minority vote will come out to the polls?

KAINE: Well, we think so, John. I mean, I think the early signs in terms of absentee voting and people's passion to go ahead and vote early, and we have relatively narrow circumstances in Virginia that allow for absentee and early voting but we're seeing huge turnout among minority voters. And we're also seeing Senator Obama do better among white voters than previous Democratic presidential candidates.

You know, usually a Democratic candidate will do well among minority voters and lose white voters. But Senator Obama in Virginia is doing better among white voters than past candidates have done, and partly it's because he's here so much. He's going to be here today. It will be his tenth visit to Virginia since he became the punitive nominee after the primaries finished in June, and he's been all over the state including places the other day Harrisonburg. The last Democratic presidential candidate to go to Harrisonburg, Steven Douglas in 1860.

Now they're both senators from Illinois but the resemblance since they're obviously...

ROBERTS: A big university town there.

KAINE: Yes. And so he is really focused on not just the traditional locations but he is all over Virginia and that's helping him.

ROBERTS: You know, governor, you, Governor Mark Warner, Senator Jim Webb, you all won as moderate centrist democrats. Barack Obama is taken to be much more to the left of the three of you. Are you going to get that same broad level of support for him out there on election day or many people are saying they will vote for him now but then when they go to vote they'll say do I really want somebody who is left of the other politicians that we have elected here in this state.

KAINE: Well, you know, he's going to get the support. First we don't necessarily believe the polls that have us you know up by nine. We think if we haven't won this state for 44 years we got to be the underdog until we are the victors. So we have that mentality. But Senator Obama has a trait that Virginians really embrace and that is he has strong views, but he does not demonize the opposition and, in fact, his record is always reaching out to find a republican colleague to work with him on an issue that he cares about, whether it's you know nuclear non-proliferation, campaign finance reform, tax cuts for middle class folks. He's always looking to build bridges across the aisle. And that is the strategy that Governor Warner was so good at and that is what Jim Webb and I try to do as well. We're proud members of our team before election day. But after election day you got to be willing to work with everybody and that's what Senator Obama has done well.

ROBERTS: Governor, you're talking about changing demographics there. That was the highlight of the McCain campaign in recent weeks. McCain aide Nancy Pfotenhauer called the southern part of the state "the real Virginia." John McCain's brother joked that Alexandria, Arlington area was the communist part of Virginia. Are we really seeing two Virginias emerge here though?

KAINE: No. And that kind of tactic really backfires. You know when Joe McCain called Arlington, Alexandria, the communist part of Virginia I thought wait a minute that's where the Pentagon is that got bombed on 9/11. That's where John McCain lives when he's in Washington. That's where his national campaign headquarters is.

ROBERTS: But they're both very heavily democratic areas.

KAINE: They have been. Recently they have been. Look they were voting for republicans, not that long ago. But as they have seen, you know, the different governing styles that have emerged at least in recent years, you're right, they have gotten more democratic. But Virginians don't like this pit parts of the state against each other philosophy. You'll remember George Allen running for a senate race where he was the prohibitive favorite in 2006 made a similar comment, welcome to the real Virginia. And it backfired big among voters all over the state.

ROBERTS: Governor, we got to go. But thanks for your time. We look forward to the next five days.

KAINE: John, I look forward coming back with you.

ROBERTS: All right. Take care. Something to do about that car tax, wouldn't. Thanks.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: 32 minutes after the hour and you can find gas under $2 a gallon in some parts of the country like Oklahoma. How about that, $1.95 there. AAA says that the national average for a gallon of regular is now down to 2.55 a gallon. That's a year and a half low.

Well, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton campaigning together for the very first time. The former president saying Obama should be our next president. President Clinton praised Obama for seeking the advice of experts including former President Clinton and his wife Hillary on how to handle the country's financial crisis before acting.

And they are thrilled in Philly today, winning the World Series for the first time since 1980 and actually their second championship since professional baseball began. The Phillies clinched last night with a win over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the finale of the suspended game five from two nights ago and fans let it all out mobbing the streets outside of the city to celebrate the first major sports title in a quarter century.

Well John McCain trying to raise fears of a government controlled by the far left. He is telling voters that Barack Obama will be in lock step with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. But if history is any guide, the voters could spoil any one party. AMERICAN MORNING's Jim Acosta is here to explain. Hey, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. And it is just one day before Halloween and John McCain is telling voters to be afraid, very afraid of democratic dominance in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): John McCain is warning of a Washington horror show. A Barack Obama, Senator majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are "lowering our defenses" as the GOP nominee puts it and raising our taxes.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My opponent is working out the details with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid of their plans to raise your taxes, increase spending and concede defeat in Iraq.

ACOSTA: It's a campaign message some dub as boo.

MCCAIN: You know, my friends, this is a dangerous three-some.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The idea of letting these guys spend and tax without anybody there to stop them scares the American people. Those undecided voters who have not yet committed to Obama, this argument can work with them.

ACOSTA: Pelosi who remains a popular conservative target says there's nothing to be afraid of.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: If the democrats win and they have substantial majority, Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan.

ACOSTA: But many republicans are still fuming over what they consider Pelosi's less than bipartisan speech in the House just before the initial defeat of the bailout package.

PELOSI: They claim to be free market advocates when it's really an anything goes mentality. Those days are over.

ACOSTA: Obama has his own boogieman as in the man who has controlled the White House for the last eight years.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The biggest risk we can take is to embrace the same old policies that have failed us =over the last eight years. ACOSTA: But voters have little patience for one party government. Bill Clinton's democratic Congress was swept way in just two years by Newt Gingrich's contract with America. And Karl Rove's dream of permanent republican majority didn't last long.

CASTELLANOS: So if Obama is elected republicans may not be in the wilderness for very long. You can see a republican Congress back in two years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And one party in power can only do so much. Unless the democrats can gain nine seats in the Senate and reach that magic number of 60 seats the republicans will still have the power of the filibuster. Remember that word.

CHETRY: Right. And there is a chance that they could gain those nine seats.

ACOSTA: It's a real chance. We'll have to look at how things shape up. A lot of people thought it was a stretch six months ago. Not so much now.

CHETRY: A tough fight for a lot of incumbents. Jim Acosta, thanks.

ACOSTA: You bet.

ROBERTS: John.

ROBERTS: Sarah Palin focusing on policy on the campaign trail speaking to voters in the key swing state of Ohio. Palin talked about the need for energy independence framing it as a national security and economic issue. Our Mary Snow is live in the battleground state. She joins us this morning from Cleveland. This is an area of real expertise for Sarah Palin. Are people there in Ohio buying the message, Mary?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, certainly her comfort zone. The question is, though, having this policy speech so late in the game, will it really make a difference?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): Stumping in the must win state where republican Sarah Palin shifted the focus to her signature issue, energy independence. She called for a clean break from the Bush administration and said relying on foreign oil poses a security risk.

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Across the world these pipelines, refineries, transit routes and terminals for the oil that we rely on and Al Qaeda terrorist, they know where those are.

SNOW: Palin toured a solar power facility in Toledo. She mentioned solar energy but stressed the need for nuclear energy and more drilling. She didn't mention Alaska's national wildlife refuge where she supports drilling and John McCain does not. Some political observers say it's a little late for this kind of a policy speech as candidates give closing arguments.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: What it does do and whether I think there's wisdom to it, is that she need to bolster her intellectual credentials in the sense that she knows something about substance because she's been ridiculed on so many other fronts.

SNOW: Fronts like the focus on Palin's wardrobe and apparent rifts in the McCain campaign about Palin's performance. In Ohio where polls show McCain behind, political observers say Palin still plays well to republican audiences but her favorable ratings have fallen as she's gone on the attack.

PAUL BECK, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: I think that independents in particular don't want to hear these partisan themes. It really turns them off in a campaign.

SNOW: And while Palin started her day on policy, the political attacks picked up soon after as Joe the plumber joined her on the campaign trail.

PALIN: Because of an encounter with Senator Obama what Joe the plumber and the rest of us finally found out is that Obama says now he wants to spread the wealth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: And Palin has been hammering back home this theme of trying to paint Barack Obama as a socialist. But she does plan to turn part of her focus today to national security issues. She's going to be having a round table later in Pennsylvania. John, a number of strategists we spoke with say this isn't a bad idea to have her talking about policy but it should have come weeks ago. John.

ROBERTS: You know, this idea of energy and distancing themselves from the Bush administration, President Bush said in the State of the Union that Americans are addicted to oil. He lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling. He has offered federal lands for anybody to build a refinery on. So how much different are they really?

SNOW: That is a very good point because they really aren't that different and a lot of the policies that have been put forth by John McCain are very similar to the Bush administration. So while she's been saying this about his clean break, in reality a lot of the policies are the same.

ROBERTS: All right. Mary Snow for us in Cleveland this morning. Mary, thanks so much for that. It's now 40 minutes after the hour.

SNOW: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): Electronic election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a huge mess.

CHETRY: Going digital. Why some people are worried that the vote will be undermine by a computer crash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wouldn't know what the vote totals should have been.

CHETRY: You're watching "the most news in the morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, new computer voting machines were supposed to solve problems like the hanging Chad controversy back in 2000 in Florida. But the new machines could actually be creating a whole new set of problems instead. Miles O'Brien joins me now with more. What's wrong now?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, sometimes technology isn't the solution, Kiran. The problem is many of these new computerized machines do not create a back up record of votes. So the computer can make mistakes or be rigged and no one would know it. It kind of makes you long for the gold old days and those big reliable voting machines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): On election day in New York, it will be the end of an era.

JOHN O'GRADY, NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF ELECTIONS: It's pretty cool. 20,000 quantum machine.

O'BRIEN: Really.

O'GRADY: Yes, it's not a light weight machine.

O'BRIEN: And here at the board of elections they have a heavy heart.

Do you know of any case these things being tampered with?

O'GRADY: No. No.

O'BRIEN: Because it's supposed to be impossible/

O'GRADY: It's impossible that I know of.

O'BRIEN: But ever since ugly scene eight years ago, politicos have spent billions of your money to throw out the old and bring in the new. Congress even created a new agency to give states suggestion on what to buy.

ROSEMARY RODRIGUES, ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION: We're hoping that the very design of the testing certification program is so robust that states will want to opt into the program because it will be the gold standard.

O'BRIEN: But eight years later there is no national standard. Election crusader Susan Greenhalgh says the problem is computer voting systems in 17 states and D.C. that leave no paper trail. SUSAN GREENHALGH, VOTER ACTION: Spending a lot of money on equipment without oversight, without a rigorous testing process, without a surety that these will actually going to perform better than what we had before was a mistake.

O'BRIEN: How big a mistake? Princeton computer science professor bought Andrew Appel bought five surplus computerized voting machines like those used in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana and he easily hacked them.

ANDREW APPEL, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: You pry out one of these chips with a screwdriver and push in your replacement. That's it.

O'BRIEN: That's it.

He programmed the replacement to cheat in favor of one party by 10 percent forever.

APPEL: If you found that there were fraudulent computer chips you wouldn't know what the vote totals should have been.

O'BRIEN: So let's have another vote.

APPEL: It doesn't happen usually.

O'BRIEN: Appel says there has to be a voter verified back up as in paper. That's why he is voting for optical scanners which will be used in New York next year when they say good-bye to their trusty ballot behemoths.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Those voting machines were invented in the 1890s. Kind of John Adams meets (Ruth Goldberger) or something. They came into wide in the 1920s. and they were designed to make paper ballots and ballot box stuffing obsolete. The irony is after all these years the experts say paper ballots are the state of the art. I guess everything that is old is new again. Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes. I love it. It makes you feel like you're on price is right as well.

O'BRIEN: The sound of freedom, that chunk, right?

CHETRY: Good-bye to an era for sure.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CHETRY: All right. Miles O'Brien great to see you. Thanks. Well, if you see any voting irregularities when you're heading to the polls we want to know about it. From now until election day give us a buzz at 1-877-gocnn-08 to report any problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS (voice-over): Extending the spotlight. JOE WURZELBACHER: I'm a flash in a pan. I'm not Matt Damon or any of those guys who you know have droves of women and men that want to be them or so on and so forth.

ROBERTS: Joe the plumber, his 15 minutes of fame may turn into 30. You're watching "the most news in the morning."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ROBERTS: Joe, Joe, everybody wants to be Joe. 15 minutes may not be enough for Joe the plumber. Could he become Joe the country music sensation? AMERICAN MORNING's Carol Costello joins us now live from Washington. Carol, I had no idea the guy could even sing.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't think he can. This has to be the most bizarre election ever. Joe the plumber may soon be Joe the country music star. My friends at politico.com dug this up. Joe Wurzelbacher, the average guy from Holland, Ohio could use his other set of pipes and release an album by inauguration day. Why not? The guy is a star. Look at him. He's signing autographs. According to politico, Joe just signed with a national public relations and management firm to create new career opportunities like a book and maybe that country album. If you're wondering if Joe the plumber can sing, as I said at the top of my story, politico reports he knocks around on the guitar but is not an accomplished musician or songwriter.

Now the PR firm helping Joe represents country stars like John Anderson who performs "Somebody Slapped Me," the (Gatlin) Brothers too and they represent Leon (Redbone), and of course, they also represent some Nascar guys. Right now, Joe is busy campaigning for the republicans and making multiple appearances on Fox News. And he's sort of downplaying this Nashville country star thing. But this PR firm is really interested in making him an even bigger star than he is now, John.

ROBERTS: All right. Not to any excursions on Joe, there are plenty of people who have signed record contracts who certainly can't sing. Carol.

COSTELLO: You mean like Paris Hilton?

ROBERTS: You said that, I didn't. But thank you for that, Carol. 51 minutes after the hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): Dorm divided. How do you live in the same tiny room with someone who is voting for the other side? Students, split down the middle.

Plus, they love him -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't seen an intact black family since the Huxstables, and they weren't real.

CHETRY: But secretly they're scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wake up November 5th guys, and he has not won -

You didn't even let me finish, and you started shaking your head.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just devastating. I can't look.

CHETRY: You're watching "the most news in the morning."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Two years ago when you began this journey, the country was not necessarily in the shape it's in now. Is there a sense that you don't want this? You may look at the country and think, you know, when I thought I was going to get this, it was a relatively new car. Now look at it?

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I actually think this is the time to want to be president. You know, if you went into public service, thinking that you can have an impact, now is the time where you can have an impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Welcome back to "the most politics in the morning." CNN is making a change with the electoral map this morning with just five days left to go. Nevada, based from the polling, is moving from the toss-up column to lean Obama. Nevada has voted republican in eight of the last ten elections but CNN's latest polling just in this morning shows Senator Obama now with a seven-point lead, 52 percent to Senator McCain's 45 percent.

Joining us to discuss the key issues in that battleground state, Molly Ball. She's a political reporter for the "Las Vegas Review Journal." Great to see you this morning, Molly.

MOLLY BALL, "LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL": You too. Thanks.

CHETRY: So as we talk about these and these are report estimates, of course, with the CNN electoral map, it's now lean Obama, what changed?

BALL: Well, the national environment seemed to have changed and we've seen the polling trend very closely here in Nevada with the national polling. As you mentioned, all of the polls I've seen this week, about five different Nevada polls have all shown Nevada up by margins ranging from four to 12 but they've been very consistent. And that started to change about a month ago. We had Senator McCain up in most of the polling here in the state, until about a month ago. And that's when Obama started to take a lead. That's when the economy really broke out as an issue. The economy is something that's affecting people disproportionately here in Nevada. We have very high unemployment, higher than national average. We have the highest foreclosure rate in the country, having experienced a huge housing boom, we had a huge housing bust.

CHETRY: Well, let me ask you about that because why didn't that help John McCain then because he's the one at the last debate said you know what I want to help foreclosed home owners. That's one of the things, before we start worrying about the banks, I want to make sure we focus on them. Did that not resonate?

BALL: I don't know. I mean that's something you have to ask voters. We have seen in polling that voters seem to trust Senator Obama on economic issues or maybe it's the democratic party. Also, you have the state's urban strongholds, Clark County is where Las Vegas is, home to about 70 percent of the state's population. That's a predominantly democratic county. That's where these economic problems have hit the hardest. And the rest of the state, the outlying areas, the rural areas are more republican. But they represent less and less of the population. Right. As with so much of the southwest, the demographics changed rapidly.

CHETRY: We've also seen, your state is one that allows for early voting. You have a quarter of the eligible registered voters participating in early voting right now. And we happen to see both in Reno and in Las Vegas, more democrats are coming out to the polls right now. Is that any indication or is that just how it happens to break down right now?

BALL: In previous elections, we have seen that that early voting trend tends to be pretty predictive of how the election goes. That is in those urban strongholds where there are more democrats, but we're seeing more than half of the voters in Clark County and also in Washoe county where Reno is, more than half of the voters so far are registered democrats. You know, we have to give the caveat that that doesn't necessarily say who is winning the election, they could be voting for anybody in the privacy of the booth but we are seeing democrats rushing to the polls, being much more enthusiastic.

CHETRY: We also have apparently two weeks of early voting on the books right now and three groups seem to be lagging behind this overall turnout in your state so far of early voting, which as we said 25 percent. That's new voters, young voters and Hispanic voters. If they fail to turn out in larger numbers what potential impact could you see in your state?

BALL: That could be something that hurts Senator Obama a little bit. Those are all groups of voters that tend to favor him and that he's hoping to turn out at record levels. His campaign has hoped to mobilize. Yes, that was some data that I obtained and wrote about yesterday that showed that the turnout was a little bit lower in those groups as it is traditionally, than in more traditional groups of voters. It could all still change. We still got two days of early voting and then there's election day when generally about 40 percent of the votes are cast here in Nevada. CHETRY: And boy, as we said, a toss-up state now leaning Obama, at least according to our estimates this morning. So for the McCain camp they still have a few days to go. But they also have not been in your state since August 9th. Molly Ball, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.

BALL: Thank you.