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American Morning
Off-Year Elections Test Obama's Influence; White House Still Deciding on Afghanistan Troop Levels; Election Day 2009 in New Jersey, Virginia and New York; In-Depth Look at White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
Aired November 03, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We're just a minute before the top of the hour. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Tuesday, November 3rd. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us. Here are this morning's top stories. Right now, Americans going to the polls. There's a shot live outside the polling station in Falls Church, Virginia, where they're choosing a governor today.
Thanks to our friends at WUSA for that. The contests may be local, but the results will be felt nationwide this morning. We're breaking down what today's vote suggest about President Obama's power of persuasion, his policies and whether the Republican party can come back from a bruising presidential election.
CHETRY: As the work casualties now so as the pressure on President Obama to deliver a new strategy for Afghanistan. Will president size re-election affect the timeline. We're going to be live from the Pentagon, just ahead.
ROBERTS: Plus, he's the voice of the Obama administration, the one who wakes him up at 3:00 a.m. when news breaks. This morning, on our ongoing series, "The Presidential Brain Trust," meet White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
CHETRY: First, though, it is election day across America, and we're watching three big races which may shed some light on how both parties will fare in the near future. First, the governor's race in Virginia where polls show right now Republican, Bob McDonnell, has a double-digit lead over Democrat, Creigh Deeds.
ROBERTS: To New Jersey where Democratic Governor Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie are locked in a race too close to call, though Independent candidate Chris Daggett could throw a wrench into that race by siphoning off some votes from Christie.
CHETRY: Also in upstate New York, there is a little bit of a bizarre battle going on for New York's 23rd Congressional District, where Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out and then threw her support behind the Democrat Bill Owens.
That then pits Owens against conservative and a third-party candidate Doug Hoffman. It's a race that could dramatically impact the direction of the GOP.
ROBERTS: Well, President Obama has got a lot riding on today's elections and he's making that clear. On Sunday he headlined two rallies for New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. Our Jim Acosta is live in northern Virginia this morning.
And Jim, the president is trying to stop Republicans from turning today's vote into a referendum on his presidency.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John, you're right. Voters are heading to the polls right now here in Virginia in a very different political environment. Just one year ago President Obama was riding a huge wave of popular support that swept right through here in the state of Virginia.
But this year is very different and this time around Republicans are hoping to see a sea change of their own.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last year, Virginia, you helped make a movement.
ACOSTA: Watch this 30-second campaign ad, and it takes 17 seconds to figure out who the Democrat is for the race for governor in Virginia.
OBAMA: With Creigh Deeds leading the great commonwealth of Virginia.
ACOSTA: The fact is that Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds rarely campaigned with the president, and Republican candidate Bob McDonnell explains why.
BOB MCDONNELL, (R) VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I think some of the independent voters in particular who might have voted for the president last time, we're seeing a fair number of them coming back to vote Republican this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He tried to nationalize the election because he doesn't want to talk about what's going on in Virginia.
ACOSTA: Just one year after Virginia was hailed as the ultimate red state turned blue, times have changed.
LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Was Obama a factor in Virginia? Yes. I think that's reasonable to say. There's a reason why Republicans are so energized, and it isn't just that they like Bob McDonnell.
ACOSTA: Another factor, taxes. When Deeds stumbled on the question of whether he would sign a tax increase, the video went viral.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you would be willing to sign, you would still be willing to sign a bill that included a tax increase. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not mean to make news with that answer. I didn't mean to change anything.
ACOSTA: Up in New Jersey, where the incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine is in the fight of his political life, President Obama warned voters this is no time to give the Republicans more power.
OBAMA: If I have the mop and I'm cleaning up after that mess and Jon's got the mop and he's cleaning up after someone else's mess, the least these other folks could do is not stand there and say you're not holding the mop the right way.
ACOSTA: Not only is Corzine fending off two opponents, including a competitive independent is Chris Daggett, the governor may have turned off voters with an ad that accused his heavyset Republican rival Chris Christie of "throwing his weight around."
But in both New Jersey and Virginia, it's the economy that's weighing on voters' minds. Now it's bailout-weary conservatives who are fired up and ready to go.
ACOSTA (on camera): Why do you think the Republican is doing better this year than last year?
MINDY BRUBAKER, MCDONNELL SUPPORTER: Because he sees all this spending. My children and my grandchildren are going to be paying off our debt and we need to stop.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And unlike that GOP party feud we've been hearing so much about over the past couple days, it's all harmony here in the old dominion. Here in Virginia Republicans have united behind a very conservative on both social and fiscal issues in Bob McDonnell, and that candidate, John, is poised to win by a large margin here.
ROBERTS: All right, Jim Acosta for us this morning in northern Virginia. Jim, thanks so much.
History could be made in several other races across the country today, by the way. In Atlanta, the city could elect a white mayor for the first time since 1969. Polls show city councilwoman Mary Norwood leading among several black candidates.
CHETRY: Here in New York, independent governor Michael Bloomberg maintains a double-digit lead over Democrat William Thompson. If he wins, it will be his third term.
ROBERTS: Yes, because they relaxed the term-limit issue last year.
There's also a possibility of a first in Houston. It could become the largest city to elect an openly gay woman mayor, and East Parker is in a tightly contested three-way race with Democrat Gene Locke and Republican Roy Morales. CHETRY: And Maine voters there are decided whether or not to uphold a law allowing same-sex marriage. If the question won on Maine's ballot, Maine would become the first state that voters granted marriage rights to guy and lesbian couples. We left out a word there. That would mean the first state that overturns, right?
ROBERTS: No, every state that has put it to a popular vote has overturned it.
CHETRY: OK, so this would be the first state that did not overturn it?
ROBERTS: Correct.
CHETRY: OK.
ROBERTS: Don't go anywhere, because coming up in about 10 minutes time we're going to take a look at why there is so much at stake with Susan Molinari, former New York congresswoman, and Joe Trippi, a former senior adviser to John Edwards 2008 campaign.
And a reminder, stay with CNN tonight. The Best Political Team on Television will be here breaking down all the big races, the results and the exit polls.
CHETRY: Brand-new poll numbers out this morning show that Americans like the job that President Obama is doing overall, but there are some key issues that they're not happy with, like the war in Afghanistan.
According to a new CNN opinion research poll, 56 percent disapprove of the way the president is handling Afghanistan, 42 percent say they approve.
A day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai was declared the winner when his opponent dropped out of a runoff, the Taliban is now claiming victory, saying that it was their efforts to derail the Afghan vote by threats and that the attacks were successful.
Meanwhile, President Obama is still considering his new strategy for Afghanistan, and that includes whether to send thousands more troops to the war zone. Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is following that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Still no indication when President Obama plans to decide what to do about Afghanistan.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the decision still will be made in the coming weeks.
STARR: But Republican pressure is mounting on the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm concerned about this delay. I would hope that the president would make a decision and make it soon. STARR: Privately, many senior military officials are anxious to see a decision from the president. With winter snows on the way, it could still be months before new troops could be in place.
One argument against a hasty troop decision -- waiting puts pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to clean up corruption in his government.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKING INSTITUTION: There's a certain argument for making our decision more patiently and keep leverage on the Afghans.
STARR: All this comes as the casualty rate is escalating. In the last three months, nearly 150 U.S. troops lost their lives. That's more than half of those killed so far this year.
The number of wounded also on the rise. One-fourth of all the wounded since the war began have come in the last three months. Roadside bombs still the number one killer, more so as the number of troops have increased.
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Clearly, the IED threat has become worse over the -- in the six months since -- the six or seven months since the president made the decision to plus up in Afghanistan.
STARR: Some conditions have improved, U.S. officials say. Parts of the Helmand River valley and some approaches to Kandahar City are back in coalition control, although not the city itself. Overall, however, the U.S. military estimates 30 percent of the country remains under strong Taliban influence.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: So what if the president did decide he wanted to send more troops? Well, the army tells us there are three brigades, that's about 10,000 troops, that could be tapped next for duty. They could be ready to go, but not until next year - Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning -- more than half a million pounds of beef have been recalled after two people died, one in New Hampshire and another in upstate New York, from a possible outbreak of E. coli bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control says more than two dozen people are sick.
The beef was produced by Fairbanks Farms in Nashville, New York. It's stamped with the letters EST followed by the number 492.
CHETRY: Voters in Vallejo, California, will decide today whether to add a tax on texting. The city is a bit north of San Francisco and grabbed headlines last year when it went bankrupt. The officials are still looking for ways to generate revenue. The city's mayor right now says "We are absolutely at the bare bones." ROBERTS: If you haven't booked your flight home for the holidays yet, you're being rewarded with, you guessed it, more fees. Most big carriers just upped the usual holiday surcharge from $10 each way to $20 each way.
CHETRY: The World Series is going back to the Bronx thanks to the Phillies' second baseman Chase Utley. He hit two more homeruns last night in an 8-6 win to beat the Yankees and keep Philly alive. He now has five homeruns in the series, and that ties him with Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, for most home runs ever in a single fall classic.
So, game six, set for tomorrow night in Yankee stadium.
ROBERTS: It is Election Day across America, the off-year election. We'll break it all down and talk about the races and what they could pretend for 2010 coming up with Susan Molinari and Joe Trippi. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Straight ahead on the Most News in the Morning, inside the presidential brain trust. What is it like speaking for the commander in chief? Today, as only the CNN White House team can give you, an in depth behind-the-scenes look at press secretary Robert Gibbs. That's coming up right here on A.M.
CHETRY: It's 13 minutes past the hour. New this morning, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with President Obama in just a few hours before giving a speech to a joint session of Congress. She is expected to urge America to join forces with Europe in the fight against global warming.
Merkel will be the first German leader in 52 years to address Congress.
ROBERTS: You have probably seen the commercials or gotten the jingle stuck in your head, but "The New York Times" reports freecreditreport.com maybe lure you into a $15 monthly fee. So much for it being free.
There is actually a government mandated site where by law anyone can get credit reports without paying. To find out how, head to fdc.gov.
CHETRY: Also, would you ditch cable or your satellite and get all of your TV from Apple's iTunes. "All Things Digital" is reporting that a deal may be in the works to do just that. The monthly cost would be just $30. But the big question is can Apple get enough broadcasting cable networks on onboard to make that service worthwhile.
ROBERTS: It is Election Day, and while it certainly has a different feel than this time last year, there are some races that are getting an awful lot of attention. Here to talk more about that and what it portends for the future, Susan Molinari, Republican former New York Congresswoman and principal with Bracewell-Giuliani, and Joe Trippi, a Democrat and former senior adviser to John Edwards 2008 campaign. Great to see both of you.
Let's take a look, first of all, at our latest CNN Opinion Research Cooperation poll on the president's popularity. It finds that he's got 54 percent in the approval column, 45 percent in the disapproval column as to how he is handling his job as president. Susan Molinari, do you think that today's politics is local, or is there a national tinge to it?
SUSAN MOLINARI, SENIOR PRINCIPAL, BRACEWELL-GIULIANI: There's no doubt a national tinge to it. I don't think this is the end of the Obama presidency. I think what it shows is that the magic wand doesn't work as well as we thought a year ago, or is as protective so that when President Obama came in and he brought this landslide of Democrats with him, that's not working anymore.
Right now what we're seeing in the races that we talk about in New York, in New Jersey, and in Virginia, what you're starting to see are Republicans getting off the ropes, engaging in a fair fight and, again, without that sort of mantle of protection that President Obama that many candidates thought President Obama might have been able to give them.
That has larger implications as Congress moves in to dealing with the issues like health care and global warming, particularly for some of those southern conservatives. This isn't just about the elections that are taking place today. This has a lot to do with President Obama's policies moving forward.
ROBERTS: What do you think about that, Joe? Republicans certainly seem poised to make some gains this year.
JOE TRIPPI, SENIOR ADVISER FOR SEN. JOHN EDWARDS 2008 PRESIDENTIAL RUN: I think it would be a big mistake for either party to read anything out of tonight and today's elections. I mean, the fact is that voters voted for change a year ago and they're going to vote for change, the urge for change tonight.
You see this in -- you look at Corzine in New Jersey, for example, I mean, the numbers that this guy has as favorable, unfavorable are near fatal, yet the Republicans are having a really tough time mounting a candidacy that might. Yes, I mean, it's going to be a tough fight.
Corzine might actually win. I don't think that's a big win for Democrats, but if Republicans win it, it's not going to be anything to go crow about. And in New York, in New York there isn't a Republican candidate on the ballot. They were knocked off by a third party candidacy that threatens even the Democrat up there. So, you know, it looks to me like I'm looking at this, both parties should be forewarned. Incumbents in both parties in 2010 should be forewarned that voters are looking for change and if you're an incumbent, get out. You know, you should be very worried in 2010. ROBERTS: Right. Right.
Let's talk about that New York race that you just alluded to, Joe. That's the 23rd congressional district. It was Bill Owens against Dede Scozzafava in terms of the party nominee and then there was Doug Hoffman who is the conservative party, third party nominee, who was in there as well.
And then some very prominent Republicans, among them Tim Pawlenty and Sarah Palin threw their support behind Hoffman saying that Scozzafava is just too liberal. They basically ran her off the ballot. She dropped out of the race. She threw her support behind the Democrat, Bill Owens.
Susan Molinari, do you agree with what happened to Scozzafava, the way that she was targeted by the conservative wing of the Republican Party?
MOLINARI: You know what? I don't think it was necessarily surprising, though. Let me say when we talk about her being a moderate Republican and that's what a lot of people have said, this is a fight between the moderates and the conservatives.
When I was in Congress, Congressman John McHugh, whose seat she's looking to replace, he's now the secretary of the Army, were both considered moderate Republicans. We both got national ratings of 73 percent on the conservative rating scale. Dede had a 45. She ran on the working party family line with President Obama and with Senator Kerry against Republicans on those particular lines.
ROBERTS: So, do you agree with what happened to her?
MOLINARI: He didn't really have a good Republican under (INAUDIBLE). You know what? I think it's probably best for the Republican Party because I think it does show -- and here's where the (INAUDIBLE). It's not on the social issues. What it is is on the conservative budgetary, smaller governments, smaller growth, no stimulus support and that's where Republicans really unite. And I think that's where Democrats have to be most concerned.
ROBERTS: Yes.
MOLINARI: Our fight, our conservative base taking over right now is on that area which really, you know, unites the Republican Party. A strong, fiscal, sane way of doing business, smaller government.
ROBERTS: Joe...
MOLINARI: Everything that President Obama is trying to reverse right now.
ROBERTS: Joe Trippi, "Politico" had an interesting take on this this morning on their Web site. They say, quote, "The conservative coup in upstate New York did much more than lay bare the power of conservative activists. It exposed how little control GOP officials hold over this surging and formidable political movement." You know, Scozzafava had the support of Michael Steele from the RNC, Pete Sessions of the National Republican Congressional Committee, also John Boehner got behind her. What does this portend for moderate candidates in the Republican Party for next year? People like Charlie Crist?
TRIPPI: Well, I mean, I hope that this is how the Republican Party thinks this worked because it's not what happened up there. Hoffman did not run as a conservative so much as a guy who kept saying that the Democrats picked 11 chairmen picked their candidate in a backroom and the Republican 11 chairmen picked their candidate in the backroom. And if you want two parties to pick guys in the backroom, vote for one of them. If you want somebody who speaks for the people, vote for me.
The conservatives in the Republican Party move to support Hoffman, but he's winning because independents have moved to him. If Republicans decide that the news tonight is we got to be more conservative than we already were under George Bush and the eight years that he was in power, then they're going to run themselves off the rail. So I think it's a complete misread. If you look at tonight and say, hey, we wanted, you know, conservative one in New York, let's be more conservative than we already are, they're going to be in deep trouble in 2010.
If people really look at this election for what these results may portend if Hoffman wins, it's that, look both parties, we want you to change. If you're not going to change, get out of the way. I think that's what voters -- voters are voting for the same kind of change that they voted for a year ago.
ROBERTS: And we'll be watching this very closely. Joe Trippi, Susan Molinari, always great to catch up with you. Thanks so much for coming in.
MOLINARI: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right.
You want to stay with CNN tonight. By the way, the starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, the best political team on television will be live as the election results come in. We'll have it all for you. But boy, New York 23rd race, what an interesting one that is.
CHETRY: We'll be talking about that one for a while to come for sure.
Meanwhile still ahead, we continue with our special series "Presidential Brain Trust" where we take a look at the people closest to our president. Today, we're talking about Robert Gibbs. Dan Lothian is going to take a look at the White House press secretary and his relationship with the president.
It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Speaking for yourself can be tricky enough, but imagine having to speak for someone else every day on issues that are so important. Imagine it's your job to speak every day for the president of the United States knowing how easily you could put your foot in your mouth. That's the reality for White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
Our Dan Lothian has got more on our in-depth series, "The Presidential Brain Trust," and he's live at the White House for us this morning.
Hi, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, John. Well, you know, Robert Gibbs says that his daily briefings with the press and his dealings with the press really are like a high wire act. Everything that he says is closely scrutinized and if he makes a mistake, it's not only a bad day for Robert Gibbs, but most likely a bad day for the administration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Robert Gibbs is rarely on time for his daily briefings.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Sorry for being late.
LOTHIAN: But he's always ready to spar.
GIBBS: I'll plead guilty to counterproductivity. Is there any evidence currently going on that I'm controlling the press? Poorly, I might add.
LOTHIAN (on camera): You like to use wit, humor, sarcasm sometimes. Is this an effective strategy?
GIBBS: You tell me. Look, I will say this, I think there's no doubt that using a little humor to get out of a bad few questions isn't an altogether bad technique.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Gibbs likes to dance around a question, handing out yes or no answers sparingly as he tries to avoid a minefield.
GIBBS: There's a certain high wire element to the whole thing. My father likes to remind me that he always thought my mouth would get me into some sizable amount of trouble, which it can on any given day.
LOTHIAN: He reveals part of his safety net involves speaking fairly frequently with former White House spokesman.
(on camera): So even now?
GIBBS: I talked with Mike McCurry yesterday on -- to get his feedback on a question that was sort of nagging me a little bit and...
LOTHIAN: And what was that question?
GIBBS: I'm not going to get into that. Good try.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Gibbs started working for Mr. Obama in 2004 during his Senate race following a stint on John Kerry's presidential campaign. They clicked and grew close. In the tight circle that now surrounds the president, Gibbs is in the inner bubble, giving him more access than recent press secretaries.
GIBBS: I can walk in and ask him a question at any given time, pick up the phone and talk to him about something at any given time, I think, makes my job easier on me and hopefully better for those that are asking the questions.
LOTHIAN: He tries to think like him, talks for him and breaks news to him in the middle of the night.
(on camera): You're the 3:00 a.m. wake-up call.
(voice-over): It was Gibbs who informed the president of a North Korea missile test and that he'd won the Nobel Peace Prize.
GIBBS: Trust me, it is a job I would gladly give to anybody who would volunteer.
LOTHIAN: But it's part of his portfolio which has everything but sleep.
GIBBS: It is always there. That is certainly a challenge. It can wear you down. If you didn't enjoy the job that I had, it would be the worst job in all of Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: The one thing that Robert Gibbs says that he doesn't like about his job is the fact that he's become a celebrity of sorts. He says he finds it awkward that complete strangers approach him out on the street to talk about the administration -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, when you're on television every day representing the White House, people are going to get to know you. I mean, what do people say? Are people nice when they came come up or do they wag a finger in his face? Do they complain?
LOTHIAN: He said that apparently people are pretty nice. In fact, they have a lot of good things to say about the administration. And he only pointed out, that listen, there a lot of people behind the scenes who are doing a lot of the hard work that allows me to go out there and get that message out there to the American people. So it doesn't appear that anyone is throwing anything at him. He says he finds the whole situation awkward.
ROBERTS: Dan Lothian with a glimpse behind the curtain this morning through the inner bubble. Dan, thanks so much. And tomorrow in our ongoing series, "The Presidential Brain Trust," our Barbara Starr looks at the relationship between the president and the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. Gates has worked for presidents on both sides of the political aisle all during a time of war. That is tomorrow right here on the Most News in the Morning.
We're coming up on the half hour. Here are this morning's top stories.
Congress moving to ban laptops and other personal electronic devices from airline cockpits. North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan is spearheading the effort. He expects to introduce a bill next week. It's designed to prevent another incident like the one last week when two Northwest Airlines pilots were distracted by their laptop computers and overshot their destination in Minneapolis by 150 miles.
CHETRY: Well, the Midwest is seeing an unusual amount of rain and flooding this fall, so much so that even the experts at the National Weather Service are left a little bit perplexed. Last week's heavy rain in Missouri and Illinois has caused several rivers to spill over their banks flooding thousands of acres of farmland during what's usually the driest time of the year.
ROBERTS: And a rude awakening for morning commuters in Philadelphia. The union representing thousands of transit workers went on strike overnight. The walkout shutting down subway, bus and trolley routes that carry about a million riders each day throughout the city. Union leaders walked out of contract talks late last night. They say, a work stoppage is the only way to get justice.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama facing more pressure to decide on the future of the war in Afghanistan and whether or not he will send more Americans to the fight. Here joining us with very unique perspectives are two people with a lot at stake in this decision.
Karen Irwin is in Delta, Ohio. Her son, Mike, is 24. He is on his second tour in Afghanistan. He's been there since January and her other son, James, by the way, is also in the military. He's not just on the frontline right now and she supports sending more troops to Afghanistan.
Also joining us Lisa Leitz is in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her husband is an F-18 pilot with the Navy flying missions over Afghanistan and she is against sending more troops.
And Lisa, let me start with you. It's great to have both of you with us. I want to talk about your husband first. This will be his third deployment in three years. As the president considers his options for Afghanistan, if you had a chance to speak directly to our commander in chief, what would you say about sending more troops there?
LISA LEITZ, HUSBAND IS FIGHTER PILOT IN THE U.S. NAVY: Well, thank you for having me. I believe that we shouldn't send additional troops to Afghanistan. In fact, I think we should pull out of Afghanistan entirely. I think that after eight years of war it has become quite clear that especially to those of us who are the very few Americans who are really suffering in this war that the price is not worth it.
A number of Americans have lost their lives, many military families are being completely crushed by the burden of these wars and we have very little to show for it. We have a corrupt Afghanistan government and we have a number of people who are still trying to attack us, particularly not because they belong to the Taliban or terrorist organizations, but rather because we are occupying them.
CHETRY: And I want it bring in Karen because, Karen, you think it is very important that we complete the mission in Afghanistan. As I said, you have two sons that are currently serving in the military. If you could talk to the president as he decides on what to do with Afghanistan, whether to ramp up the troop levels there, what would you say?
KAREN IRWIN, SON CURRENTLY SERVING SECOND DEPLOYMENT IN AFGHANISTAN: Thanks for having me. I would tell the president that our soldiers, our brave young men and women, including my son, have invested a lot of their time in support of that country and our country, putting their lives on the line.
Some of them have given the ultimate sacrifice and I think that they deserve support of our government and support of our people to give them everything they need to complete this mission and to win, leaving a free Afghanistan, leaving the people the opportunities, the personal opportunities that we have here in our country.
CHETRY: And do you think that, Karen, what Lisa said, do you ever think about that that perhaps we don't have as much to show for it as much as we had hoped eight years out of this war and that some of the stuff is out of our control, government corruption and the training of Afghan troops, are those things that concern you, though?
IRWIN: I do know for a fact that we have been training Afghan troops. It's a continuing operation. If the government is corrupt, then that's where we need to get our political people into the country. We need to get the diplomacy started. We need to secure the country so that we can get our politicians and our government in there and help this government grow and become a growing democracy. I think we need to do very much in Afghanistan what we were able to do in Iraq.
CHETRY: And, Lisa, and I know you talk about the sacrifice of a small group of people, almost constant deployments in some cases and just how long people are away and the small segment of our population that is being asked to sacrifice. What is the solution? Or do you think we should pull out of Afghanistan altogether and come home now?
LEITZ: I do. I think that the solution in Afghanistan is political, it's economic and it can be accomplished through NGOs and through the international community. I think that it's quite clear that a military occupation is not what Afghanistan needs.
CHETRY: What about what Karen has said about honoring the lives lost and completing the mission?
LEITZ: You know, as a military family member, it breaks my heart to think of all of us who lost loved ones, who have had to handle loved ones who had psychological and physical injuries and, yet, I don't think that we honor sacrifice by continuing to make a mistake. I think that we should honor those lives by doing what's right and what's right is to leave Afghanistan.
CHETRY: And both of you, I understand this is just so extremely personal at the same time that this big public and political debate is playing out and, Lisa, just tell me a little bit about what life is like for you. You talk about being with your husband for nine years, married for five and what, and it is like 26 out of the past 36 months he's been gone.
LEITZ: Yes, by the time he gets home, he would have only been home - he's home based for 10 months out of the last three years. And that's really hard. You know, it's hard on a marriage and it's hard on people who have children and for us who are military family members means constant lives lived in fear.
The fear of the knock at the door, the fear that your loved one is going to be a different person when he comes home. The fear that you may not get to make the kind of family decisions that you want to and, in many ways, we had to put a lot of our lives on hold.
My husband and I bought a house here in Arkansas and he's never seen it since we've bought it. I had to move across country by myself. These kind of things are really difficult and I think that every day military families are asked to make those sacrifices and when we're asked to make them at the kind of pace that we are right now with these wars, you really have to ask the question, is it worth it? And I don't think that the actual policy is worth it.
CHETRY: That's why we wanted to see your perspective today and Karen, as well. I know it hasn't been easy for you either. You talk about, you know, sometimes the only time that they can communicate, your sons, is e-mailing at 2:00 in the morning because that's when they get a chance to get online, and also you have a new grandchild at home as well. What it is it been like for you and for the wives of your sons?
IRWIN: It is always a difficult endeavor. It's hard to describe the feeling that you have that is a mixture of fear and overwhelming pride that, you know, that your child, that you have raised and tried to instill values in them has made this choice.
My son, both of my sons have enlisted in wartime knowing that they would spend time in a war environment, whether it's Afghanistan or whether it's Iraq. They made that choice. My son married his wife. They have a child all done knowing that they're, you know, knowing that they're a military family and that they would be separated and yet they made those choices and we're very proud of them.
There's a lot of sleepless nights, but we consider that as a military family or the family member of someone in the military and in harm's way as our part of serving our country. That's what we do for our country and that's what our children are doing for our country.
I want to leave Afghanistan in, in a situation where they're free and they can become an ally of ours and then my son can be proud of what he left behind in Afghanistan that his efforts were not for anything and that he has a good story to tell his children and his grandchildren.
CHETRY: Well, everyone owes you a big thank you in this country for sure. The sacrifices of military families can not be overstated and many of us pray for the safety of your children and your husbands daily. So thanks to both of you for being with us. Karen Irwin and Lisa Leitz, we appreciate it.
LEITZ: Thank you.
IRWIN: Thank you.
CHETRY: Also to read more of what Karen and Lisa have to say about this issue, you can head to our show page cnn.com/amfix. It's 38 minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's that time again and in the next few months, you should be receiving a 2010 census form in the mail. It happens once a decade.
CHETRY: Well, the government is trying to count us, but not everyone believes that their motive is pure and that's making it difficult for some census workers going door to door trying to convince people to participate.
Carol Costello is live in Washington with this "AM Original." And Carol, so you say that in rare cases these census workers are getting pretty chilly receptions.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pretty chilly receptions. There's a lot of distrust in government out there these days. I'm sure you all know that. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census as is required by the Constitution tries to count every single person in the United States. Soon you'll start seeing commercials on television and in April you'll get a 2010 census form in the mail.
You're saying, so. Yes, you may be saying that, but not everybody is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): We'll call him Jay. He works for the U.S. Census often going door-to-door to convince people to fill out their censuses forms.
"JAY," U.S. CENSUS WORKER: I spend a lot of time on the road. COSTELLO: He prefers we not show his face so he can talk more freely. He loves his job but says it is becoming more difficult because of talk like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a short form that every American will get next year. Does the federal government really need to know our phone numbers?
COSTELLO: Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachman told CNN she will only list the number of people in her household on her 2010 census form because the Constitution doesn't require any information beyond that.
"Jay" says that just reinforces the fear that some Americans already have about the census.
"JAY": Some of them are pretty blunt. I'm not talking to you. I don't want anything to do with the government. Get off my property or call the police.
COSTELLO: It's why he takes this German shepherd along with him in his truck and never knocks on doors after dark. The Census Bureau is determined to calm fears and change the minds of tens of millions of Americans who won't fill out their census forms in 2010.
ANNOUNCER: On April 1st, 2010. Our nation will be counted.
COSTELLO: It's spending more than $300 million in advertising to convince Americans to do their civic duty, as is required by law.
ROBERT GROVES, DIRECTOR, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU: It should take every household about ten minutes to fill out this form. The questions are questions you've answered plenty of times.
COSTELLO: Groves says the constitution requires the government to count the whole number of persons in each state. It does that every 10 years. But critics like Bachman maintained that the 2010 census goes beyond that by asking questions not only about who and how many live in your house, but about race, sex, birth dates and, yes, your phone number.
The Census Bureau says all of that information is important because not only does the census count determine how many lawmakers represent each state, but how federal tax dollars are split between local communities.
It's a message "Jay" hopes sinks in. It would make his job a whole lot easier.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And just so you know, John and Kiran, the questions on the 2010 census form are almost identical to the questions that were on the 2000 census form, including the one about your phone number, which the census bureau tells me, they only ask in case you fill out your form wrong and they need to contact you later. All the information in the census form that you fill out is extremely confidential. It is against the law to use any of that information against you and to leak any information about you out to the public.
ROBERTS: Good to know.
CHETRY: Good tips, Carol. Also, did anyone weigh in yet on your blog? We want people to weigh in on our blog, we want everyone to head to CNN.com/AMFIX and tell us what you think about it. Is it an invasion of privacy or, is it just hey, it's got to get done.
ROBERTS: And tomorrow in part two of Carol's report, an eleventh hour request to add one more question to the censuses, and that is are you a U.S. citizen? It's creating quite a controversy. That's tomorrow morning on the most news in the morning.
And coming up next, never seen before backstage access to the Obama campaign. It's 45 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
They started following an up-and-coming senator. His name, Barack Obama. Then he decided to run for president.
ROBERTS: It was an incredible case of being in the right place at the right time for a group of filmmakers who ended up being eyewitnesses to history. HBO will debut their documentary tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern and our Alina Cho got a sneak peek.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And the filmmakers fully admit they really did get lucky. Guys, good morning.
You know, when you talk to Edward Norton and the other filmmakers involved, they all tell you the reason they were able to get so close to Barack Obama is because they got in early. They started following him a year before he announced his candidacy, back when they thought they were just doing a little film about a freshman senator from Illinois who had great potential. How much? They had no idea.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): In the HBO documentary "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" this young campaign caller demonstrates a time when few people had heard of the man who now is president. Watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Obama. He's a candidate running for president. Of the United States of America.
CHO: The film follows the first family beginning a full year before then Senator Obama announced his candidacy. When that happened, Senior Campaign Strategist David Axelrod had his doubts about the film. That's when actor Edward Norton, one of the film's producers, pleaded his case. EDWARD NORTON, PRODUCER, "BY THE PEOPLE": The first time we actually interviewed Axelrod, he said, "How did this happen?" He said, "I don't want to be here. I don't think this is a good idea."
CHO (on camera): So what did you say to him?
NORTON: Well, basically, I said to him, listen, you know, we - we will - we will put everything that we're doing here in a box, in a vault, until this election is over. Nothing that we are doing will be exploited, and I think slowly we won him over.
CHO (voice-over): What you see here is extraordinary access. You hear Malia and Sasha's voices, Michelle Obama's struggle with whether her husband should run.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: How is this going to work? What would be the schedule? How often would Barack be on the road?
CHO: And there are moments the filmmakers admit they'd never thought they'd get.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I was practicing the speech for the first time and I came to the end where I talked about King speaking in the Lincoln Memorial and - and I choked up and I had to stop.
CHO: Amy Rice and Alicia Sams directed and filmed much of the documentary on the trail, with the man they called Barack. So when Barack started to succeed...
ALICIA SAMS, CO-DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, "BY THE PEOPLE": Full-time job all of a sudden.
CHO: They started to get nervous.
AMY RICE, CO-DIRECTOR/PRODUCER, "BY THE PEOPLE": I think my stomach immediately started to hurt, because I - I felt like this is a huge opportunity and I - you know, I don't want to mess this up.
CHO: A documentary the filmmakers hope will be part of the historical record.
CHO (on camera): If you knew then what you know now, would you have approached things differently?
NORTON: No. I mean, I think - I think we only succeeded because we didn't know enough to do it wrong, and I think it - it's a real love letter to the democratic process.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHO: "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" debuts on HBO tonight at 9:00.
You know, when I asked the filmmakers what surprised them about the current president, they all told me that he really does live up to the name, guys, "No drama Obama." They said they'd be with him on big primary nights, he'd win by big margins, he'd lose by big margins, but he'd always be just like this - just like that. Which, as I mentioned before...
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) when you're a documentary filmmaker...
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: ... you want this and you want this. You don't want just - hmm.
CHO: You want the laughing, you want the crying. The other interesting thing is you know that 9-year-old campaign caller, you know, he's trying...
CHETRY: What a cutie!
CHO: He was trying... this is early on in the campaign, obviously. He was trying to explain to the person on the other end of the line that he was talking not about Diana but about Obama. Turns out that that person on the other end of the line thought he was trying to sell him a llama.
CHETRY: But talk about a grassroots campaign, you've got 9-year- olds calling for you, right?
CHO: That's right. And it really was, you know, showcasing the democratic process as much as the candidate. You know, those people that you never see, those young staffers who really helped elect him.
ROBERTS: Great inside look at a campaign. Alina, thanks so much.
This morning's top stories just minutes away, including Election Day 2009. The key races in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York State. Could some Blue states turn Red?
CHETRY: Plus, driving without a license. Get caught and your car will be impounded. Well, it's on the ballot today in Denver. Is it keeping roads safe or is it trying to crack down on the illegals?
ROBERTS: And which foods really put your kids at risk? A doctor bottom lines 25 products most people use every day in a new book. We're talking to her.
Those stories and more coming up at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's a hotly debated question. Is the chemical Bisphenol A or BPA safe for us? Well, the FDA is set to weigh in by the end of the month. But meantime, a new Customer Reports study found high levels of BPA in almost all canned foods, foods you probably have in your kitchen.
CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now to talk more about this. So Elizabeth, is the FDA taking another look at just how safe BPA is because of studies like Consumer Reports?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. There have been so many studies that have come out that show that BPA is ubiquitous. It is so very hard to avoid, and there have been studies that suggests that there may be a link between BPA and all sorts of health problems, everything from heart disease to fertility issues, even to aggression in toddlers.
So now the Food and Drug Administration says, OK. By the end of November, we're going to start the process of coming up with new limits on BPA. They haven't changed those limits since the 1980s. Everyone agrees that it's time. For example, Japan got rid of BPA in certain food products more than 10 years ago and you can see the results in their population when they do tests, the BPA levels in people's bodies are way lower than they used to be - Kiran.
CHETRY: That's very interesting. And you've told us before different ways that we can check things out. A lot of people say after your report they look on the bottom of the plastic bottle. They look for the 7 to see if it contains it (ph). But also some products advertise themselves, like baby bottles for example that I see saying BPA-free. But what about the average consumer, maybe somebody who's not as vigilant? How do you avoid BPA?
COHEN: If you want to avoid BPA altogether, you've got quite a bit of work in front of you. It's very hard. And you can just take a look at some of these cans that I have in front of me. These hold vegetables or tuna fish. This one holds soup. They all have some level of BPA in them, according to Consumer Reports.
If you truly want to try to avoid BPA as much as you can, don't eat canned foods. Eat things, for example, that are fresh or that are frozen. But it is very difficult to get rid of it all together because it's in so many different - in so many different kinds of containers. So you could try using glass containers. That might work. You could try using porcelain. And for baby products, this is much easier. So many of them now are labeled BPA free.
CHETRY: Sounds good. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning with some great information. Thank you.
ROBERTS: We've got our top stories coming up in just 90 seconds.
It's Election Day across America. Some big races to tell you about, some very interesting ones as well. We're live from the polling stations coming right up.
Fifty-eight minutes after the hour.
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