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American Morning
The Great Delaware Debate; Chilean Miners Out: Miners Post- Traumatic Stress: What Can They Expect; Delaware Voters Weigh In; Secret Campaign Ad Spending
Aired October 14, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING, on this Thursday, the 14th of October. It's a special edition of the program. I'm John Roberts in New York.
Good morning, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, John. I'm Kiran Chetry here at the University of Delaware campus in Newark, where the two Senate candidates last night that are vying for Vice President Biden's old seat traded some barbs. They had a pretty feisty debate. It was a beautiful shot of the campus this morning.
You know, it was a highly anticipated debate, aired live on CNN last night. Republican Christine O'Donnell, taking off the gloves. She compared at times her Democratic opponent to Karl Marx. Chris Coons fighting back. He called her an extremist. And there was one uncomfortable moment for the Tea Party star when she was asked to name a recent Supreme Court ruling that she didn't agree with. Sound familiar? We'll let you hear that exchange coming up.
ROBERTS: Well, they're all out this morning. The nation of Chile exhaling today. All 33 miners are free after a flawless day-long rescue operation. The final miner out, Luis Urzua, the foreman, hugging President Sebastian Pinera who is there from start to finish. He paid tribute to all the miners and their families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN PINERA, CHILEAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are proud of the miners, the families of the miners and we're proud of the Chilean rescuers, this team of rescuers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And late last night, the final rescue worker also left the hole. So how are they all doing this morning? How will they deal with their newfound fame? Patrick Oppmann joins us live in just a few moments.
And Hurricane Paula is approaching Cuba this morning. The storm is a Category One hurricane. A tropical storm watch has been posted for the Florida Keys -- Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks. Well, she's trailing pretty badly in the polls right now. I believe our latest poll has Christine O'Donnell down 19 percent against her opponent Chris Coons. But she came out swinging last night in CNN's nationally televised Delaware Senate debate. The Tea Party star attacked Democratic opponent Chris Coons right from the start, calling his views Marxist. She also warned voters that he would raise their taxes.
Coons fired back. He painted O'Donnell as an extremist, a candidate who's more concerned about clever slogans than actually solving problems.
Senior political analyst Gloria Borger watched the debate last night. She joins me this morning.
Good to see you, Gloria.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Nice to see you.
CHETRY: So what were your initial thoughts? A lot of people were just trying to figure out if right out of the gate Christine O'Donnell would do well.
BORGER: Well, she really came out swinging. You know, she had a lot to prove last night. She had to prove that she's a credible candidate, that she's thoughtful, that she's even rational. So she came out swinging at Chris Coons, and I think he was, in return, what was interesting to me was he was a bit dismissive of her at times. And I kept wondering whether he didn't sort of edge right up to the line of being too dismissive and could alienate some women voters by doing that. It was very clear he didn't want to go back and attack her on the personal issues, the so-called witch controversy and all that. But when he did attack her on substance, it was as if he wasn't -- he thought the voters here shouldn't take her that seriously.
CHETRY: It was a sentiment that was noted last night when we were watching the debate with many Delaware locals. Some of them said they thought that, you know, she was a little bit insulting, but that he was as well.
BORGER: Yes.
CHETRY: So that was interesting. But one moment that I think people might be focusing on is when she was asked what recent Supreme Court decision she disagreed with, and she was unable to answer. Let's listen to a little bit of that exchange and I'll get your take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What opinions of late that have come from our high court do you most object to?
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: Oh, gosh. Give me a specific one, I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I can't, because I need you to tell me which ones you object to.
O'DONNELL: I'm very sorry right off the top of my head. I know that there are a lot, but I'll put it up on my Web site. I promise you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: A gotcha moment, or should she -- or, you know, was it pointless to ask that? Or should she have had something in her back pocket?
BORGER: You know, I think it's a legitimate question. She did say recent Supreme Court decisions, so she couldn't come back immediately with Roe versus Wade. There are some Supreme Court decisions she could have referred to particularly on the environment. But it, of course, reminded all of us, right, about that moment with Katie Couric and Sarah Palin on the same issue. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There are those issues again like Roe v. Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others. But --
KATIE COURIC, CBS ANCHOR: Can you think of any?
PALIN: Well, I would think of any, again, that could best be dealt with on a more local level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BORGER: So that's just, you know, a bit of a problem because you've got to be able to have these kinds of things at your fingertips, particularly when you've got to prove that you're a creditable candidate, that people ought to vote for because you don't have a lot of political experience.
CHETRY: That was certainly a tough moment for Christine O'Donnell and, of course, for Sarah Palin. Speaking of tough moments, though, for Chris Coons it was some writings in college including, as he calls it, a tongue in cheek referring to himself as a bearded Marxist. That came up last night as well. So let's hear how he handled that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: So they jokingly called me a bearded Marxist. If you take five minutes and read the article, it's clear on the face of it, it was a joke. Despite that, my opponent and lots of folks in the right wing media have endlessly spun this. I am not now, nor have I ever been anything but a clean-shaven capitalist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So he got some laughs there. BORGER: Yes, he handled that very well. He handled it with humor. You know, he didn't take it that seriously. Clearly been discussed, decided, and he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
CHETRY: Right.
BORGER: So he dismissed it.
CHETRY: He jokingly said as well you're just jealous that you're not being parodied on "SNL" so she tried to make light of the "I'm not a witch" comment as well.
BORGER: Right.
CHETRY: But the bottom line is that when you see somebody in the 19- point deficit this close to the election, she needed to turn some moderates. She needed to get some independents thinking that they could side with her on certain issues. Did she accomplish that?
BORGER: No, you know, it was interesting because when she was asked about would you get rid of the Department of Education, for example. She said, well, I don't really think you need to go that far. So what she was trying to do was push herself a little bit towards the center and again make her central argument. Her central argument is, I am you. I am just like you, you voters out there. And I just want to turn this economy around and have common sense approaches to government. And I don't want to raise taxes like my opponent who raised taxes three times when he was county executive.
CHETRY: She did get that in there.
BORGER: She did get that in there.
CHETRY: A sore spot here in Delaware. So that will be interesting to see if it resonates.
BORGER: Exactly.
CHETRY: Gloria, we're going to check in with you in the next hour as well. Thanks so much.
BORGER: Thanks a lot.
CHETRY: We also want to let people know that coming up at 6:40 Eastern, we're going to be joined by author Will Bunch. He's a senior writer at the "Philadelphia Daily News." He's also followed the rise of the Delaware Tea Party for more than a year. He wrote a book about the Tea Party and he's going to be joining us with his take on last night's debate.
Also at 8:15 Eastern, Delaware's Democratic candidate for Senate, Chris Coons, will be joining us live here on AMERICAN MORNING, so we're going to talk to him. And a little bit later, John, we're going to show you some of the reactions, the local reaction to many who were very riveted. Watched this debate from start to finish and had a lot of very interesting ideas about how they felt both of the candidates did last night.
ROBERTS: All right, looking forward to all of that ahead this morning. Thanks, Kiran.
Chile's long national nightmare is over today. Less than 24 hours after the rescue operation began, the last of the trapped miners was pulled to freedom. The final miner out, 54-year-old Luis Urzua, he's the captain, the man whose direction help keep the group alive. Then the rescue crew who remained underground held up a banner saying "mission accomplished." About two hours later, they were all out. It was the end of a flawless and simply riveting rescue operation. The end of the longest underground entrapment in history, a triumph of technology, as well as the human spirit.
Our Patrick Oppmann is live for us in Copiapo, Chile, this morning. And, Patrick, hard to believe that this is actually over. And it all ended so well.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. That incredible story of survival, John.
We're here at the Copiapo Regional Hospital where most if not all of the miners were brought yesterday, last night and the day before. Just an incredible moment here last night when we saw several of those miners being brought in, being checked in the hospital. And the townspeople really just crowded in through one of the hallways and were able to wheel in. And for these men, it was really the first taste of celebrity and stardom and heroism that awaits them now. They got a standing ovation as they're being admitted to the hospital. We saw them in hospital scrubs. We saw them with those dark Oakley sunglasses they've been given to protect against the natural light. And certainly in a day like today, it's going to be a blinding day in the northern Chilean desert.
These men here are going to be put through a barrage of medical testing, both for their physical and mental well-being. But here's the thing, John, already yesterday, Chile's health minister said of the 17 men that they already examined as of yesterday, they all looked very, very good. Some men will need minor dental surgery, some minor eye surgery. But some of the other men may be released as early as today. They're being given a clean bill of health, despite their ordeal underground, John.
ROBERTS: So what's the next step in all of this, Patrick? When the last rescue worker who is the first man down in the mine in that rescue capsule came back up, he said to Sebastian Pinera, the president of Chile, this has to change. We have to reform mining in this country. We can't have unsafe mines like this one operating. So, where does the country go from here?
OPPMANN: I think it takes a long look at itself, John. And the San Jose mine was hardly unique. I've traveled around in this region, and in certain mining communities you really just have to go door to door and you'll find people who have been injured, have lost lives. It's such an important industry in this country. But you know the other night when President Sebastian Pinera said that the San Jose mine might not reopen, might never reopen unless it can clean up its act and sort of hinted last night as well. He covered that hole to the mine with dirt, another symbol that, you know, this mine is sort of over with.
And I was standing next to a miner who works at the San Jose mine. And I said what do you think about this? This is your livelihood going away. And he said, you know something, if we're going to make it safe for my children, my grandchildren, things do have to change. And I think they're going to take a long hard look. Some heads have already rolled in government and they're going to be changes made here, John. The president should be here a little bit later this morning to see the miners once again.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll be following that all day today. Patrick Oppmann for us in Copiapo this morning. Patrick, thanks so much.
And coming up in just a few minutes, at 6:10 Eastern, we're going to -- actually it's 6:10 now, so more like 6:14, we're going to take a look at the long road ahead still facing the miners. Columbia University psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman is going to join us. That's ahead on the Most News in the Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Some prayed, some pounded their fists, none of them yelled "I'm going to Disney World." But endorsement deals, lots of them could be right around the corner for the rescued Chilean miners. It looks like all of their lives are about to change dramatically financially.
There's a report that each of them will receive $10,000 from a Chilean business tycoon. Other reports say each will receive $400,000 for exclusive television interviews. They've been invited to travel to Europe as well. And all kinds of companies are apparently lining up to offer them endorsement deals. That's more to free gifts like iPods. Oakley, of course, already donated the sunglasses that they're wearing. And also, plenty of job offers. But at least one of them, super Mario Sepulveda said that he was born a miner and he's going to die a miner.
All of the rescued miners have a new lease on life. They appear on the surface at least to be in pretty good shape, but there's concern going forward about the possible deeper psychological scars from spending more than two months trapped in an underground prison. Joining us to look into that is Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman. He's the chief of psychiatry at Columbia University.
Doctor, great to see you this morning.
DR. JEFFREY LIEBERMAN, CHAIRMAN OF DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: So what are the big concerns that you have for these miners after the long stressful situation that they've endure?
LIEBERMAN: Well, John, as you mentioned, I mean, this is a real triumph of the human spirit and all congratulations are due to President Pinera and the Chilean people for orchestrating a perfect rescue operation. And although in the coming hours and today they may be out of harm's way physically, the human psyche is fragile and they still have a lot to face in terms of their acclimation and adaptation to the real world, the surface world and their previous normal lives.
ROBERTS: So they're going to be getting a lot of physical and mental health checkups over the next six months. What will doctors be looking for? What might be the telltale signs that they're experience some difficulty?
LIEBERMAN: Well, they will, given how the Chilean government has handled it so far, be providing them with ongoing surveillance and psychological counseling and with their families. And what they'll be looking for are the residual effects of all the emotional stress which they've contained underground because of the phenomenal organization and support they've had, now beginning to be released. And it will manifest itself in a variety of ways.
It could result in anxiety. It could result in fluctuations in their mood, becoming irritable, becoming depressed, disturbance in their sleep, a change in their appetite, possible weight loss, inability to concentrate, and a change in the nature of the relationships with their family and the other individuals who are integral to their lives.
ROBERTS: It sounds like many of the hallmarks of posttraumatic stress disorder.
LIEBERMAN: Exactly. PTSD is kind of the rubric, the term that's used to define the range of emotional reactions and behaviors that can occur in the aftermath of an intensely stressful situation.
ROBERTS: You've mentioned it twice. Chile really did a terrific job here. They really - according to one - one NASA professional who was down there for a little while - write the book on how to do a mine rescue. What was it that they did right that kept up the physical and the mental health of these miners for so long?
LIEBERMAN: Well first, let me tell you, Chile is a phenomenal country. I mean, apart from having traveled there myself, I happen to know because my wife is Chilean, and we've spent a lot of time there.
The Chilean people, the country, as - as an entity, has been historically extremely resilient, extremely resourceful, and they displayed it in the way they handled this disaster. It was a textbook case.
What they did was to immediately seize the situation. Take control. Understand what needed to be done, which was to support the miners, organize their time, take their minds off the bleak reality of their situation.
ROBERTS: Don't just leave them sitting there to stew about it. Keep them actively engaged.
LIEBERMAN: Exactly. And even the miners, before they have been discovered, in the 17 days that they were trapped, they were still drilling, the miners have themselves organized themselves.
So the Chilean people are incredibly resilient and incredibly resourceful and capable. So I think in the aftermath, they'll be able to adapt to this very well also.
ROBERTS: Now, what about the fame factor? With the - with the exception of Franklin Lobos, who was a - a famous soccer player in Chile for a number of years, back in the '70s and '80s, most of these miners have just sort of toiled in obscurity. They're - they've become celebrities now. And, as we mentioned a second ago, many of them may be offered endorsement deals.
Will they have to deal with going from sort of nobodies now to national, if not international, fame?
LIEBERMAN: Absolutely. And I think, John, that's the new wrinkle in this. I mean, it's tough enough to have to emerge from a life- threatening disaster, prolonged isolation, emergence and cutting off - being cut off from the real world for so long.
But now they're just - not just emerging and re-entering their former life in civilization, but they have to do it in the glare of the media spotlight, and that prevents - presents tremendous challenges, because these people have lived in a very remote environment. They've toiled in obscurity, in a difficult job, and now they're going to be celebrated by the world in the media spotlight.
ROBERTS: All right. Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, it's good to talk to you this morning.
LIEBERMAN: Pleasure.
ROBERTS: Thanks for stopping by - Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks so much. We're here again at the University of Delaware campus in Newark, Delaware this morning. Post debate last night between the two Senate candidates, so we're going to bring you an update on that.
Also, still ahead, some unexpected charges that you may be seeing in your cell phone bill. Check it out. It's sky high. Well, now there are some new rules in place to protect you from those charges.
Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" just ahead. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Right now, all 50 states are banding together to investigate improper foreclosures by the nation's largest lenders. Our Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" at 22 minutes after the hour.
This whole thing, I guess it's pretty safe to say, it's a real mess.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a mess. It's a fiasco, and it's only mushrooming, quite frankly.
All 50 state attorneys general are now investigating something beyond just shoddy paperwork, moving into the realm of maybe illegal activity from some of these loan servicers. The attorneys general are very, very upset about this, and this has put an absolute freeze on foreclosure sales in this country right now.
The question here is how quickly some of these banks were approving foreclosures without reviewing any of the paperwork? Was it illegal or was it just sloppy? In any case, you've got foreclosure sales halted in this country, John, and we know bank repossessions last month were a record high, above 100,000 for the first time in September ever.
That just shows you the scope of this. You've got five million people late on their mortgages. This - this matters to a lot of folks.
Also following this morning, Apple's sexting filter. Turns out Apple has actually patented technology that could prevent sext messages, those are those sexually explicit messages, from going in and out of your child's Apple product -
ROBERTS: It's also known as the Favre filter?
ROMANS: The Favre - I don't know if it applies to NFL greats. However, this is something that has not been commercially put together yet by Apple, but it is a patent that they've been approved.
Also, Apple's stock, for those of you out there who have it or have been watching it, hit $300 a share for the first time ever yesterday. Next week, Apple is expected to release its latest sales statistics for iPad and the likes. So it often runs up ahead of that.
So watching Apple again this morning, see if it can repeat that $300 a share mark.
ROBERTS: Now, just about everybody in the country has got a cell phone or some sort of digital device, and so many people get shocked at the end of the month by huge bills when they come in, all of those hidden charges.
ROMANS: And the FCC cracking down on this. We're expecting new rules any day now from the FCC that will prevent your wireless carrier, your data plan carrier, from having - giving you a $100 bill shock, a $1,000 bill shock.
There are a lot of complaints about this. You would have to get a text message, most likely, when you're just ready to hit the limit so that you would know that you have outrun the - the parameters of your plan. So a lot of consumers happy about that.
ROBERTS: Well, at least nice to get a little bit of a tip.
ROMANS: Yes. Exactly.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much. ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks.
Well, we're here at the University of Delaware campus yet again after that debate last night. Got a lot of attention, not only nationally, but among many locals here in Delaware. They really wanted to see firsthand their two candidates for the U.S. Senate go head to head.
It was quite a debate. We're going to get reaction from people who will viewed it last night at a local restaurant right here on campus.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
She rocked the political world with that upset win in the Republican Primary last month here in Delaware. And since then, Christine O'Donnell has dominated the national headlines.
Well, last night, the Tea Party sensation had a chance to make her debate debut against Democrat Chris Coons, and she came out swinging even in her opening statement, taking a few jabs at her opponent.
But the bulk of what people know about Christine O'Donnell comes from the infamous clips when she was a very popular guest on the "Bill Maher Show" back in the 1990s where she said she dabbled in witchcraft as a teen.
So we decided to talk to some locals here in Delaware, here on the University of Delaware campus, after the debate to ask them what they thought and whether or not they would vote for her. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (on camera): What do you think people wanted to hear tonight from the candidates? What are some of the biggest issues that you hear people talking about?
BOB ASHBY, DELAWARE VOTER: Well, I think that Christine O'Donnell needed to show that she's a human being, a real person and that she's impassioned. That all of this other sort of conversation that's been going on about her is not really accurate. And I think that's what she attempted to do and I think she did very well with that.
CHETRY: What stuck out to you about either one of the candidates?
MEGHAN, DELAWARE VOTER: Well, I actually don't plan on voting for either candidate. I just feel like Christine O'Donnell doesn't really answer any questions. She got very circular on things. And I just feel like Chris Coons has been kind of condescending and it's just I don't get a good feeling from either candidate. (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: So are you going to sit it out or you're going to write in somebody?
MEGHAN: I'm going to write in someone.
SARA, DELAWARE VOTER: I think she's just like mean. She's just saying mean things and she's not answering questions. And I just - I don't think she's doing a great job tonight.
CHETRY: You were happy with her performance tonight?
JEFF, DELAWARE VOTER: Yes, I think she - I think she did - I think she did well. Yes. And here in a - in a difficult - you know, against some very experienced Delaware person, whatever. So she held her own. So I think - I think, you know, it just shows what's going on about politics in general, and people are tired of politics generally. They want results.
LISA LUCAS, DELAWARE VOTER: I find it abundantly disconcerting that we have this much in common with Wasilla.
When even though if we have some concerns about Chris Coons' history or his politics or whatever, yet, again, we have a polarized election where it's a black and white thing, because it's - she is so far off the grid.
JEFF WARFEL, DELAWARE VOTER: I think Chris Coons performed better tonight. He seems to have more of a plan, more of substance with what he's - with what he's trying to project to everybody, to the American people.
BOB PRYBUTOK, DELAWARE VOTER: I think her message resonates because I think there is a ground swell that wants change. They're upset with the direction of the country.
Whether she's a perfect candidate or not is not an open question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So, you really saw there, John, a range of opinions about the situation. The last gentleman that we talked to, Bob, he's actually a Democrat who voted for Obama. But said that since then, he's been quite disappointed and that this would almost be a check and balance vote, if you will. That he doesn't necessarily think Christine O'Donnell is the ideal candidate but he wants more Republicans in the Senate to be able to provide a check and balance for what he believes the administration is doing well or not doing well.
So, it was interesting to hear what people in Delaware felt about their two candidates.
ROBERTS: The reality on the ground that she's 19 points behind in our latest CNN/"Time" poll. Is there a sense that she did anything that could begin to make up some of that ground? CHETRY: Well, a couple of things. I mean, the first, I think, for her, it was the "Do no harm" aspect. That, you know, she really needed to not come out there and make a major gaffe. Now, it's up for discussion or debate as whether or not, not being able to name a Supreme Court ruling she disagreed with would count along those lines.
But when it comes to sort of bringing over moderates, I mean, Delaware is a state, 25 percent of people are other. They're not Republican, not Democrat. They're either independent or something else. And in order to win over those voters, they probably needed to hear a little bit more from her that was not the standard Tea Party line.
So, I think there was a feeling last night that not a lot of questions were answered. But, of course, you know, we still have about 2 1/2 weeks to go. Anything can happen.
ROBERTS: Yes. Not a lot of time, though, to make up that much ground. All right. Kiran, thanks. We'll see in just a few seconds.
Crossing the half hour now -- it's time for this morning's top stories.
They're all out -- the 33 rescued Chilean miners being checked out of a hospital today after they survived longer than anyone else ever has underground. Chile's health minister says one is being treated for pneumonia, but some of them may be able to leave today.
CHETRY: Also, authorities in the U.S. and Mexico are moving forward with their investigation of the Falcon Lake shooting, this despite the beheading of the lead Mexican detective in the case.
You may be following this case. Tiffany Hartley told police that her husband David was shot by Mexican drug pirates while they were sightseeing, riding their jet skis on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border.
Hartley's body still has not been found. Texas Governor Rick Perry said that the murder of the lead investigator in the case was a message from the drug gang to, quote, "stay out of their territory."
ROBERTS: And a rapper-turned-life-saver, police in Atlanta said rapper T.J. helped prevent a suicide, talking a man down from the roof of a high-rise hotel yesterday. The man agreed to leave the roof to meet with the rapper. T.I. has his own troubles, though, facing a federal judge who may revoke his probation on a weapons conviction.
Back to the Most Politics in the Morning now -- and the all- important election less than three weeks away, and with the control of Congress at stake, political ads are filling the airwaves, but you might not always know who is paying for them.
Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is following the money. She joins us now live.
Robert Gibbs, the president's spokesman, has made a lot of noise lately about the shadowy Republican groups and who's funding them. But the Democrats have got their own groups.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, they sure do, John. The groups outside the candidate's campaigns are pouring so much money into elections and particularly these ads. And you may not know it listening to the White House or the president himself lately, but outside groups helping Democrats are out there, too. And some of them are not disclosing their donors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): The president rails against Republicans for flooding the airwaves with money from shadowy outside groups.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are these innocuous names like Americans for Prosperity, or Americans for apple pie.
BASH (on camera): But take a look at these innocuous sounding names. America's Families First Action Fund, Citizens for Strength and Security Action Fund -- and these are Democratic outside groups set up just like Republican groups the president slams. They don't have to disclose who's funding them.
(voice-over): They run ads supporting Democrats, like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Senator Murray knows small businesses are the engines of job creation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And pump money into hard-hitting ads against GOP candidates, like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Congressman Steve Pearce -- named one of the most corrupt members of Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH (on camera): America's Families First Action Fund helped pay for this ad. Now, this is an outside group run by a Democratic insider. CNN is told it's someone who used to head up party efforts to elect House Democrats and he started the group five weeks ago to try to compete with Republicans.
DAVE LEVINTHAL, OPENSECRETS/CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: This is shot something that is exclusive to Republican organizations or Democratic organizations, not to the left or right. This is, in a way, a free for all, kind of the Wild West of campaign contributions.
BASH (voice-over): Democrats are also using a new weapon in the big money game, super PACs. One of the biggest, Patriot Majority, is running ads against Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's opponent in Nevada.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: For a victim of rape or incest, Sharron Angle would force her to have the baby. Angle says --
SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: Two wrongs don't make a right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Super PACs work independently of candidates. And unlike regular political action committees, they can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to try to defeat those candidates. They also must disclose their donors. And Democrats who formed these groups say that adds transparency.
(voice-over): Patriot Majority is funned mostly by unions and liberal-leaning groups.
Craig Varoga runs Patriot Majority and said it's poised to pound Republican candidates with $10 million this election cycle. That's a lot less than some of the big Republican groups, but Varoga says he believes Democrats must try.
CRAIG VAROGA, PATRIOT MAJORITY PAC: They are Goliath and we are David. We are fighting back. And, you know, we're going to use the slingshot that we have in order to fight this fight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, I've talked to multiple Democratic sources that are involved in all this. And they say that there's a good deal of frustration in some Democratic circles with the president's attacks on what he calls shadowy Republican groups. And, John, these sources say that it makes it a lot harder to get Democratic donors to give to Democratic outside groups. Many of these people say, look, it is what it is. This is the game out there and we need to get it in and we need to play to respond to these Republicans.
ROBERTS: So, who is using more anonymous money, though, Democrats or Republicans?
BASH: It seems, no question, it's Republicans. Republicans are using more money overall with these outside groups. And that includes these groups that won't disclose a donor.
ROBERTS: So, is campaign finance reform essentially dead?
BASH: Campaign what? No.
ROBERTS: That answers that question.
BASH: I mean, yes. I mean, it's just -- there are some rules that are still in place but this is a whole new ball game that we're seeing this year. ROBERTS: Dana, great to see you this morning.
BASH: You, too. Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks so much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to be joined in a moment by Will Bunch. He's from the "Philadelphia Daily News." He's been covering the Delaware Tea Party, the rise of it for the past year. And he's also been covering the Christine O'Donnell campaign from the very beginning. We're going to hear a little bit more from the two candidates and we're going to get his take on how they both did last night's debate.
We'll be right back with the Most News in the Morning.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're here in the University of Delaware campus this morning with the CNN Election Express bus right behind us. It was quite a night here last night, as people turned out to watch the Senate debate between Christine O'Donnell and Chris Coons.
Now, Christine O'Donnell is trailing by nearly 20 points in the polls. And after last night's fiery debate, it remains to be seen whether or not the Republican Senate candidate, Christine O'Donnell, can really make up that ground. She's a Tea Party sensation. Did she make her case successfully to voters last night?
Joining me is Will Bunch of the "Philadelphia Daily News." He's covered O'Donnell from the very beginning, of the rise of the Tea Party here in the state of Delaware and from the beginning of her campaign. He actually wrote a back "Backlash," about the Tea Party.
Welcome, Will. Thanks for being with us this morning.
WILL BUNCH, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS: Hi, Kiran. Thanks so much for having me.
CHETRY: So, overall, how did -- what did Christine O'Donnell need to do going into the debate last night and how did she do?
BUNCH: Well, I think she needed to broaden her appeal. You know, I've been following her campaign for the last year, as you said, and she really ingratiated herself with the Tea Party movement here in Delaware. And now that she's in the general election, she really needs to go beyond that and appeal to moderates. This is a state that Barack Obama won by 100,000 votes in 2008. She needs 25 percent of the voters here, the independents. She needs to branch out to that.
I don't -- I don't know if she succeeded, frankly. I think she continued to send a lot of signals that were kind of dog whistles to the Tea Party movement. You know, she talked about the culture of dependency of people receiving food stamps. And I'm not sure if people here in Delaware who are suffering economically view it that way.
You know, I think she tried to continue to treat Coons as a Marxist and talked about his Marxist professor in college. You know, that's a great sound bite on right wing talk radio, but I don't know if it really resonates with the concerns of voters here in Delaware.
CHETRY: The other challenge that many said she short of had to overcome was to show that she was a credible candidate, that she knew her stuff. And it seemed that she got tripped up when asked about a recent Supreme Court decision that she disagreed with. Let's listen to the exchange and let me get your take.
BUNCH: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY KARIBJANIAN, MODERATOR: What opinions of late that have come from our high court do you most object to?
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: Oh, gosh, give me a specific one, I'm sorry.
KARIBJANIAN: Actually, I can't because I need you to tell me which ones you object to.
O'DONNELL: I'm very sorry. Right off the top of my head, I know that there are a lot, but I'll put it up on my Web site, I promise you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Same thing happened to Sarah Palin when she was asked that by Katie Couric. Is it a gotcha question, or is it something she should have known?
BUNCH: Well, she seemed very heavily prepared for this debate. In fact, she worked with some of Sarah Palin's advisers to get ready for this debate. And I'm surprise that she wasn't ready for that question. It was a very awkward moment.
And, you know, she's been compared to Sarah Palin so many times. Unfortunately, I think this reminds voters to a comparison to Palin that's not very flattering.
One quick thing I'd add about that, though, is I'm not surprised she wouldn't think of any decisions she'd disagree with because the Supreme Court has moved so far right in the last five years. I think most people in the Tea Party movement are pretty happy with the John Roberts Supreme Court. So that might be a reason why it was hard for her to think of something she disagreed with.
CHETRY: That's a good point to bring up as well, because you're right. That really hasn't been a major Tea Party talking point, the displeasure. They talk about it on some of the other federal court and some of the lower appeals court.
BUNCH: Right.
CHETRY: But not on the Supreme Court.
I do want to give people a chance to hear from Chris Coons, because this was a candidate who -- I mean, many thought this seat was a lock for Republicans until she swept in and really undercut the incumbent, Mike Castle, a longtime congressman. So, Chris Coons also is not necessarily familiar to a lot of people. Let's hear how he responded to that whole Marxist thing.
BUNCH: Yes. OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE SENATE CANDIDATE: So, they jokingly called me a bearded Marxist. If you take five minutes and read the article, it's clear on the face of it, it was a joke. Despite that, my opponent and lots of folks in the right wing media have endlessly spun this. I am not now, nor have I ever been anything but a clean- shaven capitalist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUNCH: Yes, that was a good answer. And, you know, it's funny. I mean, if you went to college in the '70s, you probably had a Marxist professor. So, I mean, it's kind of a silly talking point in a way. I think Coons handled that pretty well.
Although I was -- I was kind of surprised more broadly that I thought O'Donnell got under Coons skin at times. And I can expect that. I thought -- I thought Coons strategy was kind of be above the fray.
It was interesting a couple points that Coons said, well, you know, I'm really confused by what you're saying. It was maybe a little -- a little condescending, but I think he didn't want -- he didn't want to attack her directly. But I think, he said, you're confused, and I think he was trying to play up to O'Donnell's weaknesses in the sense that maybe some of her answers weren't that coherent frankly, so.
CHETRY: Very interesting. Will Bunch, great to get your insight this morning on it. Thanks so much for joining us.
BUNCH. Oh, thanks, Kiran It was great. Thank you.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we're going to be taking a quick break, and we're going to be back in just a moment. We're also going to be checking in with Bonnie Schneider. She's going to have this morning's travel forecast for us. We're expecting some pretty bad weather around actually here. She's going to tell us what we can expect if you're traveling this Thursday morning. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 48 1/2 minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Bonnie Schneider is in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning keeping an eye on Paula. Good morning, Bonnie.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. We're still in hurricane season, and we are looking at Paula. You can see the heavy rain bands working their way across Western Cuba right now. This is a mountainous area, so it is going to be causing some problems with mud slides and some heavy downpours possibly even flooding in this region as we may get about 4 to 5 inches of rain.
You can see also the storm track as it advances along the Cuban Coastline. That's where we have hurricane warnings in place for this area, but also in the U.S., tropical storm watches posted across the Florida Keys right now. Notice the storm weakening very rapidly. It likely wanted to be a hurricane much longer as it interacts with land. So, we're keeping a close watch on Paula as it will bring possibly tropical storm force winds to the Florida Keys.
That's something we're keeping an eye on. Let's take a look at the weather for the U.S., big, big changes. It's finally feeling like October and chilly in a lot of places. Two big cold fronts coming through. Here's one right here working its way across the south that's making it feel definitely more frigid this hour, but notice, showers building into New York City and also across New England.
This is a nor'easter developing. It will start to bring rain after 2:00 today and advances and tightens. We'll watch it bring rain and winds across Northern New England. Also, chilly condition through much of the northern tier of the country, and off to the west, showers, unsettled weather for Seattle. Temperatures only hitting a high of 60 degrees. Just gorgeous for the south, though. We're looking at a high of 77, sunny in Dallas, and in Los Angeles, 81, and lots of sunshine -- John.
ROBERTS: Take the L.A weather as across to what we're going to get in New York. Bonnie, thanks so much. We'll check back with you in about a half an hour.
This morning's top stories just minutes away now. More live from Delaware and also the miracle at the mine. They spent more time trapped underground than anyone ever has. How are the 33 miners doing this morning? We're live in Chile with an update.
And a gruesome murder mystery. On the border, playing out like a movie, an American killed, the lead Mexican investigator beheaded. The victim's wife saying drug pirates may have his body. Ed Lavandera with some chilling new details just ahead. Those stories and more beginning at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Beautiful shot of the campus of the University of Delaware this morning. We are here post debate. And we're going to have a little bit more on how that went, that Senate debate last night. Meantime, though, it's time for the Moos News in the Morning. The mine rescue in Chile, of course, one for the ages as we talked about yesterday, John, flawless, historic. It was almost like watching a moon landing.
ROBERTS: Yes. The entire world was riveted to the whole thing. And our Jeanne Moos mined the rescue footage for its most memorable moments. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hold on to your hats, there's going to be some heavy hugging.
(CLAPPING)
MOOS: And no one got hugged more than the president of Chile, not once, not twice -- but three times by the same miner. There were kids getting hugged. There were hugs accompanied by laughter.
(LAUGHING)
MOOS: There were faces being cradled. There were murmured endearments. As a young miner on a stretcher got his face rubbed and after all that darkness, the glint of the sun on $180 sunglasses donated by Oakley. This is what the ride up looked like. And the light at the end of this tunnel must have looked like heaven.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MOOS: Not many, but some were overcome, usually the relatives. There were some romantic back stories. For instance, this woman sent a note down to her boyfriend proposing. He said yes. And then there was Johny Barrios, the miner who's wife discovered he also had a mistress waiting for him. According to the "Daily Mail," it was the mistress who showed up when Johny resurfaced. Their Chilean TV identified her as the wife, fixing her hair before the reunion. Barbara Walters joked that the miner's predicament might lead him to say --
BARBARA WALTERS, HOST: You know what, take me back down here.
MOOS: Though he might have a personal hole to dig himself out of. It's nothing compared to the hole he just left. A hole we got to know intimately. Thanks to cameras who captured the miners from every angle. The most exuberant miner was talking, yelling "Let's go! Let's go!" even before he got to the surface.
They called Mario Super Mario. He's the one who handed out souvenir rocks and hugged the rescue workers. Give the rescuers a tip of the hat. The only casualties in this rescue were the hard hats.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It's just one of those things, John, that you could watch all day. I couldn't go to sleep last night until I watched that video live of the last miner, the foreman, Luis Urzua, shutting the capsule door on his own and heading up there. Just an amazing story. ROBERTS: And the last rescuer out was very funny, too. You know, they've had that webcam down there. This is how sadly they were about the whole thing. He waved goodbye and bowed, got in the capsule and then went up. Just a pretty incredible day all the way around.
CHETRY: We're going to take a break, and of course, much more of AMERICAN MORNING continues. We'll be right back.
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