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American Morning

Obama on the Road Again in Midterm Elections; WikiLeaks: Iraqi Civilians Tortured; Relying on Social Security; A Degree in Debt; Cholera Outbreak in Haiti; Florida Senate Candidates Clash Over Tax Cuts; Inside the Tea Party; Actor Fears 'Death List"; Katy Perry Says I Do

Aired October 25, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning to you. Thanks so much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING, October 25th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us. Let's get you caught up on what happened overnight.

It's some of the most incredible tornado footage that we've ever seen. A driver coming nose to nose with a funnel cloud that tore apart a school right outside of Dallas. We always hear that it sounds like a freight train when these things come through. Well, you can hear it and see it for yourself this morning.

CHETRY: Unbelievable video.

Back on the road for President Obama, he'll be campaigning in Rhode Island today with midterm elections just eight days away now. One more critical road trip remains for the president. What happens in the next eight days will, of course, impact your future. CNN has "The Best Political Team on Television" covering it like no one else.

ROBERTS: And an American tragedy. A world class swimmer suddenly dies during an open water race. His coach says the swimmer was in great shape. So what happened? We'll try to find out this morning.

CHETRY: Up first, though, extreme weather. An incredibly close encounter with a tornado. Check out the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the tornado. We are in the tornado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Wow. Well, that was outside of Dallas in Navarro County. You can see in here the raw power of that tornado. The driver who shot that with his cell phone says that he was nearly crushed when a dump truck landed on his SUV picked up by those winds. He says that the twister, coming from the highways, ripped apart a junior high school, tore a seven-mile long path through Navarro County. The destruction clear, but miraculously no one was killed in that. ROBERTS: And talk about the opposing forces of nature, a rainbow in the distance. A funnel cloud coming right at you. This I-report came in from Joey Romero. He's a second-year med student who took shelter in the freezer in the back of a gas station and tended to some people who were injured in a sonic drive-thru.

CHETRY: Well, these severe storms are heading east. Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia on alert right now for heavy rains and hail and possible tornadoes.

ROBERTS: Also going to touch through maybe the northeast corner, northwest corner rather of Georgia and maybe on into Atlanta at a difficult time of day, rush hour. Our Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center this morning tracking it all. So you're expecting some bad weather there in Atlanta today?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. With that, of course, we're going to have the cumulative effect of other delays around the country. But let's start off with the video that you showed moments ago, especially the video from Rice, Texas, where we saw just the massive tornado.

Winds well in excess of 100 miles per hour. I'd say just at a glance, this is at least EF-3, perhaps even four, winds that we're seeing at this time. One thing to consider is thank heavens this storm did not strike on a Monday when that school was filled with kids. So we're very fortunate. Again, hard to believe we're saying something fortunate about a tornado, but that really is a positive thing to look at. And in a school filled with a bunch of people, that certainly would not be the scenario that you want to have playing out.

What's playing right now in this imagery that you see behind me, again, a line of storms going through parts of Alabama. Let's go right to the radar if we can. And as we zoom in on a couple of locations, I want you to notice that we've got a red line that's painted throughout parts of Alabama into Georgia. Those are your tornado watches. Those are going to be in effect about 10:00 Eastern Time.

Now, along that line, and it's pushing through parts of northeast Alabama along the I-59 corridor, things are going to be very rough. You can see some strong winds, obviously, some hail and, of course, the possibility of tornadoes. That's going to linger through the early afternoon and perhaps late afternoon hours moving from Alabama and Georgia into the Carolinas.

Meanwhile, another system may get things ramped up across parts of the Corn Belt, perhaps even into Chicago and Milwaukee before the day is out. Meanwhile, back in the Rockies, we're not talking about rain, we're talking about snow. Some places up towards Steamboat Springs and back into Utah may perhaps even over towards Snowbird (ph) could see some heavy snow before the day is out.

We also have issues in terms of the tropics. We're going to be talking about that later on this morning. But you're going to see one of the big components for the severe weather that we have today. Warm temperatures scattered across parts of the southern plains and southeast. That combined with that frontal boundary moving through, the recipe for some strong storms, storms that are going to be felt at least the midday and afternoon hours.

Guys, we have a full plate this morning. We're going to share it with you. We've got more coming up straight ahead. Let's kick it back to you in New York.

ROBERTS: All right. Good to have you with us this morning. Reynolds, thanks so much.

WOLF: Thanks.

ROBERTS: Coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to talk with Eric Myers (ph). He's the emergency management coordinator for Navarro County and he shot that incredible tornado video. So we'll talk to him about what it was like to be so close to the center of it.

CHETRY: Just amazing to see it. And as Reynolds points out, lucky that it happened on a weekend --

ROBERTS: Yes.

CHETRY: -- because that school could have been filled with kids and teachers.

ROBERTS: All you hear Eric saying all over, over and over again is we're right in the tornado, we're right in -- and he was. He was so close.

CHETRY: Certainly was.

Well, Merry Halloween. The peaks of Colorado was blasted this weekend with snow. Skiers in Loveland hit the slopes for the first time this year. Maybe early for many of us, but it was actually a little late in the season for some resort owners who already started making their own snow but there they go down the mountain.

ROBERTS: Not much of a breather for President Obama. No day in the slopes for him. Fresh off of a four-day five state campaign swing, he is back on the road again this morning. Just eight days left now until the midterm elections and the president is hitting the trail again. There's a stop in Rhode Island today. Then it's one final push with the big weekend blitz covering Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ohio and Illinois.

CHETRY: It's crunch time. CNN has "The Best Political Team on Television" ready to go for you this morning. We have White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, as well as chief political correspondent Candy Crowley, our chief national correspondent John King and our senior political editor Mark Preston. All of them will be reporting for us throughout the morning on the issues in this election that will certainly impact your future.

We kick things off now with Suzanne. She's at the White House this morning.

So I know they're all busy. They're all out there on the campaign trail. What is the strategy behind these final campaigning stops for the president this week?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, everybody's packing a bag because we're all going to be on the road for the next week or so. Obviously the president, the first lady, the vice president.

The strategy really is get these folks out to the polls. The people that are really going to make a difference here. Who are those folks? We're talking about female voters, African-American voters, young voters trying to build momentum in these next couple of days or so. The president very quickly going to Rhode Island for a fundraiser. But then he's really going to kick into high gear at the end of the week. That's when he goes to Bridgeport, Connecticut, as well as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, you know, very important state, leans Democratic. But there's an important Senate race there. Neither one of them incumbent. So it's really going to be an interesting test to see how does this whole thing with voter anger, frustration, unemployment play out in that particular state. He's then going to be traveling on to Chicago, Illinois. As we know, very important symbolically for the president because who is going to fill his Senate seat, the Senate seat that he once occupied?

Quietly, White House officials tell us, look, you know, this is going to be important because you don't want to give the Republicans bragging rights if they end up capturing President Obama's old Senate seat. So they want to keep that Democratic. And then finally, he's heading off to Ohio. Very important governor's race there, as well as a couple of House seats that are on the line. And one of the things that you're going to see in Ohio is the whole issue of unemployment. Unions play a very good role when it comes to the elections, to training out the midterm elections as well as unemployment. You're talking about at least half, I understand at least half of the counties in Ohio have unemployment rates of more than 11 percent. That's much higher than the national average. So jobs is a very big deal in Ohio. And John and Kiran, that the bottom line here is that if you like the president's policies, you want to keep the House and the Senate in the Democratic hands. If you don't like the policies, you want to see that changed. But whether or not, whatever side you're on, this midterm election has been a huge difference in everybody's lives because you could see those policies actually repealed or reversed.

ROBERTS: Suzanne, you're actually traveling with the first lady this week and she's going to be focusing in on a number of key races. Where's she headed?

MALVEAUX: Well, I packed a bag and I've got it here, dragged it to the White House this morning. We are actually going to be taking off. We're going to go to Los Angeles, California. Obviously, very important races in California. We're going to head to Washington State as well as Nevada. We're going to end up in Las Vegas. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid obviously fighting for his life, his political life in trying to keep the majority there as well as keep his own job. So we've got a huge, busy week ahead. Everybody's going to be traveling -- the first lady, the vice president, the president. This is a hugely important midterm elections.

CHETRY: The time difference is going to be fun for you, as well here through our show. All right. Hang in there, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Well, coming up in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, the insights and analysis that you've come to expect from CNN. We'll be joined by political contributor Hilary Rosen and CNN senior political analyst Ed Rollins, 7:40 Eastern here on the Most Politics in the Morning.

CHETRY: Eight minutes past the hour. Also, new this morning. The world of competitive swimming is mourning the death of a top American swimmer. 26-year-old Fran Crippen died Saturday during the last leg of a 10k open water race. It was in the United Arab Emirates. A lot of the swimmers had complained about the water temperatures being too high, upwards of 86 degrees. That the heat outside was in the triple digits, as well, according to those there. Crippen's former coach said that he had a conversation with the swimmer 12 hours before the race and was told that the water was 87 degrees. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates say that severe fatigue was the cause of death.

ROBERTS: The race is on to contain a growing epidemic in Haiti. More than 250 people have died from a cholera outbreak there. For now, the epidemic is concentrated in the rural areas of Haiti, north and northwest of the capital city. But there are at least five cases reported in Port-au-Prince. This latest challenge comes as Haiti continues to recover from January's devastating earthquake. In just a little more than 10 minute's time, we're going to get a live update from Haiti when we speak to Jason Erb. He's with the relief group, International Medical Corps, and he's helping to try to contain this cholera outbreak.

CHETRY: Yes. And what people don't understand is it's still months and months after the earthquake, there's still no drinkable water.

ROBERTS: Very little has changed in that country since January.

CHETRY: Yes.

Well, also, piles of garbage lying in the streets of Naples as protesters are upset about a controversial landfill saying that the conditions are dangerous. So there has been rioting.

I mean, look at these pictures. The Italian government stopped construction after a clash over the weekend. Three people were injured. Five others arrested after throwing fire bombs.

Still ahead, thousands of classified military documents out on the web yet again. Claims of widespread abuse, even torture of civilians by Iraqi security forces. Chris Lawrence live from the Pentagon with the latest on the WikiLeaks fallout.

It's 10 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Thirteen minutes past the hour. Things may look a little different to the viewers this morning because we have opened up the glass doors that we used to have right here in the back of the studio. And now, you can check out the entire newsroom right behind us.

ROBERTS: As we're getting set for the election which is a week from tomorrow, of course, "The Best Political Team on Television" is going to be inhabiting our studio here and we're going to be going on the air very early on Wednesday morning, 3:00 a.m. For those of you --

CHETRY: 3:00 a.m. to noon.

ROBERTS: For those of you who are still up or want to get up early and find out what happened. So, yes, this has turned into the CNN Election Center as it did two years ago.

CHETRY: Yes, we had to open up the doors to have room for everyone, all the analysts.

ROBERTS: Yes. Absolutely. Looks good, though, doesn't it?

CHETRY: I think it looks pretty nice.

ROBERTS: Very nice.

CHETRY: Everyone out there this morning.

ROBERTS: We'll jazz it up.

CHETRY: Well, welcome back, by the way to the Most News in the Morning. The Obama administration is now facing some mounting pressure to investigate reports of widespread torture and prisoner abuse during the war in Iraq. These reports came to light Friday when WikiLeaks published thousands of classified military documents.

ROBERTS: Those documents include evidence that Iraqi security forces routinely tortured and killed detainees and they raised questions about whether the U.S. military might have turned a blind eye to it all. Chris Lawrence live for us at the Pentagon this morning.

Just the sheer volume of the documents is pretty stunning, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. I mean, you're talking anywhere around the area of nearly 400,000 documents. And, you know, when you talk about some of these allegations, these aren't just like fringe groups calling for an investigation. The British deputy prime minister said these are serious allegations and they need to be looked at.

On the other hand, the U.S. military very much furious at WikiLeaks for releasing some of these documents. One defense official called it a treasure-trove of information of classified information that makes the U.S. military more vulnerable today than it was six months ago. He also said it puts Iraqis at risk who cooperated with the United States. The thing is they claimed the same thing back in July when the documents were released from U.S. field reports in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: And yet both a NATO official and someone right here in the Pentagon have told us that there is not one case of an Afghan being identified by WikiLeaks being harmed. Are you demonizing WikiLeaks for no reason?

GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: I don't believe so. Remember, this is an organization that induces people to break the law, leak classified information, and then exposes that information to the world for everyone to potentially take advantage of, including our enemies. Those we're currently fighting, and those we may one day be in conflict with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: Again, the U.S. Military very critical saying this sort of gives not only today's enemies, but future enemies sort of a manual on how to fight the U.S. Military - John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: Chris Lawrence for us in the Pentagon this morning. Chris, thanks so much. We're obviously going to be following this story today, as well.

CHETRY: Well, it's 16 minutes past the hour. For college graduates, you know, of course, that diploma comes with a lot of debt as well.

Our Christine Romans has some good tips on how to manage what could be tens of thousands of dollars in loans, especially as you're out there searching for a job in a tough market. We're "Minding Your Business" in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Just coming up now 20 minutes after the hour.

Christine Romans is with us this morning, "Minding Your Business". Talking about Social Security and whether it's going to be there for us.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the younger you are, the least likely you are to get the full extent of the benefits. That's even according to the Congressional Budget Office and a lot of people who look at these numbers. The older you are, the more likely you are to get all of your benefits that you've been paying into.

Look, when you talk about Social Security and people get very upset, because this is the kind of thing that some say it's the easiest thing and the hardest thing to fix in the whole world, right? You raise the retirement age or you index benefits to how much money you make. You cut out some of the inflation benefits, index into inflation. You can start to make some money back in the Social Security System, but it makes people very unhappy, the thought of anybody touching it.

So let me just tell you something we've got here. The CBO analyzed 500 different situations and found that looking at all of these different variables for people born in the 1940s, basically you're going to get everything. You're going to get everything that you were - you were promised and you shouldn't have to worry.

People born in the '60s, though, and beyond, your chances of getting everything under all of these different scenarios that they've analyzed go down dramatically. People born in the '80s, you've got about a 13 percent chance of getting total benefits. People born in the 2000s, you've got about a six percent chance of getting 95 percent or more of your benefits.

So Social Security is something incredibly important here because it means you're probably not going to meet your retirement goals, which is Social Security (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: So you need to right now be saving if you're young, go for it, make as much of a contribution in your other 401(k)s and outside of Social Security. Raise the contribution amount every year if you can and you might have to work longer.

CHETRY: So, the bottom line is at least they're giving them notice now. So these are the same poor kids, you know, you're not going to get Social Security and you're probably graduating from college right now with mountains of debt.

ROMANS: Right.

CHETRY: So what do the kids do?

ROMANS: We know now. We know the project student debt that just last year in 2009, kids had six percent more student debt than the year before. For the past four years, it's a six percent annual increase in the amount of student debt that you've had. Why is that? Because the schools have had to give you more loans or make you borrow more money to go to school because your parents aren't able to - to pick up so much of the bill. $24,000 on average now for 2009 students had in student debt.

So this is what you've got to do. You've got to always borrow federal first. You've got to live like a monk physically like (ph) Mike Kantrowitz, so he's really the student loan guru, live like a monkey in college so that you're not having to live like a monk when you're paying off your student loans.

You've got to manage that debt. You've got to maybe - you have to go to a community college or a public university instead of a private four-year school. People going to private four-year schools are spending a fortune. And you've got to make some smart choices from the very beginning, because quite frankly if you get on the wrong degree path and you find you want to switch at the very end, it's going to cost you an awful lot of money to do that.

ROBERTS: I'm telling you, start your 401(k) when you're one year old.

ROMANS: That's right. I wish - yes.

ROBERTS: And just put a little bit in it. Every once in a while you just pretend it's not even there, just whatever you can.

CHETRY: Yes. I'll try and do that for the kids. I mean, it's hard, you know? It's hard. It's getting harder. Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

ROBERTS: Cholera outbreak in Haiti seems to be growing. It's now showing up in the Capital City of Port-au-Prince where hundreds of thousands of people still living in tent cities since the earthquake. It's a huge concern that if it gets into the city, the outbreak will spread like wildfire.

Up next, we're going to talk with Jason Erb. He's with the relief group international medical corps about the possibility of Port-au- Prince becoming the next target for cholera.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-five and a half minutes now after the hour.

A new killer is stalking the Island of Haiti - cholera. The fast- moving disease has already killed more than 250 people and sickened thousands more. It's now in the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince where officials fear the disease could strike thousands of earthquake survivors who are still living in crowded tent camps. And if it gets in there, it could spread like wildfire.

Joining me now on the phone now from St. Marc, Haiti, is Jason Erb. He's with the Relief Group International Medical Corps. So how troubling is it to you, Jason, that five cases of cholera have showed up in the capital city?

JASON ERB, DEP. COUNTRY DIR. FOR HAITI INTERNATIONAL MED. CORPS (via telephone): It's definitely very worrying. At this point, the cases have been - have been of people who have traveled down from the Artibonite Region. So it's a case of people carrying it with them, not of the - not of the disease spreading through a water source.

And that's the big threat. The cholera wouldn't spread generally from person to person. It's really when it gets into a large water source that it starts to affect a large number of people and becomes a major public health danger.

ROBERTS: Right, but it does -

ERB: But it's definitely worrying and - sorry.

ROBERTS: I was just going to say, but it gets into the water source through, you know, human feces, other contaminated matter. The people who have it in Port-au-Prince, have they been put in isolation to the best of your knowledge?

ERB: They're being treated, basically. And you really - you have to have quite a large number of people contaminating a body of water. One or two people, you know, defecating into a river isn't going to - isn't going to contaminate it. You need to have a whole village that does a habitual - a habitual act over a period of, you know, years, for example, or months or something.

So it's not just going to be one or two cases. That'll be something that's quite controllable. It's not good. It's a danger to the people around if there's individuals who carry the bacteria with them. But it's not going to lead to a massive - a massive outbreak.

ROBERTS: All right. So the majority of cases so far has been contained to the area north and northwest of Port-au-Prince, and we've got a map to show some of the cities up there -

ERB: Yes.

ROBERTS: -- in the northern and northwestern part of the country. The government and doctors and relief organizations like yours are urgently trying to keep cholera out of the capital city. Do you - do you think it's going to be possible?

ERB: It should be possible. Again, I mean, there's an awful lot of monitoring going on, what they call surveillance. And so when those cases do show up, and it becomes pretty clear, I mean, it's very severe and acute diarrhea, it's a case - these cases generally don't go - don't go unnoticed. And so people are isolated and treated. And, again, it's really about the water source. If the bacteria is able to seep into one of the major water sources for Port-au-Prince, that's when the danger is.

But, again, it's something we're all doing, all the agencies are doing a lot of training. We're in the camps. It is a danger because the camps are so crowded and the conditions are so unhygienic. So we're doing a lot of education for people to, you know, maintain good hygiene, good hand washing, clean water, storage, and treatment practices. We're doing a lot of education for recognizing the symptoms and what to do if somebody appears with the symptoms.

ROBERTS: Right.

ERB: And so, again, we'll be, I think, able to contain it fairly well. But it is - it is a risk. It's a major risk that something we're all very concerned about.

ROBERTS: The number of deaths has gone past 250 now. And I think the number of infections is above 3,000. But the rate of infection according to some reports appears to be slowing. Could the tide potentially be turning here?

ERB: That's what we're hoping. And like you said, I mean, it is - it's uncertain at this point. It does appear to be stabilizing so far. Hopefully, the work that the government and the United Nations and local and international agencies are doing up here in St. Marc and north of here is - is having an effect.

But again, some of the areas, some of the more remote areas that are not so accessible where we don't exactly know what's happening yet, we don't know the number of cases out there. And that's something that we're trying to get a better handle on at this point.

And, you know, again, the government's even trying to do a sort of comprehensive needs assessment for the entire region. That hasn't been done yet. That's something that takes a bit of time to ramp up. And we've only been really aware of this for the past maybe five days or so. And so that's taking place right now.

The hope is that the tide is turning. But, again, it's sort of we're - we're on the edge. It could either turn and stabilize or it could - it could become worse.

ROBERTS: Well, let's -

ERB: And that's what we're all just sort of trying to make sure it doesn't happen.

ROBERTS: Well, it's tremendous work that you and your colleagues in the International Medical Corps and the other relief organizations are doing to try to get a handle on this.

Jason Erb, thanks so much for being with us and good luck in the days and weeks ahead.

ERB: Sure. My pleasure. Thanks for calling.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, it's half past the hour right now. We want to get you caught up on some other stories this morning.

Unbelievable video that was captured on a cell phone. You hear the words, "We are in a tornado." A driver getting incredible footage as this twister roared across Navarro County, Texas. Emergency management says at least five homes were leveled, a school also, but no one was killed.

ROBERTS: Typhoon Megi triggering rock slides in Taiwan. Sections of a scenic highway perched along a cliff came crashing down. Family members of 19 missing Chinese tourists are heading there now. Emergency crews rescued hundreds of other people who are trapped. Megi killed at least 13 people and injured nearly 100 others in Taiwan last week.

CHETRY: A jury is now seated in the Chandra Levy murder trial. They're going to be hearing opening arguments today in the case against Ingmar Guandique, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who allegedly killed the Washington, D.C. intern back in 2001 while she was jogging in a popular D.C. park.

ROBERTS: Now to the Most Politics in the Morning now.

It's been a bitter battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Florida and the contentious back-and-forth from the campaign trail spilled over into yesterday's debate seen right here on CNN.

CHETRY: Things got really heated when Governor Charlie Crist, running as an independent, Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek took on the Bush tax cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: And we have five Senate Democrats saying we've got to vote on this thing and extend -- so that the taxes are extended for everybody. It's not me just saying that.

(CROSSTALK)

REP. KENDRICK MEEK (D), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: Adam, Adam, Adam -- let me just say this. Let me just say this. Let me just say this.

(CROSSTALK)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: This kind of bickering back and forth, not being able to figure out what to do, ideological arguments without common sense, you know, compromising to do what's right for the people. You're seeing it right here, right now. That's why I'm running as an independent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, our senior political editor, Mark Preston, live at the University of South Florida in Tampa this morning.

Mark, so, you know, this is not really just your typical political campaign, there's a long back story between these candidates, as well.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: A lot of personal politics, Kiran, no question about that. In fact, you know, later on, Kiran, in that debate, Marco Rubio turned and described Charlie Crist as a heckler because Charlie Crist kept on interrupting him.

What we're seeing -- what we saw yesterday here on the stage here at the University of South Florida was really a long, bitter campaign that is coming towards an end. Right now, Marco Rubio, the Republican, has a double-digit lead over Charlie Crist and Kendrick Meek.

Now, our viewers will remember that Charlie Crist is the Republican who was supposed to win this Senate seat. However, Marco Rubio came out of nowhere, was really pushed by the Tea Party and forced Charlie Crist to leave the GOP primary. Charlie Crist now running as an independent, and because of that now, he's running as an independent, he was really siphoning votes away from Kendrick Meek.

So, a lot of personal frustration, I think was played out on the stage here in Florida, Kiran. ROBERTS: And Florida voters are going to see another debate tonight, Mark. This one is going to be in a much closer election, the race for governor there. This one will be really interesting.

PRESTON: Yes, it really would. And, you know, talk about flash points that we saw on the stage. Yesterday, I suspect that there's going to be a lot of tension in this debate. Tonight, you have Alex Sink, the Democrat, running against Rick Scott, the Republican. These two do not get along personally. In fact, some of their debates up to this date have been pretty contentious.

Right now, the race is evenly tied, 49 to 46. That's within the CNN margin of error.

Alex Sink right now is having a little trouble with women, John. She is only up five points on Rick Scott in this race. She needs to perform better with women. Throughout the state, she's doing very well in Miami and southern Florida. However, Rick Scott is running the tables everywhere else in the state.

One person we haven't seen here, John, for this campaign, is President Obama. Alex Sink has not linked herself with President Obama. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see President Clinton come in the closing days here. He's still very popular, of course, in Florida -- John.

CHETRY: He's the closer all over the place, right?

ROBERTS: That's really interesting to see. You know, the president is not going down there, but the former president is. Yes.

CHETRY: All right. Mark Preston for us, thanks so much.

And be sure to watch CNN tonight 7:00 Eastern. It's a special "JOHN KING, USA," the Florida governor's debate. The candidates are going to be duking it out. John King moderates; the showdown right here on CNN. He's also going to be joining us this morning at 8:00 Eastern.

ROBERTS: We're going to check back in with Mark later on on the show. And, of course, for the latest political news, go to our Web site 24/7, CNNPolitics.com.

CHETRY: Well, how much do you know about the Tea Party? Still ahead, "Washington Post" Amy Gardner shares her six-month survey of the Tea Party, talking to groups all across the country. And you might be surprised by what she found out.

It's 36 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Just eight days now until the midterm elections and you probably heard a lot about the Tea Party movement. It's undoubtedly the breakout story of this year's election.

Well, what do we really know about the Tea Party movement?

Our next guest says less than you think and maybe some surprises out there.

"Washington Post" reporter Amy Gardner has just completed a six- month survey of Tea Party groups from across the nation and she joins us from Washington.

Amy, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

AMY GARDNER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: My pleasure, thanks.

CHETRY: The article's fascinating because we heard so much about the Tea Party, Tea Party candidate, Tea Party-backed candidate. You know, there's this perception that they're everywhere and that they're really going to have an impact on many, many elections across the country. But still, it's somewhat of a mystery.

What were the big surprises to you that came out of your survey?

GARDNER: Well, there were two really interesting statistics that we found. One was that 86 percent of group leaders said that most of their members are new to politics. So, that sort of confirms what you're saying, that this is a potentially powerful new grassroots army of activists who can make an impact on the elections.

CHETRY: Right. Because these are people who may not have been interested in politics before or just didn't feel the need to get together with a group that are now energized in 2010?

GARDNER: I think both of those things. These are not -- these are folks who voted but weren't necessarily active. And activism is important, too, to bring others out to the polls. I mean, that's how candidates and parties and movements get people to vote and get the elections to be swayed their way.

CHETRY: Right.

GARDNER: However, there's this sort of contradictory statistic that we found, which is that 70 percent of the group leaders we interviewed say they're not coordinating political action at the local level.

CHETRY: Yes.

GARDNER: So it's -- it's bizarre. I mean, it sort of suggests that there is this potential grassroots army, but it's still not coherent and coordinated enough to be a clear and sort of concrete force that we know of.

CHETRY: And that is interesting, because you actually said you reached out to some 647 different groups. Were you able to sort of paint a picture about who Tea Party members are? What is important to them?

GARDNER: Well, we certainly found that a principal focus as we already surmised is fiscal issues, government spending. But it was pretty interesting to find that fewer than half of groups cited those issues as their top issue. So, there's also a lack of coherence in terms of the single issue that they're focused on.

CHETRY: This was interesting, though, that I saw in your reporting. You said that there was as much dissatisfaction, nearly as much dissatisfaction with mainstream Republicans among the Tea Party members as there -- as there the dissatisfaction with the Obama administration. Ninety-two percent said they're in opposition to Democratic Party policies, 87 percent were dissatisfied with the mainstream GOP.

So, what does that potentially translate into at the ballot box in eight days?

GARDNER: That is a very good question. I mean, I think that clearly, the sensibility of the Tea Party gives advantage to Republican candidates. But there's no question that many of the members of this sort of disparate movement don't believe in the two- party system as it exists right now and want to operate outside of that. And they don't want to operate as a third party.

What many of them told us is that they want to do voter education. They want to talk about the issues. And then they want their members to make the decision on their own about who they support in the elections.

Clearly, the issues that they're talking about: fiscal conservatism, low taxes, reducing government spending, is a message that is going to give advantage to Republican candidates as we move towards next Tuesday.

CHETRY: Here's the other thing that has confounded a lot of people, myself included when we take a look at this. You wrote in your article that social issues did not register as concerns.

GARDNER: Right.

CHETRY: It sounds a little hard to believe because there are so many Tea Party-backed candidates out there who have gotten a lot of attention for their stances on social issues, conservative stances. We're talking about a range of people. Of course, Christine O'Donnell got a lot of attention. But here in New York, the governor's race, Carl Paladino.

GARDNER: Right.

CHETRY: Issues about gay marriage, about abortion; Sharron Angle for her comments about whether or not in any case an abortion should be OK.

Why does it seem that we're hearing so much from the Tea Party candidates about social issues? GARDNER: I think there's a couple of things going on there. The first thing is that this movement was born in the early days of the Obama administration, pretty narrowly to, you know, give expression to the anxiety that folks were feeling about some of the fiscal policies that were coming out of the administration.

And I also think that there has been a very coordinated effort by some of the national political groups that have been helping organize the Tea Party -- big groups of, you know, seasoned political operatives like FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity to keep the message focused on fiscal issues. And there's a good reason for that strategically. Social issues divide our country, divide the nation.

CHETRY: Right.

GARDNER: And there are -- and the -- you know, the big prize of most elections are independent, fiscally conservative voters who get turned off when things get, you know, when the topic turns too sharply to social issues.

CHETRY: Amy, but that's why I'm still confused because you're saying that when you interviewed, and you did probably one of the most comprehensive surveys, all of these people said that social issues are not their top concerns.

GARDNER: Right.

CHETRY: Then, of course, the national parties, you know, the Tea Party Express and others don't want the focus on social issues. And why are so many candidates socially conservative?

GARDNER: Well, I guess the candidates have less discipline than some of the groups. I think the groups were -- I think the message for me is that these groups are created with a purpose that was narrow and the folks that we talked to who represent those groups are letting us know that they're trying to stick to that message discipline. The candidates, I guess, are another story.

CHETRY: It's interesting because that sort of what is proving to be divisive.

GARDNER: Exactly.

CHETRY: I mean, this was what is making independents turn and run the other way. Some of the candidates' social issues and you're saying that that's really not what the Tea Party was about. So, very fascinating. I recommend to people to read it. We're going to link it up with our blog, as well.

Amy Gardner, with "The Washington Post" -- thanks so much.

GARDNER: My pleasure.

CHETRY: You know, there's a lot that you haven't seen or heard about the Tea Party movement and we're also looking into it here at CNN. A groundbreaking documentary, "Boiling Point: Inside the Tea Party," Saturday and Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern, here on CNN.

ROBERTS: There's probably a lot that you haven't seen or heard about the weather either. So, we've got Reynolds Wolf tracking it for you, some severe weather down south. He's also got the travel forecast right after the break.

Forty-five minutes after the hour.

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CHETRY: Sixty-eight degrees right now as we take a look at Atlanta, Georgia, this morning A little bit later, a high of 75, but there are some strong storms that are actually moving in right now. Could be making their way, unfortunately, into the city just in time for rush hour. These were the same severe storm systems that spawned tornadoes we saw.

ROBERTS: We're going to be paying for the beautiful weekend that we had in Atlanta. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf in the Extreme Weather Center for us. Good morning, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. You're actually right. Payback is going to begin in about 90 minutes here in Atlanta. We can expect that storm system, very potent storm system at that that has history producing not only some strong winds, some hail, but possibly a little bit of flash flooding back here, too, and, of course, the threat of tornadoes. We got a couple of areas that are shady you'll notice what (INAUDIBLE) by red.

Those happen to be your tornado watches. Both of these areas in effect until about 10:00 eastern. We've had some strong storms right on parts of the I-50 right (ph) in corridor back towards Gadsden and Addison, Alabama. Everything driving east toward Atlanta, again about an hour and a half before the main source comes through. But I got to tell you, this is not really the only bulls eye that we're watching. We, of course, have the rough weather possible in parts of the southeast, but let's also not forget what may happen later on today across parts of the Midwest.

Iowa, maybe even into Wisconsin before the day is over. Illinois could have some very strong storms, including places like Rockford, perhaps even into Chicago and maybe even Milwaukee into the afternoon, all due to that frontal boundary, the daytime heating, and plenty of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. Your high temperatures across the nation, well, we can expect highs of about 72 degrees in New York, make some sunshine and clouds, possibly some thunderstorms in the afternoon, 77 for Atlanta.

But that's kind of deceiving as that front comes through, that cooler rain comes through. We can see the temperatures drop a bit. Eighty-nine in Dallas, 59 in San Francisco, possibly some heavy snowfall in parts of the Central and Northern Rockies. Seventy-nine your high in Kansas City, 56 in Denver, and 48 in Salt Lake City, 75 in Washington, D.C. You're up to speed. Got a lot of weather to share with you. More coming up straight ahead, including a look at the tropics. Let's send back to you in New York.

ROBERTS: Just about time to break out the boards, too.

WOLF: You bet.

ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks so much.

CHETRY: We're still talking about the weather. We are in a tornado. That's what the man who shot this video that you're about to see said as he was watching this and taping it for all of us. He's going to be joining us live to explain what it was like as this tornado tore through Navarro County, Texas.

ROBERTS: Then he is as closed as close can be.

Can a hacker steal the election? Eight days away from the midterms, we take an up close look at electronic voting machines in a new A.M. Original Series "Does Your Vote Count?"

CHETRY: Also, right after the break, just like phone booths, record players and floppy disks, bye-bye, Sony walkman, now landing on the trash sheet of progress.

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ROBERTS: It's coming up on six minutes now till the top of the hour. And here are some of the stories that had us all chatting about them in the newsroom this morning. Actor Randy Quaid says he's on a Hollywood death list. Quaid and his wife, Evi, are seeking asylum in Canada after being arrested there. They're facing burglary charges in California, and they're fighting extradition.

CHETRY: Why do they always run off to Canada, right?

ROBERTS: Blame Canada, I guess. The Quaids claim their friends, David Carradine and Heath Ledger were also on that list.