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CIT Bankruptcy; "USS New York" Docks; Afghanistan Election Run- off

Aired November 02, 2009 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Here's some of the top stories that we're following right now.

Good news for Ford. The company earned a surprise profit of $1 billion for the third quarter. Ford credits the "Cash for Clunkers" program and the fact that its American rivals are still having money troubles.

Officials in San Francisco expect to open the Bay Bridge a little later today. But the good news comes too late for more than 200,000 drivers in San Francisco looking for an alternate route on this morning's commute.

You can barely see it there, can you? The bridge is the main artery for traffic coming in and out of the city, as I'm sure you know. It's been closed for nearly a week now.

You are looking at some live pictures of the USS New York as it pulls into Pier 88 in New York City. Those ceremonies taking place as we speak. It looks as though she is portside now.

The ship is partly made from steel that was salvaged from the World Trade Center site, 7.5 tons, in fact, structured into the bow of the vessel. It will be officially commissioned this Saturday.

Well, it's election day tomorrow, and while most of you won't be voting, what's happening across the country in races big and small could be a bellwether to 2010. Democrats in New Jersey hope President Obama has coattails. The president was out stumping for incumbent Governor Jon Corzine. He's in the race of his career against Republican Chris Christie and independent Chris Daggett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS DAGGETT (I), NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This whole election is very unsettled. I think that it's very much up in the air.

BOB MCDONNELL (R), VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You can work hard for months and months during a campaign but it comes down to the get out the vote effort.

MARY NORWOOD (R), ATLANTA MAYORAL CANDIDATE: We are expecting a run-off. We've got an awful lot of candidates in the race.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: One of the more interesting races may test one's loyalties to their party against their own ideology. Case in point, a Republican Party candidate who was chased from the race not by her opponent, but from key members of her own party.

CNN's Jim Acosta explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEDE SCOZZAFAVA, CANDIDATE: Just call me Dede.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was like Halloween candy for conservatives. Dede Scozzafava, the embattled Republican candidate for Congress in upstate New York, didn't just drop out of the race, she was practically thrown under the party bus by a parade of GOP leaders in favor of Doug Hoffman, the self- described conservative party candidate.

DOUG HOFFMAN (C), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We're fighting for our children and our grandchildren's future.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: We were in the middle of, what I think, of a political rebellion going on in America. And this rebellion are by people who really have not been actively involved in the political process and don't really care if you're a Democrat or a Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you hear me now? Can you hear us now?

ACOSTA: House minority leader John Boehner credits conservatives who protested President Obama's agenda at tea parties and town halls across the country for grabbing the GOP's attention, but Boehner worries whether some went over the top.

BOEHNER: I'm a big believer in Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment, never talk ill about another Republican.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That was not followed in this race.

BOEHNER: I know.

ACOSTA: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was one of Scozzafava's biggest critics, saying on her Facebook page: "There is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dede Scozzafava.

ACOSTA: A pro-abortion rights and pro-stimulus Republican, Scozzafava said in a statement after dropping out, "I've been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record."

The GOP split has given the Democrat in the race, Bill Owens, a fighting chance to win a district that's normally a slam dunk for Republicans.

VALERIE JARRETT, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: It's rather telling when the Republican party forces out a moderate Republican and it says, I think, a great deal about where the Republican party leadership is right now. I think it's becoming more and more extreme and more and more marginalized.

ACOSTA: Tell that to Rush Limbaugh.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The Republican party needs to learn something. If it goes country club blue blood moderate it's going to lose. If it goes Reagan conservative and commits to it, it's going to win landslides.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Jim Acosta joining us now live from Washington with more on this. So Jim, we understand the former Republican candidate has endorsed the Democrat in that race.

ACOSTA: That's right. It only gets more interesting in upstate New York. Dede Scozzafava has actually come out and endorsed Bill Owens, the Democrat in that race, after she was really besieged by conservatives, not a big surprise there that she would do that.

Now the big question is, how this affects the outcome. Doug Hoffman, the conservative in that race, is apparently pretty far ahead, according to some late in this contest polling. But it's unclear as to what the final outcome will be. It's really too close to call at this point.

COLLINS: Yes. And then also considering what the implications could be for the GOP on a national scale.

ACOSTA: Right. A lot of people are asking questions, what does this mean for other races in next year's midterms. Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, is running for a Senate seat there. He's got a very strong primary challenge right now from Marco Rubio, a Cuban- American conservative down there. A lot of conservatives already talking about jumping ship with Charlie Crist and jumping on the Rubio campaign.

Down in Texas, Sarah Palin has weighed in down there and sided with Rick Perry against his GOP challenger Kay Bailey Hutchison, the senator from Texas who is now leaving that seat to run for governor down there.

So this is a big debate that's going on inside the GOP. Some of it played up, of course, by Democrats. You saw the White House senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, talking about that, which is of course not that surprising in all of this considering they're in a tough political climate right now. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right. It's only getting more interesting by the day. Running out of time now.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COLLINS: Jim Acosta, sure do appreciate it. Thank you.

ACOSTA: You bet.

COLLINS: In fact, the outcome of a handful of elections could reflect the political move of the country. In New Jersey's governor race, incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine fending off challenges from Republican Chris Christie and independent Chris Daggett.

Democrats also struggling in Virginia where voters will pick a new governor there. Creigh Deeds apparently trails Republican Bob McDonnell in those polls. Then in Atlanta, council woman Mary Norwood is trying to become the city's first white mayor since 1972.

And another woman hoping to make her mark. Annise Parker is running to become Houston's first openly gay mayor. Check out our political ticker for all the latest campaign news. Just log on to cnn.com/politics, your source for all things political.

Your money, it's issue number one at the White House today. This morning, President Obama meets with his economic advisers. Their focus - coaxing the nation out of its worst recession since the Great Depression.

Many economists say recovery is already under way but most Americans are still feeling the pinch. Discouraging news on the economy as it is fresh in the morning headlines today. The New York -- the new workweek I should say starts with one of the biggest bankruptcies in U.S. history, commercial lender CIT Group has now filed for Chapter 11 protection and that could impact you in a couple of different ways.

Christine Romans is joining us now from New York with more on this. So Christine, with the holiday shopping season just around the corner, what does it really mean for retailers in all of this?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, retailers, Heidi, some 60 percent of retailers, the apparel industry, footwear, the people who make shoes, these are people who rely on CIT for much- needed cash. You know, when you're going to stock the shelves at a Wal-Mart, for example, you make those orders months in advance with the people who make this, the people who import these stuff, all along the food chain CIT is an important source of capital. So that you can get this moving until you finally sell that product.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Think of that. The money comes at the very end of the chain, months until the customers are actually buying it. So this is a big, kind of sprawling, widespread company. It loans to about a million small businesses, 30 different industries, not just retail. Aircraft leasing, railcar leasing, it's a big - the biggest small business lender to minorities and to women.

This is something that could potentially be felt in a lot of - for example, if you're going to open a Dunkin' Donuts, you're going to expand a small restaurant, this is the kind of firm that you go to get that capital, to get those loans and that money to keep moving on here.

So a lot of people in the retail industry, in particular, kind of concerned about what this is going to mean for them. It's already pretty tough out there. They're wondering, they're hoping that lending is not going to fall off from this company in the months ahead and that store shelves will be able to be stocked as well going forward.

So Heidi, you might recall that we first started talking about CIT in July. The company had gone for another bailout from the government and the government didn't give it to them so now here we in the bankruptcy process.

COLLINS: Yes, exactly. But what does it mean though, Christine, when we watch these companies that taxpayers have bailed not do well, fail.

ROMANS: This is the first specific example of a TARP money that we are not - a financial company getting TARP money that we're not going to get our money back. $2.3 billion is what taxpayers put forward in this and it is very unlikely that with the bankruptcy process that that money will go back to taxpayers.

So the big losers here are taxpayers and also the shareholders. People who own stock in CIT, those are the people who are going to lose out here. The hope is though, that since this is prepackaged bankruptcy, that business will be able to keep going as normal.

You can see it's the fifth largest bankruptcy ever, Heidi. Something interesting about that list, I think, is that all of them except for Worldcom happened in the past year. It just really underscores kind of a dangerous and nerve-racking environment still out there for some of the financial companies, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Boy, that's for sure. What about a "Romans' Numeral" for today?

ROMANS: Ninety million. And this number comes directly from CIT itself, trying to let people know just how important it says it is to the overall economy. Ninety million is the number of employees whose businesses use CIT cash to get their operations running.

So, it just shows you kind of how this company has its fingers in so many different parts of the American economy. But I will say, Heidi, that it doesn't look as if Washington's going to step in. They've been monitoring this whole situation for months, of course, but it doesn't look like the Obama administration is going to offer another bailout to this company, by any stretch of the imagination.

It's as if the financial sector, while fragile, is strong enough to withstand this. This, they don't think is going have systemic impact on the overall economy.

COLLINS: All right.

ROMANS: And the hope is they can come out on the other end and then it can try to...

COLLINS: Sure.

ROMANS: ... with a prepackaged bankruptcy that it can keep going.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we know it all takes a very long time that process.

ROMANS: Yes.

COLLINS: We'll watch. All right. Christine Romans, thank you. In fact, we'll continue our look at the CIT bankruptcy and its impact on you now. Poppy Harlow of CNN Money.com is going to be joining us at the bottom of the hour for that.

Meanwhile to Afghanistan, calling off its presidential run-off election this morning comes after opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah quit the race. That let election officials to declare an official winner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZIZULLAH LODIN, AFGHANISTAN IND. ELECTION COMMISSION: We declare that Mr. Hamid Karzai which got the majority votes in the first round, and he is the only candidate for the second round of elections of Afghanistan, in 2009, be declared as elected president of Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: President Hamid Karzai had a lot of votes thrown out over fraud. In fact, it dropped his tally down low enough to force that run-off. Abdullah Abdullah withdrew, over fears of more fraud in a second round.

To Pakistan today. Three separate suicide bombings, at least 35 people are dead, 70 others wounded, including civilians. The first bomb went off outside a local bank in Rawalpindi, that's just 18 miles from Islamabad. Police say the bomber was most likely targeting soldiers who were lining up to pick up their monthly paychecks. Several civilians were also killed in that blast.

Two suicide bombings at a police checkpoint just hours ago wounded three police officers, four civilians were wounded there, some of them seriously. No word yet if there were any casualties.

You are looking now at live pictures of the USS New York docked port side, if you will, at Pier 88 on the Hudson River in New York City. What's so special about this ship? Inside its bow 7.5 tons of steel that was salvaged from the debris of the World Trade Center.

Earlier this morning the USS New York stopped across from the World Trade Center site, dipped her flag and delivered a 21-gun salute. All of this as members of the police and fire departments of New York and 9/11 family members looked on.

Earlier in fact I had a chance to talk with one of the crew members about the significance of its new ship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENSIGN TIMOTHY GORMAN, U.S. NAVY: And I've told the guys in my division, 20-something guys, the young guys, that of any ship in the Navy, this is one ship where you can really be proud of your mission and remember on a daily basis of why we're here, and why the ship is so special, the steel in the bow, we're very mindful that we're representing the families of victims of 9/11 and the victims, the people who died that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: In fact, one of the other things really remarkable about this ship, this will be the first voyage, the first assignment for many of these Navy men and Marines that have never gone out to sea before. Some of them very, very young.

So also in a few minutes, I'll be talking with the captain of the "USS New York" about this morning's journey and what's next for this newest member of the Navy fleet.

Rob Marciano joining us now with a look ahead to weather in New York and all across the country. Good morning to you, once again, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Veterans Day right around the corner, election day tomorrow. And that big boat coming into New York harbor, it's a good day to be an American, for sure.

COLLINS: That's right.

MARCIANO: And New York Philly fans, you got a big game tonight. We'll talk about that. Shouldn't rain too much over the ceremonies there in New York harbor but it has been raining, as you know, across the mid south and there are flooding issues in Louisiana. We'll run that down when CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Once again, I want to show you these great pictures coming in to us, New York City. You're looking at the Hudson River and specifically Pier 88 there, the new home for a few days for the "USS New York." This is the Navy's newest pride, if you will, getting ready to be commissioned on Saturday, the 7th.

This is mainly significant obviously because of the construction of this ship with that 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center that was salvaged and then reconstructed into the bow of the ship. In fact, in such a manner that makes this ship a little bit more stealth than many others the way that it is put into sort of a point hexagonal structure there in the front if you can get a look at it, you may see what I'm talking about here.

Also the crest of this ship with the words "never forget" to honor those that were lost on September 11th. So we'll continue to follow this story. We're going to be talking very shortly here - in fact, right now - with the ship's commander, Captain Curt Jones is on the line with us. Commander Jones, can you hear me OK?

CMDR. CURT JONES, U.S. NAVY: I can, indeed.

COLLINS: All right. So tell us, how was it, the maiden voyage coming home to New York City?

JONES: Well, it's wonderful to be here pier side in New York. We've already experienced an incredible reception and we are honored and humbled to be here.

COLLINS: Tell me a little bit more about the journey. I know this is a very emotional one for all of New York and much of the country, in fact, who may be watching now as you stopped at the World Trade Center site and gave that 21-gun salute honoring all those who were lost on September 11th.

JONES: That's correct. With having the World Trade Center steel built into the bow of the ship, that's something that we have, as part of us, and we feel each and every day, it definitely increases that sense of mission and purpose that each and every one of us have.

COLLINS: Now I know you are a New Yorker as well. I can only imagine this particular assignment had to be touching to you personally as well.

JONES: Absolutely. As a native New Yorker and still carrying a New York state driver's license, to be associated with this ship, this crew, is absolutely unbelievable. It's pretty much a professional dream come true.

COLLINS: Really? Really? I know you also have crew members there that are very young. A lot of them, in fact, this will be their first assignment for deployment, is that right?

JONES: That's correct. 60 percent of my crew has never been assigned to a ship before, that means they're either new to the Navy or a previous assignment didn't have them on the ship. I've got a junior and new crew to being on a ship and so they're adapting well and coming up with creative solutions for some of the challenges we've been throwing at them.

COLLINS: Yes. We're getting some great shots in right now of all of them lining the perimeter of the ship there standing at attention in their uniforms. I imagine the excitement was also pretty hard to contain when a ship goes out for the very first time. What did you tell them? Did you have an opportunity to talk with them a little bit about why this particular ship is so special? JONES: Well, it's been something that we've talked as we were coming together. We've been kind of building the command and with people for the last year, year and a half, and that's been a part of the dialogue that we've been having since day one.

As we've gone along, we've tried to incorporate some of the experiences that each of us have had either, you know, during 9/11 and afterwards and then some of the interactions and people that we've met along the way and sharing some of those experiences.

COLLINS: Well, we certainly love being able to see these pictures live, as that ship, your ship, came to port today. Pier 88. I know you'll be commissioned on Saturday. And then quickly, what happens next? People may not understand, it takes quite a while before you actually deploy.

JONES: Absolutely. What we do now is go through a process where we go through certifications and test and we have some additional maintenance that gets done on the ship until before we're actually ready to deploy for the first time. So there's some considerable training and additional testing that goes on both for the ship itself and a lot more at this point for the crew.

COLLINS: Well, as you transport those Marines around the world into different areas of conflict, we certainly do appreciate your service and those who are on the ship with you with that incredible crest that reads "never forget" on the USS New York.

Commander Curt Jones, thanks so much for your time today and certainly the best of luck to you and your crew.

JONES: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: To Rob Marciano standing by now with more of the weather picture across the country. Hey there.

MARCIANO: Heidi, I want to highlight a little spot in Louisiana that's having a problem with some flooding. They're not going to see any more rainfall I don't think for the next couple days but they're sandbagging along the Red Shoot Bayou along northern Louisiana. They are under a major flood right now.

And the good news is the waters will be receding over the next several days but only one to two inches per day and the levies are being threatened and are suspected to be weakened. So they've got Army reservists out there trying to help out, sandbagging. Obviously, damage already done to a lot of spots across parts of northern Louisiana.

Let's talk about records for the month of October. This is rainfall in Shreveport. So 20 inches of rain, that's quite a bit, it's a lot more than they're used to and that's the most they've ever seen for the month of October. Little Rock, Arkansas seeing over a foot and St. Louis, Missouri, also seeing over a foot of rain.

Here are some of the counties that are highlighted as far as still under flood warning. Most of these are fairly large rivers or at least moderate size rivers. Off to the north we go, the Red River across Fargo, under a minor flood warning at this hour. Don't expect to see a lot of rain there.

Across parts of Chicago and the Western Great Lakes, Detroit seeing a bit of rain. That's not going to be heavy. And then some sprinkles, I mean, at most I think, across parts of the New York City area for those festivities that are happening in New York harbor. So it could be a little bit better but certainly it could be a lot worse.

Temps in the lower 80s across parts of Los Angeles. Lower 70s through parts of Texas. And lower 60s through the south. Fifty-four degrees expected in Chicago. And 54 as well in New York. I want to point out one thing, yesterday or last week, I should say, Heidi, was a pretty active weather pattern with a lot of storminess. We had that ridiculous snowstorm out west. And this week at least a start is fairly quiet. Things moving along quietly from west to east.

COLLINS: Nice.

MARCIANO: That will change, I think, as we get closer to the end of the week. But in the meantime, enjoy a quiet start for the month of November.

COLLINS: All right. Beautiful. We will do just that. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

COLLINS: A look now at our top stories. In Ohio this morning, we learned a seventh body has been discovered inside a home in Cleveland. That's according to our affiliate WOIO. Police also now working to identify the bodies of the six women already found at the home.

Over the weekend, police arrested 50-year-old Anthony Sowell (ph), a convicted rapist, in connection with the case.

The commute home should be a whole lot better for drivers in the San Francisco Bay area. The bay bridge is expected to reopen, in time for the evening rush hour. You're looking at a live picture, as much of it as you can see. It's been closed for nearly a week due to repairs. More than 200,000 people travel across that bridge every day.

Hope has faded for survivors of last week's collision between a Marine Corps helicopter and a U.S. Coast Guard plane off the coast of southern California. The rescue mission for those nine people now turns to a recovery effort. An investigation is under way into the cause of the crash.

Flexible spending accounts let you pay medical expenses tax-free. Right now the government doesn't limit how much you can put in, but that can all change if some lawmakers get their way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: The health care reform bills in Congress are packed with little details and some could become big issues for you and your family, like a change in the cap on contributions to flexible spending accounts.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining me now to talk a little bit more about this. All right. So let's talk first just in case some people aren't familiar, with what a flexible spending account is.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. There are different kinds we're talking now about the health care FSA. So what you do is you stock away some money and you save it and then you can use it as pretaxed dollars to pay for medical expenses, dental bills, over-the-counter drugs, contact lenses, those sort of things. So you save money, sometimes big money, because you're paying for all of those without having to get taxed on that portion of your salary.

COLLINS: Right. And you can put as much into that account as you want?

COHEN: Well, there are federal limits of $5,000. So that right now you can only put $5,000 away. And if these health care reform bills come to pass, become law, you can only put $2500 away.

COLLINS: Half.

COHEN: It's cutting in half the amount that you'd be able to put about in a health care FSA.

COLLINS: So how is that going to affect everybody?

COHEN: Well, you know, interestingly enough, not a whole lot of people sock away $5,000 in their health care FSA. If you did, if you are used to putting away $5,000 and all of a sudden can only put away $2500 you'll end up paying about $250 more on your taxes. But again, most people don't get anywhere near that $5,000 limit.

COLLINS: OK. Well, that makes sense. I mean, I guess if you are someone who has an illness you are someone who is likely to put away more money, right?

COHEN: That's right. So it would affect someone who is more ill. I mean, most of us, thank goodness, don't spend $5,000, you know, on our health care. But if you did, then it would cost you an extra $250 a year.

COLLINS: All right. Well, understood. On average then this means what for the health care consumer?

COHEN: For the average person it might not mean anything. Because on average people only put away about $2100 to begin with. So a limit of $2500 isn't going to affect you. You haven't even got to that limit. But if you're very ill and you're used to putting away $5,000 to cover a chronic condition or something like that, yes, this will cost you $250 a year. COLLINS: All right. We'll continue to follow that one as well. So much going on out there by health care reform.

COHEN: Two thousand-page bill. Right. It's hard to keep it all straight.

COLLINS: All right. Elizabeth, thank you.

COHEN: Thank you.

COLLINS: The elections happen more than two months ago and today, Afghanistan has finally declared a winner. Will this tip the decision on sending more U.S. traps over to the country?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Just days before Afghans were supposed to go to the polls again, election officials canceled the presidential run-off. Now, Hamid Karzai has another term after his opponent dropped out. Sara Sidner is standing by live for us in Kabul with more on this.

Sara, good morning to you. How did the election commission come to this decision? Did they just decide that since there was no opponent, they would go with the incumbent?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the one thing to remember here, Heidi, is that the Afghan Independent Election Commission is really navigating unchartered waters, never having to deal with this sort of thing before.

But they basically stated three main points how they came to this decision to elect Mr. Karzai as the second-term president. The first thing they stated was that they looked at constitutional law. They cited some articles from that and from the electoral law and said that those gave them the power legally to do what they did, which was to cancel the run-off because at the very last minute, the only other contender in the race, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from that run- off. And the constitution clearly states there has to be two people in a run-off.

Secondly, they said, look, this vote, we knew, would pose a danger to voters, and we decided that also for them, this was not a good idea.

And lastly, the money. We're talking about somewhere around $20 million to put on this race. Heidi?

COLLINS: Well, I guess the question still exists, then, of what the Afghan people think about this. Because I know there were many of them that we've been reporting on here who were calling fraud in this election and wanted to have another shot at this. Another shot of voting and casting their own votes democratically. What so far has been the reaction to this? SIDNER: Well, clearly there are two camps here. There is the camp that is for Mr. Karzai, who says this is what was going to happen anyway. You have to remember that he did, even with the fraud involved and even when votes were taken away from his count, he got about 49.67 percent of the votes, whereas Dr. Abdullah Abdullah got somewhere around 30 percent. So, clearly he was in the lead there. And so, they're happy with the decision.

But then of course you have people who wanted Dr. Abdullah Abdullah to have a chance and wanted basically a new president and a new power structure here and are upset with this, saying this is just another case of fraud, and they do not like this decision.

But all in all, it seems the international community seems to be pleased with the decision and has sent out statements. The Obama administration sending out a statement of congratulations to President Karzai. Also congratulating the commission for looking at the legal issues and making a legally sound judgment. The British prime minister doing the same, as well as the U.N. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Sara Sidner covering the run-off election that is not. All right, Sara, thanks so much.

We, in fact, are following three separate suicide bombings today in Pakistan now. At least 35 people are dead, more than 80 wounded as a result the blast. The first bomb went off outside a bank in Rawalpindi. That's 18 miles from Islamabad. The bomber was targeting soldiers in line to pick up their monthly paychecks. Several civilians were also killed in the blast.

Two other suicide bombers also set off explosives, this time at a police checkpoint in Lahore. At least 17 people were wounded, 3 of them have serious injuries.

To Wall Street now. Stocks have been rallying since March, but in October, investors are hit the brakes. Susan Lisovicz in New York now with details on this.

Susan, good morning to you, once again. Investors seem to be back in a buying mood today, at least. We're up by triple digits.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's the wonderful thing about Wall Street. New month, new trading day, new sentiment, yes. Say good-bye to October.

S&P -- the S&P 500, Heidi, fell in October. It's not -- not talking about a huge decline, but it ended that remarkable seven-month winning streak that began in March. S&P 500's important because so many of our mutual funds track it.

But today, what's adding to certainly boosting investor confidence? Ford. This is an American automaker that didn't take any money from the government, didn't file for bankruptcy and reported a surprise profit of nearly $1 billion. Car sales rose. Gained market share. Cash for Clunkers helped out. But it also has cars that people want to buy. It has the Ford Focus, which is a small, fuel-efficient vehicle; the Escape, which is a hybrid SUV and the F-150, pickup, Heidi, still the most popular truck.

Ford also cut costs. It hasn't reported year-over-year, an annual profit, I should say, since 2005. But this is obviously very encouraging, and Ford shares are up nearly 10 percent. As you mentioned, we're seeing tripl-digit gains for the Dow. The NASDAQ's doing nicely, as well. Up 1 percent as well. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. So, we didn't see a triple- digit gain on the Dow at the open, though. What exactly prompting that surge?

LISOVICZ: Good point. We did have the Ford numbers, and Ford had terrific rally right at the get-go.

What we didn't have were three economic reports we got at the top of the hour of -- they're all good. Pending home sales surged. Up 6 percent, the most since 2006. Good indicator of future home sales. Obviously, that tax credit that expires this month. Everybody's trying to rush in and get it.

When there is a surge in home buying, it boosts construction. That was a separate report. Construction unexpectedly rose in September. Finally, something on manufacturing, which is obviously a very distressed part of the economy. It grew in October for the third straight month. Part of it is strong overseas demand because of the weak dollar.

But something you and I, Heidi, have talked about before, businesses have pulled back so much they literally had to restock their shelves. They kept their inventories so tight. So, that also helped manufacturing. And we saw job growth in manufacturing for the first time in 15 months. You put that altogether, you've got triple digit gains, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. Very good. All right. Thanks for spelling it out for us. Susan Lisovicz, appreciate it. We'll check back later on.

As we mentioned at the top of the hour, one of the biggest lenders to small- and medium-sized businesses has filed for bankruptcy. For more on that and what it means, let's check in with CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow in New York.

Poppy, good morning to you. A lot of people -- maybe not have heard of CIT, though. What more can you tell us about the company?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. Well, they may use it or they may shop at retailers that use it. This is a company, Heidi, a lender, as folks know by now that plays a critical role in the business world in this country, financing everything from Dunkin' Donuts to movies. A lot of folks didn't know that. Dunkin' Donuts, here's a prime example. This company wanted to grow nationally, grow around the world a few years ago. You've seen more of them in your neighborhood. I'm sure they turned to CIT, this company, to get the loans to buy up that commercial real estate for those new locations.

Another example, the movie with Kate Beckinsale, the crime thriller "Whiteout." That movie was made by Dark Castle Entertainment. They got the financing for that from CIT. So, a host of businesses and industries relying on this company.

This is a bankruptcy we have been expecting for a while. What CIT insists, Heidi, is that despite the bankruptcy filing, this reorganization, they will continue with business as normal.

That is still to be seen. That's the company line. We'll be watching that closely. But what this could mean and why this could be positive, Heidi, is that it might weed out those unsustainable businesses that can't find lending elsewhere. That's one of the potential upsides to all of this, Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. So, that must be why some people are saying it could be a good thing, this bankruptcy.

HARLOW: Yes, that's right. I think also it shows somewhat, we'll see how this plays out, the capitalist system might be working. Not every company gets a second bailout, right? The government can now at this point, some are saying, allow big companies to go bankrupt, reorganize and not disrupt the entire financial system.

What CIT did was they went back to the government in July, they asked for a second bailout and they were rejected. This is a company that got $2.3 billion in T.A.R.P. funds in December. Very, very unlikely that the U.S. taxpayers are going to get that back. The Treasury saying this morning funds, recovery of the funds, will be, quote, "minimal." And why this is significant is that it marks the first loss under the bailout program where we know that taxpayers will be out multiples of billion of dollars.

At same time, the auto financing company, GMAC -- we've heard about them for a week now, Heidi, reportedly looking for more money. They might get it. Why? The government owns a 35 percent stake in the company and auto dealers and customers rely on that for borrowing. Whereas CIT, that bankruptcy may not jeopardize the health of the system, if GMAC goes under, that might.

That's the difference. A lot of folks are weighing in on this on CNNmoney.com today. Of course, its a big headline. I want to read two quick comments. Because people are really infuriated about this.

Jim wrote in, he said, "This really upsets me. I knew from the beginning nothing good would come out of lending insolvent companies money. Each and every company should have gone into bankruptcy without any government assistance." That's what Jim thinks.

Peter wrote, "Disaster! CIT provides loans to small businesses. These businesses hire one half of the entire private sector labor force across the country. Makes me wonder who has loan money left to fill the void left by CIT."

Two very good points, two very different points. Weigh in in this story on CNNmoney.com. But again, the fifth largest U.S. bankruptcy, Heidi. We're following it. Interesting to see if it's business as normal as CIT says it will be.

COLLINS: Yes, exactly. Exactly. All right, we'll be watching closely. Poppy Harlow, thank you.

This morning, an arrest in the fatal shooting of four men outside a TV shop in North Carolina. Police in Henry County, Virginia, captured 29-year-old Marcus Chavez Gonzalez inside a hotel room earlier this morning. Investigators did not reveal the possible motive but say the killings were not random. Gonzalez is also a convicted kidnapper.

This morning in South Florida, a hearing for five boys accused of setting fire to a 15-year-old. Police say they targeted the Deerfield Beach teenager after a squabble over a bicycle and a video game. The teenage victim was critically injured with severe burns. Police say his attackers doused him with rubbing alcohol and then set him on fire. Four of the suspects could be charged as adults. The fifth suspect is only 13 years old.

Little Rock, Arkansas. A trial is set to get underway today in the trial of a man accused of killing a popular TV anchor. Curtis Lavelle Vance has pleaded not guilty to capital murder, rape and burglary. Police say he brutally beat Anne Pressly as she lay in bed last October. She died days later without regaining consciousness. Prosecutors say they have DNA evidence and taped confessions.

Thirty thousand miles, 31 NFL stadiums, three friends and one mission. It's an incredible journey we'll tell you about in just a moment.

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COLLINS: A very special road trip that turned into a mission to honor a fallen friend. Nathan Thompson met Joe Lusk at West Point. There, they talked about go on a road trip someday and stopping at every NFL stadium and some college ones, too.

The dream went on -- went on hold, though, when Joe died in Kuwait in 2005. Since then, Nathan's thought of doing something to honor his friend. And this fall, he decided to take a trip he and Joe had always talked about. From this past September through the beginning of January, Nathan with two of his friends will travel more than 30,000 miles and visit 31 stadiums.

Nathan Thompson is joining me now from Buffalo, fresh from yesterday's Bills/Texans game, which we'll talk about shortly. Good morning to you, Nathan...

NATHAN THOMPSON, U.S. ARMY VETERAN: Hi, Heidi. COLLINS: ... Thanks so much for being here. Tell us, first, a little bit more about your good friend, Joe.

THOMPONS: Joe, met him at West Point in 1998. We both played on the sprint football team together, and he was a year in front of me. He was a sophomore, I was a freshman. We also had the same major and then kept in contact with each other and were roommates down in flight school in Alabama where we were training on helicopters. So, just had a good relationship, once we first met, and continued that relationship on until unfortunately he passed away in 2005.

COLLINS: Yes, I know those happened in Kuwait. Let me add the great pictures you were able to give us. Thanks for providing those for us.

THOMPSON: Absolutely.

COLLINS: What happened in Kuwait?

THOMPSON: He got there about two weeks before I did. We're in different units but deploying at the same time. I got there about three days before he crashed his -- his Apache was on a training mission, just doing a gunnery right before you go to Iraq, and unfortunately they didn't pull out in time and hit the ground.

COLLINS: I'm so sorry for your loss. I know that it's been very, very difficult for you.

How long did it take for you to start remembering those conversations that you had with Joe about going around the country to all of these stadiums?

THOMPSON: It took a little while. Everything happen so fast. Being deployed in Iraq and keeping busy kind of put that dream on hold for several months. And then I started thinking about it, thinking about good times and having fun again and trying to keep his memory alive and anything we could do. So, that's where, you know, the second half of the deployment, started thinking about doing the trip again and getting everything together for it.

COLLINS: Yes. I'm sure it took quite a bit of planning as we are looking at some of these really great tailgates you've been having. So, remind me who you're going with. Is your brother with you, too?

THOMPSON: My brother Aaron and my friend Nolan.

COLLINS: OK. And so, how many have you visited? How many NFL, how many college stadiums?

THOMPSON: We have 14 NFL stadiums under our belt and seven college games.

COLLINS: Wow. You sound tired.

THOMPSON: A little bit. It's a little exhausting. You get used to it, I guess.

COLLINS: Yes. And I know you had a little bit of trouble with the RV. You're no longer in the original RV this whole thing had been planned around, right?

THOMPSON: Right. It's getting fixed back in Phoenix now. The engine, transmission kind of went out on it in California, about a week and a half ago. So, we're borrowing my parents' Suburban and taking that around for a couple weeks. We're going go to Denver after today and then back into California the following week.

COLLINS: Terrific. Are you guys raising money for fallen soldiers, as well?

THOMPSON: We are. We're raising money for the Joe Lusk Foundation. You can check it out at joelusk.org. Basically what they do is provide financial assistance to wounded soldiers and families of fallen soldiers as well, try to keep them on their feet. Basically provide a bridge between what the Army and V.A. cannot provide and what they can.

COLLINS: Terrific. Terrific. Very good. And that Web site is on the bottom of our screen there. So, we certainly appreciate your time and story. Nathan Thompson, let us know when you finish. We'll talk with you again, OK?

THOMPSON: Absolutely.

COLLINS: I know you've got a long ways to go. So, good luck. Thanks for your service and also for your sacrifice. Thanks so much.

THOMPSON: All right.

COLLINS: You may not have been hearing too much about tomorrow's elections, but they could have a big ripple effect on the entire U.S. political scene. Want to talk more about that with Josh Levs, he's here to explain. Hey, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Heidi. What Democrats and Republicans are watching out for tomorrow and how more than one in ten Americans could be affected soon in a big way. I'll show you.

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COLLINS: Voters across the country head back to the polls tomorrow, and the elections could send crucial political messages to the left and right in America and could lay the groundwork for next year's midterms. Our Josh Levs here to explain more on that. Hey, Josh.

LEVS: Heidi, at your request, I looked for any wacky ballot initiatives.

COLLINS: Oh, they're out there.

LEVS: Yes, there are some. You've got some on gaming and that kind of thing. But I didn't find anything really crazy and out of this world for you. Who knows? Maybe there's something I haven't unearthed yet.

Look, our political researchers have put together a lot of great information we've been sharing with you throughout the day about some major races to look out for tomorrow. I want to show you this story that Yahoo! is carrying right now from the associated Press that says some the elections will shed light on U.S. politics and I have a graphic for you here. Let's go to that.

What the AP is saying that is tomorrow's races will answer important questions on both sides. One, will President Obama's supporters turn out? For example, in states that he pushed hard in last year, and he's been campaigning again recently. Also, independents played a major role in 2009. What kind of vote will they play tomorrow? Will they stick with Democrats in some key areas?

Also, there have been some fissures inside the Republican Party. Interesting to see how that plays out ultimately. That's the GOP side.

Now, quickly, I want to tell you how I mentioned earlier. More than one in ten Americans affected. Mayoral races in 380 cities tomorrow representing a combined population of over 39 million. And you can see here some of the top cities, the biggest of the cities, that are having them. The list there. Start off with New York, Houston, and Detroit.

Let's just skip ahead to this last thing I want you to see. A couple of the fun ballot initiatives or interesting one, rather. Same-sex marriage one in Maine. You have a domestic partnership one in Washington state. Medical marijuana one in Maine also. A lot of these getting a lot of talk.

And we can show you here how to weigh in. If you are going to be voting tomorrow, let us know. You can weigh in at the blog, also Facebook and Twitter, joshlevsCNN. The blog is CNN.com/josh. We'd love to hear from you. So, Heidi, a lot of things we'll watch for you tomorrow, and we will be bringing you results from CNN.com/politics all night.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. Josh, thank you.

LEVS: Thank you.

COLLINS: The USS New York in the shadow of ground zero. We'll tell you how some of those ruins from 9/11 are now on a mission of remembrance.

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COLLINS: You are looking, once again, this morning at some live pictures coming in from New York. The USS New York, in fact, now docked at Pier 88 you see there on the Hudson River in New York City. The bow of the ship containing seven-and-a-half tons of steel that was salvaged from the debris of the World Trade Center. And earlier this morning, the USS New York stopped across from the World Trade Center site, dipped her flag, and delivered a 21-gun salute. All of this as members of the police and fire departments of New York and 9/11 family members looked on. The ship will be commissioned on Saturday and will set out to sea shortly after that.

Have a great day, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.