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American Morning
Election Day 2009; Houston Might Elect Gay Mayor; Stimulus Fuzzy Math; Impound Law Targets Illegals; Warren Buffet Buys Railroad
Aired November 03, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome. It's 8:00 here in New York. Good morning on this Tuesday, November 3rd. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.
Here are the big stories that we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes. America heads to the polls today and the results in a number of key states could signal how voters feel about President Obama, his policies, and whether they think Republicans might be able to do better. We're live in one of the battleground states, coming right up.
CHETRY: A little measure on the ballot in Denver has the nation's attention this morning. It makes it mandatory for police to take your car if you can't produce your license. Some are asking is this about safety or is it a backdoor way to enforce illegal immigration? We'll hear both sides.
ROBERTS: Plus, he's the one who wakes up President Obama at 3:00 AM when news breaks. He faces a room full of White House reporters every day, all asking tough questions. This morning, in our ongoing series, "The Presidential Brain Trust," an in-depth talk with White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the type of relationship we have is -- it's -- I think we think of each other not just as somebody that I -- not just somebody I work for, but a friend of mine; somebody who is likely to -- on any given day -- ask about my son as much as he is to talk about a policy issue. So, I think the relationship you also have to have with that person, because speaking for somebody is -- can be a difficult thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And still ahead, in part two of our special series, "The Presidential Brain Trust."
But first, Americans, right now, are heading to the polls. The state of Virginia will be one of the first to close at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. That's in about 10 hours from now. Virginia, also the site of a feisty showdown for governor: Democrat Creigh Deeds is thrilling Republican Bob McDonnell in the polls.
In New Jersey, Democratic Governor Jon Corzine locked in a virtual tie with Republican Chris Christie, although independent candidate Chris Daggett could throw a wrench into that race by siphoning some votes from Christie.
And in Upstate New York, you have the bizarre battle for New York's 23rd congressional district. Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out and threw her support behind the Democrat, Bill Owens. That pits Owens against conservative Doug Hoffman.
And while President Obama is not on the ballot, he has a lot riding on today's elections. Our Jim Acosta -- live in Alexandria, Virginia, for us this morning.
How's turnout so far, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, that is one big difference between this year and last year. Last year, at this polling place, the folks here tell us the line was around the block. This time around, not so much.
And it was one year ago when President Obama and the Democrats were riding that huge wave that swept right through Virginia. This time, it's different. This time, it's the Republicans who hope to see a turning of the tide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last year, Virginia, you helped make a movement.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Watch this 30-second campaign ad and it takes 17 seconds to figure out who the Democrat is in 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 campaign would the president. His Republican challenger Bob McDonnell explains why.
BOB MCDONNELL (R), VIRGINIA GOVERNOR 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.
CREIGH DEEDS (D), VIRGINIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: He's 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 still would be willing to sign a bill that included a tax increase?
DEEDS: Absolutely. I did not -- I did not mean to make news with that perspective. I mean, 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've got 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, at least these others folks can do is not stand there and say, "You're not holding the mop the right way."
ACOSTA: Not only is Corzine pending off two opponents, including a competitive independent in Chris Daggett...
ANNOUNCER: If you drove the wrong way down a one-way street...
ACOSTA: ... the governor may have turned off voters with an ad that accused his heavyset Republican rival Chris Christie of throwing his weight around.
(on camera): Are you all Virginians?
(voice-over): 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.
(on camera): Why do you think the Republican is doing better this year than last year?
MINDY BRUBAKER, MCDONNELL SUPPORTER: Because he sees all the 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 family feud in the Republican Party we've been hearing so much about over the last couple of days, that is not the case here in Virginia. Here in Virginia, the GOP has lined up behind a candidate who is very conservative on social and economic issues, and Bob McDonnell is poised to win this race by a wide margin, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Jim Acosta for us this morning -- Jim, thanks so much.
CHETRY: And there's the possibility that two cities could see a first after the votes are tallied today. In Atlanta, the city could elect a white mayor for the first time since 1969. Polls show City Councilwoman Mary Norwood is leading among several candidates.
Also in Houston, they could become the first to elect an openly gay woman mayor. Annise Parker is in tightly contested three-way race with Democrat Gene Locke and Republican Roy Morales.
And as Ed Lavandera shows us, Annise Parker's sexual orientation has not been a big factor in this race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Annise Parker is a veteran of Houston's big city politics. She served on the city council and spent the last five years as the controller in charge of the budget. Before politics, she worked in Houston's oil and gas industry. That's what gets the most attention.
The footnote is that Parker is openly gay. She's been with her partner for 19 years and they have two adopted children.
ANNISE PARKER, HOUSTON MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I have always stood up for the fact that I am gay and that's part of the resume that I bring to the table. But it's just a piece of the package.
LAVANDERA: Houston voters haven't always been that accepting of gay political issues. Just a few years ago, Houston voters rejected a plan to offer benefits to same-sex partners of city workers. And 24 years ago, anti-gay candidates ran what was called the straight slate in an unsuccessful effort to unseat a mayor who backed job rights for homosexuals.
Annise Parker was a young political activist then. She says the experience made her want to work harder. She became president of Houston's gay and lesbian political caucus.
PARKER: Houston is a multiracial, multicultural, international city. And I think my election will send a message to the world that, just kind of, Houston is a city that might surprise a lot of folks.
LAVANDERA: But in a mayor's race that some have called boring, Parker is in a tight three-way contest with architect and city councilman, Peter Brown.
PETER BROWN, CITY COUNCILMAN: I think that's now ratcheted up.
LAVANDERA: And Attorney Gene Locke.
GENE LOCKE (D), MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Our campaign is building steam.
LAVANDERA: The three candidates share virtually the same positions on the issues. Houston political blogger, Charles Kuffner says, that makes the election a personality contest.
CHARLES KUFFNER, HOUSTON POLITICAL BLOGGER: It's kind of a matter of, who -- you know, who do you really want in the driver's seat? I -- you know, I as a voter, believe that any of these -- any of the top three candidates would do a decent job. It's a question of, which one do I think, you know, will do the best job?
LAVANDERA (on camera): None of the candidates are expected to get a majority of the votes on Tuesday, which means this race is headed into a runoff. The top two vote-getters will face off again in December.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Ed, thanks.
And a reminder, stay with CNN. Tonight, the best political team on television will be here breaking down all of the races, the results, and the exit polls.
ROBERTS: Also new this morning, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is reaching out to political friend and foe a day after winning a second term by default when his opponent dropped out of a planned runoff. In a phone call, Obama told Karzai he needs to root out government corruption.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Meantime, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll just out this morning shows 56 percent of Americans do not approve of the way the president is handling Afghanistan. Just 42 percent approve.
CHETRY: Well, if Bill Clinton had his way, he would still be president. Speaking in Istanbul on Monday, former President Clinton said that without term limits, he would have stayed in the White House, quote, "until I was carried away in a coffin or defeated in an election." Now, he says, he leaves the politics to his wife and to President Obama.
ROBERTS: Plus, rock 'n' roll legends hitting the stage in Abu Dhabi. It was a big concert after Steven Tyler fell off the stage in Sturgis back in August. Aerosmith was the headliner at a concert series for the Formula One Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates. But don't think just because they were in a Middle Eastern country that the band toned down their act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN TYLER, AEROSMITH VOCALIST: And that's it! Abu Dhabi, you're a Dhabi, everybody do a Dhabi now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll with probably be doing all the hits because I think we're playing to a multinational audience and multi- age groups, and we want to hear the audience cheering as loud for us as they're cheering for the F-1 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Also hitting the stage ahead of the race, Beyonce, the Kings of Leon, and Jamiroquai. And I think...
CHETRY: He's (INAUDIBLE), you know, Jamiroquai.
ROBERTS: Oh, whatever.
CHETRY: He's just laughed out loud though.
ROBERTS: He did.
CHETRY: Name a song. Name a Jamiroquai song.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Virtual Insanity."
ROBERTS: There you are.
CHETRY: There you go.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: I don't know.
CHETRY: We have a lot of music experts around here.
ROBERTS: You know, what do -- what do I know? It's sort of like, you know, my musical education ended with Pink Floyd.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Back in the Sid Barrett days. Well -- so...
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Shall we just leave now and come back in a minute?
ROBERTS: No. (INAUDIBLE).
So, a new measure on the ballot -- Jamiroquai, right -- a new measure on the ballot in Denver today during the elections would automatically impound anyone's car if they're stopped and found to not have a driver's license. Well, is it in the interest of public safety or is it a backdoor to enforcing illegal immigration? We'll find out.
Ten and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: That's not Jamiroquai. That's Jimmy Eat World. I have heard of them. Believe me.
Good morning, Denver, where it's probably, 35 degrees right now. Later on today, mostly sunny with a high of 64.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A measure on the ballot in Denver this morning is getting national attention. It requires police to impound the car of anyone who can't produce a driver's license. But critics say illegal immigrants are the real target here.
Here to debate this live from Denver is Dan Hayes, he's the man who wrote and sponsored the impound initiative; and Jessie Ulibarri, who's the spokesperson for Coloradans for Safe Community.
So, first of all, Daniel, let's go to you. Why the need for this law? Because, already, at present, police have the option they can use their discretion in impounding someone's car if they cannot produce a valid driver's license. So, why need to make this mandatory?
DANIEL HAYES, WROTE IMPOUND INITIATIVE: Well, it's apparent it's not working. We've got four out of 10 people pulled over and being found to be unlicensed, and it's getting to be a real problem -- safety problem because if you're struck by an unlicensed driver, you have to produce insurance for your injuries, your passengers, medical insurance for your own injuries and uninsured motors for your vehicle.
ROBERTS: Jessie, do you agree with that statistic, that four out of 10 drivers who are pulled over do not have licenses? And why are you against the initiative?
JESSIE ULIBARRI, SPOKESPERSON, COLORADANS FOR SAFE COMMUNITIES: Actually, we've never seen those numbers produced and we've never seen a report that actually shows those numbers. We're against the initiative because it creates a big mess for the city and county of Denver.
The way the initiative is structured, it says that if you are a licensed driver and you get pulled over without your license on you, you could actually have your car impounded and then be liable to pay up to $27 in fees. This is a huge burden for any driver and we see as the wrong way to make policy here in the city and county of Denver.
ROBERTS: You know, Daniel, some people are saying, OK, this might be a public safety issue, but some are seeing it as a back door to immigration enforcement on a local level. In fact, part of your initiative says, quote, "When a driver of a vehicle is an illegal alien or may be reasonably suspected of being such, not eligible for a Colorado driver's license, the vehicle driven shall be immediately impounded."
Is this, in part, a back door to immigration enforcement by the local police as opposed to the federal government, which is the one responsible for it.
HAYES: Well, look, if this just affected the people that had a suspended or denied license, I don't think anybody would say a word. But once you include illegal aliens, then you get all this opposition.
But it's a -- there are two groups of people and interestingly, in about the same numbers, you have people with a suspended licenses versus people that are not eligible for licenses. They both are a big threat on the highway and have been to be dealt with evenly. The way it is now, illegal aliens get a small ticket because they're undocumented and often with no I.D. The police don't really want to deal with them. They give them a ticket and often they don't even go to court. They don't need to.
ROBERTS: But let me, let me ask you again, and if you could speak though this directly, I think people at home would be fascinated to find out. Is this, in part, about local enforcement of immigration?
HAYES: Well, a driver's license is issued by the state. This is a state matter. Some states actually allow illegal aliens to get a driver's license. So it is a state-issued license and we have every right to restrict that here in Colorado.
ROBERTS: Jesse, what do you say to the argument that, okay, there may be illegal immigrants who are driving around Colorado. They do not have licenses, they do not have insurance, and regardless of their status, they do represent a public safety threat?
ULIBARRI: I would say that the coalition I represent, Coloradans for Safe Communities, we're concerned about unsafe drivers on the road and we want to get those folks off the road. This policy doesn't do that. The way that this is written, it would get any person who's driving without their license, even if they forgot it at home, forgot your wallet or purse on the table, you would get your car impounded. Although, this does unfairly target one part of our community, it would have broad impacts to every single driver here in the city and county of Denver. And for us, it's not good policy.
I would disagree with Mr. Hayes' claims that people wouldn't come out against this initiative if it didn't include that piece. We're a broad coalition of faith leaders, elected officials, educators, and community-based organizations that says this is not the way to make public policy. We look around and say, why waste $1.5 million of our city resources when we're facing a budget crisis to impound the vehicles of licensed drivers? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And we do recognize that it does unfairly target one part of our community, but it has broad impacts for every single driver.
ROBERTS: Let me just back up, Jessie, to something you said a second ago, you said that this would impound the vehicle of somebody who even left their driver's license at home. Is there not a provision in the measure that says people who can produce convincing, corroborating identification will not have their cars impounded?
ULIBARRI: Actually, it says that you would need to produce your vehicle insurance card, you would need to have a driver's license or record...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Or, or a passenger in the vehicle could also vouch for your identity.
ULIBARRI: Actually, no. What we hear from the city attorney here in Denver and from other legal opinions, convincing corroborating identification, because it's not defined in the initiative and it's not defined currently in law, it would probably have to be some type of government-issued I.D. If you're not driving around with your license, you know, your wallet or purse, and you left it at home on the counter, you're probably not driving around with your passport or your birth certificate, and Mr. Hayes makes the claim that you could just be looked up in the computer. However, we know that that's not the case. The burden of proof on a driver would have to be higher than that.
ROBERTS: Daniel, one other point here. The City of San Francisco did have a mandatory impound law, but they just recently changed their policy, Sunday, November the 1st. First-time offenders will not have their car impounded immediately. They say that this helps build trust with the community, families were sometimes left stranded on the side of the road. What do you say to that?
HAYES: Well, I don't want to pattern Denver after San Francisco. I say that the police are not enforcing this the way they should be. That poll of 4 of 10 was a poll taken by the police in one of the districts. As far as the way it's written to protect people who have forgotten their wallets, I believe the protection is pretty good. If you knew your birth certificate or your birth date and your social security number, I imagine that would be enough to get you off without being towed.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll be watching closely to see if this measure passes today. Gentlemen, thanks for joining us today. Really appreciate it.
HAYES: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
ULIBARRI: Thank you.
CHETRY: Still ahead, Christine Romans joins us with some breaking news this morning on Warren Buffett's new $34 billion deal. It's 19 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" for us now. And we're talking billions and billions and billions of dollars and Warren Buffett. Those two go together, don't they?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's the biggest acquisition by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in the country's history. It's buying Burlington Northern, the railroad company. And Warren Buffett coming out, I love one of the comments in his press release. Warren Buffett basically said, our country's future prosperity depends on having an efficient, well-maintained rail system. America must grow and prosper for railroads to do well and he said this is an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States. I love these bets. It is a $34 billion dollars investment in his company and he is also acquiring a $10 billion dollars in debt obligation, so overall, about a $44 billion deal. A very big deal for this one. The stock is up. He's going to pay $100 a share for Burlington Northern. And that stock is up in the premarket. Futures, overall, are still down a little bit, but this is -- a lot of people are talking about it because it is, you know --
ROBERTS: Wow, when was the last time you heard of somebody wanting to buy a railroad?
ROMANS: Yes. An all-in wager.
CHETRY: A monopoly game.
ROMANS: The 32,000 miles of railway...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: That's right. That's right.
ROBERTS: I noticed he's not buying Amtrak, though.
ROMANS: That's true. So, we'll be talking about this on the floor. A very big deal from Warren buffet.
CHETRY: Pretty cool.
ROMANS: Yes. Also talking about stimulus jobs. Want to do a little bit of stimulus math.
ROBERTS: You had a roman's numeral.
ROMANS: I did. Earlier this morning...
ROBERTS: Which was somewhat controversial.
ROMANS: Okay, 248,000 is the "Romans' Numeral" from earlier. I got so many e-mails and twitter responses. There is this obsession with quantifying the cost to taxpayers of those stimulus jobs, right? All these jobs and cost counting, it might be more politic
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: First of all, lay out the scenario here for those at home who missed it.
ROMANS: Okay, I brought it out here. The administration says 640,000 jobs have been saved or created that is based on $159 billion in contracts for states for roadwork, bridges, to keep teachers in classrooms. Using very simple math, that means taxpayers have spent about $248,000 per job that the White House says were saved or created. 248 - And many of you were just outraged by this number.
ROBERTS: So each job costs $248,000...
ROMANS: Or taxpayers spent that much for that job that is on the book. Critics of the stimulus, though, say, it shows the taxpayers are getting a super raw deal here. But like everything else surrounding the stimulus, it's a little more -- it's not quite as simple as that. And a White House economist told ABC in a couple of days ago that that math is calculator abuse.
Why? Well, these are just jobs created to date. These projects will keep creating more jobs, so the cost per job number will likely go down over time. Yes, that's true. The money obviously is not simply down the drain. Many of you said, why didn't you just give this money to me? Why did you give it to somebody else? I would have done something with it. Well, it's not just throwing the money away. It's creating economic activity, wages, also the supplies are ordered, materials are manufactured, equipment rental, all of this stuff.
Now, the White House has its own formula for this number. Once the stimulus is fully deployed and working, we have reported this number to you many times, taxpayers will have spent $92,000 per job year, as the White House says. Because it's not necessarily one person, one job, per year. And then you could see that tax cuts, that's about $145,000 in tax cuts to be equal to one job year. And fiscal relief, about $116,000.
So, supporters of the stimulus, they want to highlight new and saved jobs with this money. Critics of the stimulus want to say, it's just money down the drain. Look at how much money it's costing. I'll tell you one thing, the politics around this math -- is it math or politics -- I'm not sure. It's both when you talk about stimulus, it's very politically charged and people, both Democrats and Republicans look at these numbers and say, look, I was right. Anyway, more on that...
ROBERTS: It's the great thing about numbers, you can tweak them anyway you want.
ROMANS: And what did Mark Twain say? Statistics, statistics, lies, lies...
ROBERTS: Statistics. Lies, lies. Damned lies and statistics. Yes. All right, thanks.
CHETRY: Well, you know what, we can't get as much clarity as we want about that, maybe we can get some clarity on what is dangerous and what is safe for our children. A pediatrician tapping into a lot of the questions that mothers and fathers ask her all the time. Is this safe for my kids? Is this safe for my kids? She answers some of them. We're talking about vaccines, cell phones, certain foods, swine flu shots. She joins us, coming up. Twenty-six minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, speaking for someone else can be tricky. It's hard enough to speak for yourself, right? So imagine it's your job to speak every day for the President of the United States. That is the reality for White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
CHETRY: And our Dan Lothian has more now in our special in-depth series, "The Presidential Brain Trust." He's live at the White House for us this morning. And Dan, so ten months into the job, how is Robert Gibbs feeling in his role?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he says he is very comfortable, very confident in this role each day. But he describes this job as a high-wire act, where everything that he says is closely watched. And if he makes a mistake, it's not only a bad day for Robert Gibbs, but potentially 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 it 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 mine field.
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 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.
LOTHIAN (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.
LOTHIAN: And what was that question?
GIBBS: I'm not going to get into that, but 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 it 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.
LOTHIAN (on camera): You're the 3:00 a.m. wake-up call.
(LAUGHTER)
LOTHIAN (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)
GIBBS: So one thing that Robert Gibbs says that he doesn't enjoy about his job is the fact that he's a celebrity of sorts. He says he finds it awkward that complete strangers approach him on the street to talk about the administration -- Kiran.
ROBERTS: I'll pick it up from here, Dan.
A question for you -- press secretaries typically don't hang around that long. How long do you think Gibbs will hang out in the job?
LOTHIAN: That's an interesting question. He gave no indication at all that he's tiring of the job, but as you pointed out, this is a high-stress job, takes a lot out of you, takes you away from your family for pretty much all the time, many hours in a day.
And so it's unclear whether he'll make it through the entire administration, you know, all four years. But for right now, he's sticking with it.
ROBERTS: Dan Lothian with us for an inside look at the White House. Dan, thanks so much.
Tomorrow in our ongoing series, "The Presidential Brain Trust," our Barbara Starr looks at the relationship between President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates has worked for presidents on both sides of the aisle, all during a time of war. That's tomorrow right here on the Most News in the Morning.
Checking our top stories now, a stunning report on poverty and its impact on kids. Nearly half of all American children and teens will live in households that depend on food stamps before they become adults. A new study conducted in Washington University in St. Louis found 90 percent of the nation's black children and 30 percent of the of white children will require food stamps to eat while growing up.
The Phillies are still alive, but that may be cold comfort this morning to folks in Philadelphia now dealing with a transit strike. City transit workers walked off the job overnight shutting down subway, bus, and trolley routes that carry about 1 million riders each day.
Union leaders say a work stoppage is the only way to get, quote, "justice."
And Congress is moving to ban laptops and other personal electronic devices from the cockpits of airliners. The measure is designed to prevent another incident like the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by over 150 miles. The two pilots were distracted by their laptop computers.
Senator Byron Dorgan, who chairs the aviation subcommittee, expects to introduce a bill next week -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, thanks, John.
Well, as parents, we all worry. Sometimes we even obsess a little about keeping our kids safe. A lot of question from vaccines to the food we feed them to everyday items in their environment.
Now pediatrician Cara Natterson breaks it all down in a new book that deals with the foods, the medicines, and the chemicals that really put your kids at risk. It's called "Dangerous or Safe," and Dr. Natterson joins us this morning. Thanks for being here.
DR. CARA NATTERSON, PEDIATRICIAN: Thank you for having me.
CHETRY: It's great that you wrote this. I joked around with my OB-GYN once, you should write a book for pregnant women that are Type A personalities that say this is OK, and this isn't. And he goes, sometimes it's not that easy.
NATTERSON: Exactly. I think it's hard to shift through all the data sometimes.
CHETRY: You did a good job. And one of the things that people are really questioning right now is swine flu. Parents seem to be divided. There's the camp where people are waiting in line for hours only to find that they're not going to get it, and there are others are saying, wait a minute, this rolled out far too quickly. Is it safe?
What's your verdict?
NATTERSON: The swine flu vaccine or the H1N1 vaccine is very, very similar to the regular seasonal flu vaccine. Seasonal flu is given 80 million to 100 million times a year. This is a vaccine we know a lot about.
So in my opinion, this is a safe vaccine and this is something we really should be thinking about giving our young, young kids, children who have chronic illness. My children are four and six and will get a swine flu vaccine.
CHETRY: Let me ask you about vaccines in generals, because there have been a lot of questions and fears that parents have, and even though many studies have shown that vaccines do not put your children at risk for other problems, neurological problems, perhaps, things in some cases like autism and spectrum disorder, but people are still nervous about vaccines.
What do you with say to parents that are nervous about vaccinating their children?
NATTERSON: Parents are their children's own advocate. They are looking out for one or two or three children. Pediatricians and public health advocates are looking out for large groups of children.
I think parents are coming at it from a reasonable standpoint, but when they step back and actually look at the numbers, vaccines are very safe. It's overwhelming to give your healthy child three or four or five immunizations at one, that's understandable.
But sit down and talk to your doctor about why a specific vaccine might be important, what the side effects are. I think most parents will be very relieved to know how safe these vaccines are.
CHETRY: Thimerosal -- that is a mercury preservative that some people are concerned about. It's been taken out of most childhood vaccines, right, but in some swine flu doses, it's there. Is that a concern?
NATTERSON: Thimerosal has been out since 2001 from all vaccines except the flu vaccine. Over the last few years it has been taken out of most of the vaccines. This year the H1N1 vaccine will have Thimerosal-free varieties. Those are the single-dose injectable varieties and the nasal mist are both Thimerosal-free. So there are lots of options for parents.
CHETRY: Let's talk about cell phones. There was a study that came out questioning the safety perhaps of cell phones. Of course, the jury is still out on that. But our kids use cell phones a lot. You can't see a teen or preteen without either being on one or texting.
What do you say about the constant cell phone use we see among younger kids these days?
NATTERSON: The data shows that when you put an antenna to your head, that the radiation that emits from that antenna may affect the way some brain cells grow and develop and change. So we just want people to pull the antenna away from their head.
No one knows what this data means. No one knows if it means they'll have more brain tumors in the future, but let's get kids to take the antennas away from their head. That means putting a wired ear piece and plugging it into your cell phone, going back to corded phones at home.
The one thing I do caution parents is that our kids are on their cell phones texting all the time, often walking into the middle of the street while they're texting. To me that's the biggest danger right now. That's the danger we know exists.
Don't let your child look down at the ground while they're texting on their phone. They need to look up and see what's going on around them.
CHETRY: Good advice there.
What about soy? It's gotten a bad rap among some who say, listen, this is a plant estrogen. It's like putting hormones in your body. Is soy safe, and in what amounts?
NATTERSON: Cyto-estrogen sounds a whole lot like estrogen, which is the female sex steroid. It does not work like estrogen in most bodies.
So most parents can be reassured that their children can eat and drink soy products and we don't worry about estrogen stimulating the body.
There is a distinction between organic soy products and conventionally grown or non-organic soy products, and I do think that parents probably should choose the organic variety if they have the option. But in general there are entire countries that use soy as a predominant protein and those folks do very, very well.
CHETRY: I know we're almost out of time here, but I just want to get to the artificial sweeteners, because we worry about weight, worry about weight gain, talking about kids being more obese than we have seen in years past, and a lot of people use Nutrasweet, Splenda, aspartame. What is your general advice on artificial sweeteners?
NATTERSON: They haven't helped us a bit in terms of keeping Americans slim. I'm a big believer in restricting the amount of sugar a child eats every day. But if you're going to have a treat, have a treat made with regular sugar or honey. Have one treat a day, call it a day, and be done.
Let's look at our bigger nutritional picture. That's more important.
CHETRY: So no on the artificial sweeteners?
NATTERSON: It's just not helping. It's really not making any difference in terms of our bottom line. Obesity is an enormous problem in this country. Let's solve the bigger problem.
CHETRY: If you want to read more about a lot of these, and there are many others we couldn't get to, of course, because we didn't have time, Dr. Cara Natterson's book, "Dangerous or Safe: which foods, medicines, and chemicals really put your kids at risk." Great talking to you this morning.
NATTERSON: Thank you.
CHETRY: Thank you -- John.
ROBERTS: In the film "National Treasure," he raced around the nation's capital looking for fame and fortune. On the fortune part, he might want to stop by the IRS the next time he's in town. Nicolas Cage owes a whole whack of money. We'll tell you how much coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It seems like he has three movies out at any given time, but right now actor Nicolas Cage barely has a dime to show for it. He is said to be in deep debt, owing the IRS millions of dollars in back taxes.
But who's to blame for his financial meltdown? Did he trust the wrong people? Our Randi Kaye is taking a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nicolas Cage earned $40 million in just one year. So why is he crying poor? Cage blames his longtime business manager for allegedly mismanaging his money.
A lawsuit filed by Cage last month against Samuel Levin claims Levin, quote, "lined his pockets with several million dollars in business management fees while sending Cage down a path toward financial ruin," and that Cage is now, quote, "forced to sell major assets and investments at a significant loss because of Levin's incompetence, misrepresentations, and recklessness."
The actor owes Uncle Sam more than $6 million in back taxes because, he says, Levin never filed his taxes.
KAYE (on camera): Here's what Cage claims Levin did, or should I say, didn't do. According to the lawsuit, Levin was supposed to provide accurate accounting statements, prepare and file income taxes, and analyze the risk of potential investments in exchange for 5 percent of Cage's gross earnings.
Instead, the actor's accusing Levin of, quote, "gross mismanagement of his affairs which resulted in significant monetary loss." KAYE (on camera): The 45-year-old Cage, who won an Oscar for his role in "Leaving Las Vegas," is suing Levin for at least $20 million, claiming professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
Levin did not return our calls for comment.
To free up cash, Cage, who is married to a former waitress and has a son with her, is unloading a handful of his homes around the country. On the market, this home in Bel Air for about $10 million, this one in Las Vegas for the same price, his home in New Orleans for about $3.5 million, and this in Rhode Island, a 24,000 square foot mansion with ocean views on 26 acres -- list price, $12 million. He already sold this Bavarian castle in Germany for $2.5 million.
Does Cage have a case, or should he have kept a closer eye on his money?
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: We're always all individually responsible for our own taxes. That's an obligation that can't be delegated to an accountant or to a business manager. When you sign the 1040 on the dotted line, you are responsible. And so Nick Cage is going to be responsible for his tax liability.
KAYE: The lawsuit says Cage hired Levin in 2001, but that he first learned that he was in dire straits after he replaced him in September, 2008. With more than 50 films in the last two decades and half a dozen more slated to be released in the next two years, Cage is a tireless actor. Good thing, it pays the bills.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: This kind of begs the question, how many houses does one person need?
CHETRY: Yes, well, I mean, and can he just sell a couple of those and get himself straightened out and...
ROBERTS: The place in Rhode Island is very nice.
CHETRY: Yes, hold on to that one.
ROBERTS: Yes, I also like it.
CHETRY: But good luck with all of that. Wow.
Still ahead, Rob Marciano joins us; he's keeping a track of extreme weather for us. He says there's some tropical storm action in the Caribbean that he's going to be showing us.
Coming up, 48 minutes -- 45 minutes at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Wow, looking like it's a pretty day in Chicago this morning. Right now, it's fair, it's 37 degrees, but that's nothing if you live in Chicago. A little bit later, mostly sunny, it's going to be 46 degrees. And it's 48 minutes past the hour right now.
Our Rob Marciano joins us this morning. We haven't really been talking about the hurricane season. It seems like it was a bust.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, pretty much. At least the Atlantic basin, very, very quiet, as you know, Kiran and around the world, globally, we've been pretty quiet tropical wise. But just when everything looked eerily silent, this little thing kind of coughed, kind of burped here. It's near Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua.
And the National Hurricane Center says this guy has got about a 50/50 chance of actually becoming a tropical storm and if it did, its name is going to be Ida. It probably won't be headed this way, but we'll see. We'll keep an eye on that thing as it continues to percolate.
All right, around the rest of the country, really quiet from the West Coast to the East Coast; there are is just a couple of fronts ushering minimal amounts of moisture. But generally speaking, the radar is silent this morning.
93 degrees in Phoenix; it will be 73 degrees in Dallas. Its 63 degrees in D.C. and 60 degrees expected in New York City.
And on days when it's super quiet, what do we do? We go viral. This is from a British television station, apparently video out of Moscow. A forklift operator in a vodka warehouse and this is what happened; 150,000 or maybe 150,000 pounds or dollars, not sure, but a lot of vodka, a lot of premium Russian vodka, all wasted.
Apparently, the forklift operator was slightly injured, at least in the leg, as well. But I've never really run a forklift. It's probably tricky business.
CHETRY: It looks like he meant to reverse and gunned it, accidentally. But why would they make it so precarious, all of that vodka would just come falling down because of one little forklift.
MARCIANO: Well, they have a lot of vodka in Moscow. I think they're not going to be totally hurt by this, but it's painful to watch.
ROBERTS: Yes, I drove a forklift for a summer job...
CHETRY: Of course he did.
ROBERTS: When I was 16 years old in a plant that made Volkswagen mufflers and I accidentally pushed in a little bit of a temporary wall and boy did I catch hell for that. So it's possible for this.
CHETRY: All right, so what did you do -- was it the reverse?
ROBERTS: No, I did it going forward. I did it going forward.
CHETRY: He was welding by age 9, ok? Driving forklifts by age 16.
MARCIANO: Yes, welding and driving forklift.
CHETRY: And he never spilled 50 tons of vodka.
MARCIANO: No. That would be much more traumatic, certainly, than -- denting a muffler. So I didn't do that stuff.
ROBERTS: If you had any vodka, why would you want to spill a drop?
MARCIANO: This guy probably got into a couple of cases before he got on the forklift; that may be the problem.
ROBERTS: Well, he certainly might have gotten into a couple afterwards, Rob. Thanks very much for that.
MARCIANO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: So this obesity epidemic in America, is it possible for a town to actually make you fat? Sanjay Gupta asks and answers that question coming right up. Nine minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Two San Diego towns are getting a makeover thanks to a pair of high school students who found not having enough space to walk and play was actually making their community fat. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got this week's "Fit Nation" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Drugs, prostitution, gang violence; all of it plagued Lauderbach Park in La Vista California just a year ago. Nearby in La Mesa, California, students were walking to school along these dangerous roads with no sidewalks.
What do these two situations have in common? Both of them were preventing residents from being physically active; a critical problem in two border towns with above average obesity and diabetes rate.
KATE BARTKIEWICZ, DIRECTOR, ICANN SAN DIEGO: The community and the environment, they really do affect people's risk for diabetes, because it's a lifestyle thing. Even if you're genetically predisposed, you can do a lot to prevent if you're exercising.
GUPTA: How do you fix it?
In this case, with an unusual partner of local high school students, community organizers known as promotoras (ph), a little bit of money from local government, a lot of hard work.
TANYA ROVIRA-OSTERWALTER, "HEALTHY EATING, ACTIVE COMMUNITIES": The conditions of the park a year and a half ago were not the same conditions that you're looking at right now.
ERIN DELANEY, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: The reality is that if you have to walk on a dirt road in summer in California, you're not going to want to, and at least with the sidewalks, you know, it's a more comforting environment.
GUPTA: Two different towns, two different solutions. But both projects are showing results. What started as school projects for Erin and Gerard may now become careers.
GERARD GARCIA, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: My goal is to go to college. I want to be a civil engineer, so...
DELANEY: I definitely want to continue doing things like this in the future.
GUPTA: But in the meantime, both students hope their work can serve as a model other communities and will prove to kids their age that they can make a difference.
DELANEY: It's been a long process, it's been two years now, but just seeing the changes actually start to take place is great.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's four minutes down to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Although Bloomberg has around an 18-point lead in the polls, old Monopoly Money Mike still decided to purchase a one-minute ad during the World Series presumably to connect with the common man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot at stake in this election, every vote counts, but it all ends in here in this room at your kitchen table.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": It's a powerful message. Undercut slightly by the fact that no one in New York City has a kitchen table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Exactly. It's kind of a combination kitchen and dining room table if you can fit one in. But two big elections here in New York state.
First of all, the race between Michael Bloomberg and Bill Thompson for mayor of New York City; Bloomberg expected to handily win that. It's his third term, only made possible because the city council abolished term limits last year. The governor's race in New Jersey next door, Jon Corzine against Chris Christie and Chris Daggett. Chris Daggett running as an independent is taking some votes away from Chris Christie, otherwise Christie might handedly win that. That's too close to call.
We have another governor's race, this one in the state of Virginia, where Bill McDonnell is well ahead of Creigh Deeds, the Democrat. It looks like this is going to be another year -- and this has happened every year since 1977 -- that the party out of power in the White House wins the state of Virginia, even though President Obama was the first Democrat to carry that state in 40 years.
Here's the really fun race, this one in New York's 23rd Congressional District. Bill Owens, the Democrat, now up against Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate. Dede Scozzafava was the Republican candidate, however she dropped out of the race after people Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others said she's too liberal to be representing the Republican Party. She has now quit.
She is supporting Bill Owens. But people are watching this race to find out if this will have an effect on the 2010 midterm elections if conservatives will be ascendant.
And then we've also got a question in Maine that we're looking at, another state here. Question number one, voters in Maine will determine whether or not to overturn the law that was recently passed in Maine that allows same-sex marriage. Very similar to what happened with Prop 8 in California.
And Kiran, every state that's ever put that question to the voters has defeated the same-sex measure, so people are looking toward Maine to see if this one will be different or if it will be the same as everywhere else.
CHETRY: All right. So, of course, a reminder. We're going to be staying with this all day. We'll get the exit polling, we're going to be getting the results.
So you want to stay with CNN, the best political team on television will be here in primetime and all day breaking down all of the big races and the big election results.
So continue the conversation on things you've seen on our show today by going to our page, cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks for being with us today.
We'll see you again tomorrow with all of the results of the elections.
Meantime, the news continues on CNN with Heidi Collins in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
