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American Morning
Florida Governor's Debate; U.S. Swimmer Dies in Race; Recovery from Recession Continues; Virtual Fence on the Mexican Border; Can You Spare a Square?; Real Democrats of D.C.
Aired October 25, 2010 - 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: One more critical road trip remains for the president. What happens in the next eight days will certainly impact everyone's future. CNN has "The Best Political Team on Television" covering it like no one else can.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And what led to the death of a top American swimmer. Fran Crippen died during an open water race in the United Arab Emirates. Officials say fatigue was the cause of death, but there are growing questions about whether water temperature might have played a part.
CHETRY: First up, though, the countdown to Election Day.
Democrats desperate to hang on to the House and the Senate, only eight days remaining until America votes.
And the president is trying to help out. He's hitting the campaign trail again. He's fresh off of a five-state swing in four days. He was in the western part of the country. He'll be making one last-ditch effort to prop up his party's candidates and the stakes certainly couldn't be higher.
ROBERTS: There is a stop in Rhode Island today and then it's one final push for the big weekend blitz covering Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ohio, and Illinois. It's crunch time. CNN has "The Best Political Team on Television" ready to go for you this morning.
Our chief national correspondent John King and senior political editor Mark Preston and AMERICAN MORNING's Carol Costello are all weighing in this morning on the races and the issues that matter most to you.
CHETRY: One of those big races is the contest for Florida governor. It's a tight one. Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink, both of whom we interviewed here on AMERICAN MORNING, are neck and neck. They'll square off tonight in a nationally-televised debate. You can watch it unfold live, here on CNN.
ROBERTS: Our chief national correspondent John King is live in Tampa this morning. He will be moderating tonight's debate.
What's the main thing on the minds of voters there in Florida when it comes to this race for governor?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John and Kiran, good morning.
You would think it would be jobs, jobs, job and then jobs. This giant state has 11.9 percent unemployment. Like much of the country, it is struggling, even though the White House tells all Americans that we are out of the recession. So, jobs is the number one issue.
However, this campaign has become nasty and very personal with each candidate accusing the other of lacking the character and the trust to be Florida's next governor. So, the economy number one, the personal character of these candidates and what has been a nasty race when it comes to the television ads, number two.
The president himself has been a big issue in this campaign because the Republican Rick Scott made his name by spending millions of dollars opposing the Obama health care plan. He now says if he is elected governor, he will fight the implementation of the Obama health care plan.
Taxes as well. This is traditional in terms of the Republican saying he would keep taxes low, accusing what he calls his Obama liberal opponent, Alex Sink, of planning to raise them. She says nothing could be further from the truth.
So, there's a lot of ground to cover in the debate tonight -- should the voters trust them, what would they do about the economy, schools, of course, always an issue. And people nationally might think, why do I care about Florida. Well, one, this is a huge state in presidential politics. The next governor will have a big role in 2012.
And Florida will also probably gain two congressional seats after the 2010 census, how to draw those lines, the gerrymandering, if you will, whether to draw Democratic seats or Republican seats for Congress. Well, the governor would have a big say in that as well, guys.
CHETRY: All right. Also the big debate, the Senate debate in Florida yesterday was hosted by CNN's Candy Crowley.
KING: Yes.
CHETRY: It was hard, you know, to hear at some points, people were arguing vigorously over things like extending the Bush tax cuts. But what is the big focus on that race? Because as it stands now, the Tea Party-favored Republican is the one who's far ahead.
KING: It has been remarkable in a three-way race to see the Republican candidate in our latest poll last week, Marco Rubio, was up at 46 percent. That is a big deal if you are -- any single candidate in a three-way race and you can get close to 50, that says you're starting to break away from the pack, which is why you saw Charlie Crist, the Republican governor here but running as independent, and Kendrick Meek, the Democrat, trying to take Marco Rubio back down so they can get a shot at him in this final week.
The issues here have been that he much like the national campaign, has the Obama administration reached too far, has it governed too much from a liberal perspective, does it want to have too much of the role of Washington in regulating the economy and regulating health care. Those are the big issues here.
And it is fascinating to watch because you do have a legitimate third party contender, if you will. However, Charlie Crist has had a very difficult time getting close enough to Marco Rubio. We'll see what happens in the final week.
ROBETS: John King for us this morning in Tampa -- John, thanks so much. Good luck with tonight's debate.
KING: Thank you, John.
CHETRY: We'll be watching. One again, you can watch as well. Florida's governor debate is live on CNN tonight, 7:00 Eastern, "JOHN KING, USA."
ROBERTS: Extreme weather to bring you, an incredible close encounter with a tornado. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a tornado. We are in the tornado. We are in the tornado.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was outside of Dallas, Navarro County, Texas. You can see and hear the raw power. A twister coming from the highway has ripped apart a school, an elementary school, tore a seven-mile- long path through the county. No one was killed, four people were hurt. Their injuries, though, are said to be minor.
We spoke to the man who shot this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EARLIER ON AMERICAN MORNING)
CHETRY: How close were you? Where were you? And what is unfolding that we're seeing right now?
ERIC MEYERS, SHOT TORNADO VIDEO (via telephone): The tornado touched down, moved across just to our west, the storm then took a quick right turn. The tornado, as you can see in the video, then moved across a railroad, derailed 11 cars.
CHETRY: Wow.
MEYERS: Hit the school, demolished the school, went across the interstate in front of me -- roughly 100 yards in front of me -- overturned an 18-wheeler on top of a car, took another vehicle, threw it into a ditch and another car into a pasture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Pretty incredible to be that close.
CHETRY: Yes, he was part of a group. He was with the emergency management coordinator for Navarro County and he was with a group that were trying to actually help people figure out where this was so they could stay out of the way and he --
ROBERTS: He sure knew where it was.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: No question.
CHETRY: He said they thought it was going a different direction. It took a hard right turn. Next thing he knows, he's in it.
ROBERTS: Uh-oh.
CHETRY: The rainbow in the distance and a funnel cloud coming right at you. This is another incredible iReport. It came in Texas, came from Joey Romero, a second year med student who took shelter in the freezer in the back of the gas station. He also helped some injured people that were hurt in a Sonic fast food restaurant.
ROBERTS: Of course, all of this didn't go away when it exited the state of Texas. It's now headed toward the east -- Georgia and Tennessee in its sights. A live radar there. And we're tracking it all.
CHETRY: Yes. Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center for us.
I know that tornados are unpredictable as you, guys, try to, you know, figure out the conditions that could be right for spawning a tornado. What are you seeing today?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're seeing many of those same conditions, basically that we get that boundary that's moving from west to east. We've got the low level jet -- at the same time, plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico all coming together to give that chance of storms.
You're also going to see not only a line of storms going from the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky southward to the Gulf Coast, which is stretching hundreds of miles long, you're going to see, of course, some areas that are shaded in red. Those red areas, that's where you have your tornado watches that will be in effect until 10:00 Eastern Time, widespread delays expected in Atlanta, perhaps up in Chattanooga, even into Charlotte before the morning is out.
Now, that area that we have in the Southeast is one area of concern, but another spot, the Midwest -- into Chicago, back into, say, St. Louis, you might have issues.
And it's not going to be a rain event that we may be dealing with, but also a chance of some very strong wind. By afternoon, we could have some wind gusts topping 50 to 60 miles per hour across parts of the western Great Lakes and into portions of the Central and Northern Plains. Minneapolis look out, you're going to be dealing with that possibility of rough weather also.
Meanwhile, speaking of strong winds, very quickly, let's go to Tropical Storm Richard, the latest of this storm: made landfall in extreme southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula. The latest forecast of the National Hurricane Center brings that into the Bay of Campeche as we get into Tuesday and Wednesday, and then staying fairly weak with maximum sustained winds forecast to be around 25 miles per hour, some gusts at 30 by 2:00 a.m. Thursday as a tropical depression.
But as you guys know very well, these systems can be extremely fickle, could get stronger, could get weaker, may even die out all together in parts of the Yucatan. So, we're going to monitor that for you carefully.
Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: You know, what's happening at Hartsfield Airport this morning?
WOLF: Delays, delays. Now, I'll tell you, John, it's not only just people that are trying to take off. It's a lot of people in the roadways, around 285 into even parts of I-20, I-75, I-85 -- it's a tangle this morning.
CHETRY: Yes. And they had a ground stop until 8:00. Has that been lifted now or not?
WOLF: You know, they're going to start letting planes take off. Right now, it looks like the ground stop is over for the time being. That boundary is going to come through. They may get a break in the action. But the issue now is they might have some issues over towards Charlotte, maybe even to D.C. before the morning is out.
ROBERTS: All right. Reynolds Wolf this morning watching it all for us. We'll keep checking back, Reynolds. Thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
ROBERTS: An American swimming star dies during a competition in the United Arab Emirates. Did water temperature play a part in Fran Crippen's death?
Eight and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Top American swimmer, 26-year-old Fran Crippen died on Saturday during the last leg of 10-kilometer open water race in the United Arab Emirates.
CHETRY: It's really a shock to the swimming world, especially in his hometown of Philadelphia. A lot of the swimmers were complaining the water temperatures which were in the 80s were simply too high.
Joining us on the phone is Jan Wolfgarten. And he's a member of the German national team who also competed in that race with Fran Crippen.
Just a tragedy all around to know that Fran lost his life in this race. Tell us, Jan, what it was like to be swimming in that race. What were the conditions like Saturday?
JAN WOLFGARTEN, GERMAN NATIONAL TEAM (via telephone): The conditions were just really, really warm, in the water as well as outside. We started the race at 10:00 in the morning and the last lap must have occurred right around 11:45 maybe. So, the sun came straight down. And the water -- I didn't know in Fahrenheit but I know over 30 degrees Celsius. It was extremely warm.
ROBERTS: Yes. I think it was somewhere between 84 to 87 degrees Fahrenheit.
What was it like for you, Jan, competing in those temperatures? And what did you know of Fran Crippen's condition going into the last race?
WOLFGARTEN: My own experience was that I started out feeling really, really good, and that I kept getting more and more tired especially towards the last two laps. And then -- but I can't really -- for me, the cold water is more a problem than the warm water. But, I mean, even in these conditions, I think every athlete was struggling a lot.
And as far as Fran's condition, I think he's in a good a shape as ever. He finished third at the world championships in Canada. He completed in a lot of the world cup races. He's one -- won a couple weeks ago in Cancun, Mexico, and finished up in the front again in -- the one in Asia, just leading up to the one in Dubai. And so, I think he was in just as good a shape as any one could be.
CHETRY: Yes, his long time prep school coach described him as, quote, "fit as a fiddle," not suffering from problems. It's also interesting that there were several swimmers apparently who did suffer. They complained about swollen fingers and toes, apparently several of them became confused. And there were other rescues that had to take place. Not just Jan -- I mean, I'm sorry, not just Fran's.
Should they have cut this race short or canceled it?
WOLFGARTEN: I don't know. I mean, open water always has tough conditions. It's rare that you find conditions that compare to the ones you have in the swimming pool. But my personal opinion is that you could have started the race in the afternoon like they did last year in Dubai. They had two races the same time last year and we started at 4:00 p.m. and finished close to sunset.
So, I think that made the conditions a little bit less harsh. And as far as the water temperature goes, I don't know. I -- the only thing that I can say is that I may be mistaken but I can't remember seeing any boats that were going by us to watch the athletes a little bit closer. Especially the ones falling behind, and with conditions that extreme, I think for future reference, there should be people watching what's going on with the athletes along the water.
ROBERTS: Right. And, Jan, just back to Fran's condition, you were talking to his coach, he told you something about him feeling very tired, maybe thirsty as well before the last lap?
WOLFGARTEN: Yes. It wasn't his coach. It was a coach who was responsible for the U.S. athletes at the World Cup.
ROBERTS: Got you.
WOLFGARTEN: I think it's -- I don't exactly know who it was. But, yes, I talked to him and he was -- he's with Fran in the last lap, from the first (INAUDIBLE) probably is about 2,000 -- not quite, maybe 1,500 meters before the finish line, 1,500 before the end of the race. And he said that Fran said he was really thirsty and couldn't get enough water in, and he was tired.
But, I don't know. I mentioned earlier that another problem that in my opinion, a big problem is that there is a rule setting that you have to finish the last race in order to make your points that you collected all season count in the final standings.
ROBERTS: Right.
CHETRY: Right.
WOLFGARTEN: Fran was second leading up in the overall World Cup standing going into the last race. And if he doesn't finish that race, all of his work the whole season was for nothing because it wouldn't count. So, he knew he had to finish the race in order to make all -- you know, collect all of his work that he put in throughout the season.
CHETRY: Yes. There's probably going to be some questions whether they need change some of those rules in the wake of this tragedy --
WOLFGARTEN: Yes.
CHETRY: -- because there were others who also said that as well, that that he would have tried anything, even, you know, risking his life to try to finish it because he didn't want to let his team down.
Jan Wolfgarten, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
ROBERTS: Thanks very much, Jan.
WOLFGARTEN: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Well, it's your right. Some people say it's your responsibility. But how can you be sure that your vote will be counted on Election Day? Today, we're taking a look at the potential problems with electronic voting machines.
Seventeen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour. Right now, we're "Minding Your Business."
Christine Romans joins us with hopefully some good news about whether or not there's going to be jobs in the near future available for people.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, hopefully, the NABE, the National Association of Business Economics, they have a new survey showing that business conditions for hiring are the best they've been, guys, since 2006.
ROBERTS: So, why aren't they?
ROMANS: Well, they're not because, quite frankly, they are waiting for some confidence to return.
But some of the -- some of the key ingredients are there, including demand is starting to rise for their products. They're starting to make money again. Profitability is there. I mean, you look at the stock market, it's above 11,000.
Companies are doing a little bit better. We're in the middle of the earning season now. From IBM to a lot of companies, we're seeing that they are starting to make money.
Eventually, the theory goes: hiring will follow. So, we're watching these gauges to see if all of the pieces are starting to fall into place so that companies get a little more confident and they start doing some hiring. So, we'll see if that holds true.
Again, the highest -- the best hiring expectations since 2006.
Another story I'm talking about this morning we're following very closely, the foreclosure machine at Bank of America. It gets started again today. Remember we have told you that 102,000 foreclosure sales were halted as Bank of America, JPMorgan, a lot of other people, were taking a look at all of their paperwork, amid allegations that they were just rubber-stamping these foreclosures.
Well, now, B of A is reportedly saying that while no foreclosure is happening in error, oh, but there were errors in the paperwork -- now admitting reportedly that there have been some errors in its process, including improper paperwork, a lack of signatures, missing files, altogether, misspelled names --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: -- foreclosed upon. I mean, that the foreclosure stands, but that there were some sloppy --
ROMANS: The foreclosures stand. I would say "sloppy" is a very good word for it. Sloppy paperwork issues and mistakes along the way, but the foreclosures themselves are still valid and will go through it. So, you'll start seeing the foreclosure machines kick in after that moratorium kicks in today.
ROBERTS: Well, let's hope that some of those employers heard about the hiring environment being a good one.
ROMANS: Yes, please. From our lips to God's ears, to your ears, whatever, whoever's ears.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's a tiny device that's not actually not much bigger than a first class stamp, but it could revolutionize the way that we buy and sell things in this country. It's that little white thing on top of the iPhone. It's called the "Square." We're going to show you how it works and what it can do -- ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-four minutes after the hour -- your top stories just a few minutes away.
But, first, an A.M. original -- something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
When you cast your vote in eight days, how can you be sure that it will count?
Our Carol Costello is live with part one of our series, "Does Your Vote Count?" And does your vote count? Will it count?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We hope so.
It is crazy to think in a world where great minds are able to dream up things like laptops and iPhones, they can't dream up an electronic voting machine that doesn't confuse voters, protects us from fraud and make sure our vote counts even if the voting machine malfunctions. Can that really be so hard? Sadly, it can be -- even in 2010.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): In New York City, one of the most sophisticated cities in the world, primary election day was certainly not sophisticated. In Mayor Michael Bloomberg's words:
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: That is a royal screw up and it's completely unacceptable.
COSTELLO (on camera): Well, would you agree with the mayor's assessment at the time that it was -- was it a royal screw up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I would leave that to the mayor.
COSTELLO (voice-over): And to voters who were confused by something they never had seen before, an electronic voting machine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for voting.
COSTELLO: Not only that, they complained ballots were confusing or tough to read, saw broken down machines or none at all. The "Gothamist" Web site captured that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM GOTHAMIST.COM/MENY PAC)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry, you come to vote, Miss. You come to vote?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The machines are not here yet. No. They will be here about 11:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Keep in mind: other states are electronically challenged, too. Illinois is having problems now. Gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney's name was spelled "Rich Whitey" on some machines and poll workers are working feverishly to correct the mistake before November 2nd.
Ohio, Florida and California have had persistent problems, too. With things like improperly filled out ballots and machine malfunctions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open up the screen.
COSTELLO: The New York Board of Elections is now retraining 36,000 poll workers to better serve voters on November 2nd. It's also offering voters a pre-Election Day demonstration. But sit back, we'll show you now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A voter will get one paper ballot.
COSTELLO (on camera): Got you.
(voice-over): A poll worker will hand you a ballot. You take it over to a sort of cubicle. You use a pen to color in the circle next to your candidate's name. You put your completed ballot in a folder and then you head to the machine.
(on camera): If I come over to scan my ballot, the poll worker should be nowhere around me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nowhere near you.
COSTELLO: They should not handle my privacy folder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not.
COSTELLO (voice-over): The voter puts the ballot in the machine, it scanned, and then drops into a locked bin. Simple, right? So, why the royal screw up in New York?
Lawrence Norton, who studies election problem, says New York should have had a trial run before the primary. And he says New York may have avoided some problems if states actually shared information.
LAWRENCE NORTON, BRENNAN CENTER, NYU: There's no central place where voting problems are reported and somebody can screen them and then report to election officials: here's a common problem with your machine, be aware of it.
COSTELLO: And that, says Norton, is one of the biggest reasons voters in every state experience problems with electronic voting machines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, but the number one reason: human error -- which certainly was the case in New York City. Poll workers weren't properly trained, and at times, machines experienced a paper jam and no one knew how to fix the problem or who to call to fix the problem.
New York elections officials say that will not happen again. They hired 36,000 poll workers, retrained them all -- and, John, they are hoping November 2nd is glitch-free.
ROBERTS: They're hoping it's glitch-free, but not necessarily guaranteeing that it will be.
It's surprising, though, isn't it, Carol, the way that these elections, first Tuesday of November, sneak up on people.
Other concerns, though, across the country that people are complaining that too much information is crammed on one page, that the typing is very small, it's hard to read, that the circles or the boxes or whatever they have to mark out, hard to stay within the margins.
Can't they put the information on more than one page to make it bigger?
COSTELLO: Or use a bigger font, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Well, apparently, all of this is set by state legislatures in some states. So, all of the information in New York state, for example, has to be on one page. And the font is determined by your state legislature, which means they have to vote on it to change the font.
To solve that problem, election officials in New York have provided a sort of magnifying thing. It sits in those privacy shields that you saw, and you put the magnifying thing on top of the ballot and it makes the words bigger. And, hopefully, voters can read it more easily -- or just bring your readers.
ROBERTS: Did you come to vote? Are you looking for the reader thing? Oh, it will be here about 11:00.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Yes, when you see voters -- exactly. Bizarre, isn't it?
ROBERTS: Unbelievable. Carol, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: Tomorrow, it is your right, but should it be required? One expert says the United States should force people to show up on Election Day or pay. Part two of our series, "Does Your Vote Count?" tomorrow on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: And some countries, well, they did this. They have about a 90 percent -- upwards of 90 percent turnout rate. So, people don't want to pay that nominal fee.
ROBERTS: There you go. Well, at least week from tomorrow, make your vote count.
Time for this morning's top stories as we cross the half hour.
President Obama is hitting the road again. He's going to campaigning in Rhode Island today. With midterm elections looming one more critical road trip remains for the president. He'll be campaigning in four states this weekend.
CHETRY: Up close and personal with a devastating tornado. Take a look at these extraordinary pictures that were taken by a driver on a cell phone camera in Texas. Emergency officials say at least five homes and an elementary school were leveled. A few minor injuries but no one was killed.
ROBERTS: And after four years, nearly a billion, dollars the Department of Homeland Security may be scrapping its virtual fence along the Mexican border. The high-tech surveillance system was sold to us as a way to stop potential terrorists and drug peddlers. But Secretary Janet Napolitano says it's turning out to be not much more than a high-tech lemon. There have reportedly been a number of problems with the virtual fence including blurry camera images, radar system that performs poorly in bad weather and that's just the beginning.
CHETRY: A developing story this morning from Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai responding to a report that Iran sent bags stuff full of cash to his aides. Barbara Starr was at his news conference. She's live for us this morning in Kabul. What was the response to those allegations, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, good morning. The response of the allegation was you bet. The president of Afghanistan told a room full of reporters that his chief of staff has received bags of cash, his words, from Iran that he, himself, has received cash payments from a number of countries, including the United States. According to Hamid Karzai, cash received to do things like run his office, pay some employees, pay people on the outside.
He wasn't very clear what he actually meant by that. No indication whether this is authorized, whether there's the potential for corruption here. Have a listen to what the president of Afghanistan had to say about all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: This is transparent, and this is something that I have -- I have also discussed with even when we were at Camp David with President Bush. This is nothing hidden. We are grateful for the Iranian help in this regard. The United States is doing the same thing. They're providing cash to some of our offices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So, the U.S., he says, right there is providing cash payments, bags of cash to the Afghans to Hamid Karzai and his top aids. We are awaiting a response from the U.S. embassy in Kabul about what this is all about. But the real question may be this Iranian connection. The two countries are very close, Afghanistan and Iran.
Iran, however, clearly offering a lot of cash to this country here, and what they want for it in return certainly remains to be seen -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us this morning. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Well, there is a tiny new device that could very well change the way that we do business in this country and the way that we buy things. It's called the Square. We'll talk to its creator coming right up. Thirty three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty-six minutes past the hour. Welcome back. We have something really neat to show you today. It's not much bigger than a postage stamp. In fact, here it is right now, and it's called the Square. And it could change the way that you pay your babysitter, your landscaper or if you're a freelancer, how you collect payments from your clients. It's a tiny credit card scanner that can plug into any iPhone, iPad and android device after downloading this simple application.
Your cash only business is ready for plastic. Joining me now to talk more about the new product is the company's CEO, Jack Dorsey. He also, by the way, created, founded and is chairman of this little thing we like to call Twitter. So, you've been a success in the past. He's also a blue ribbon panel member this year CNN Heroes. Thanks so much for joining us.
JACK DORSEY, INVENTOR AND CHAIRMAN OF TWITTER: Thank you.
CHETRY: So, tell us about the Square. You have it plugged into your iPhone right now. How does it work?
DORSEY: It's a little tiny device that allows you to accept credit cards. So, you download the free application, Square up.com, download the free application. We send you one of these in the mail for free. And then you simply type in an amount, you take the credit card, and you swipe it.
And once you swipe it, it goes up. It authorizes to see if there are funds on the card and then as soon as this process is finished, you sign with your finger. You sign like this. You continue and then you offer an SMS or e-mail receipt. And that's it.
CHETRY: You e-mail a person. So, it is pretty amazing. I mean, they do this, I mean, obviously they have the hand held at the Apple store.
DORSEY: Exactly.
CHETRY: I always wonder why can't this technology be out there for more businesses and for more, you know, small businesses and freelancers. Who would this be something ideal for? Who would this Square work for?
DORSEY: We've seen it used a lot for individual services as you mentioned before. There was also an elementary school that was holding a PTA fundraiser. Typically, they carry about $100. They get $100 in donation. With Square, they raised $3,200 because they could accept credit cards.
And no one carries cash anymore. Everyone carries a little plastic card. No one carries their checkbook. So, being able to accept credit cards means more money and more line (ph).
CHETRY: And what is the usage fee? It's a 2.75 percent that the merchant pays of the purchase price and then 15 cents.
DORSEY: Yes. That's exactly right. We don't charge for the application. We don't charge for the hardware. There's no contract. It goes straight to your bank account that night. So, all you pay is 2.75 percent. Typically, merchants pay 3 percent to 3.5 percent on average to accept cards. So, this is very competitive.
CHETRY: And where it says card keyed in. This means if you had to actually type in the digits because the strike didn't work for some reason, right?
DORSEY: Yes. Or if you don't have the hardware with you or if you want to take a phone order, you can just type in the numbers and type in the CVV on the back, and everything is secure.
CHETRY: This is pretty cool. So, I want to talk to you about Twitter, too. I mean, this is awesome. Twitter, what -- when you, guys, invented this, what was the purpose of Twitter? How did you envision it?
DORSEY: Well, I became fascinated (ph) when I was very, very young and got into dispatch systems, couriers, taxis (ph), 911 and built these maps with all these dots and there were police cars and ambulances. These were where the ambulances were and what they were doing. So, Twitter is an extension of that concept but brought to my friends.
So, I simply wanted to know where my friends were and what they were doing all over the world. And that's how we started and just kept developing and people use it in different ways that we did not intend.
CHETRY: Were you surprised the Iranian elections, the protests taking place there, a lot of people call that a Twitter revolution.
DORSEY: Absolutely and humbled. The fact that we could see what was happening on the ground in Iran, the people were on the streets taking pictures, tweeting them, sharing them with the world, was massive. That the conversation was happening in public and everyone could participate.
CHETRY: Also, in terms of rescue as you said, it started in dispatch which is interesting because we saw it used that way in Haiti after the earthquake.
DORSEY: Absolutely.
CHETRY: People were saying I'm here. I'm stuck in this area. I see a group of people that need rescuing. And it actually became this way to get vital emergency information.
DORSEY: Absolutely. It's just so easy to get into, and it works with any cell phone. It just works over SMS. So, even if you have a $20 Nokia cell phone you can still participate in this global conversation.
CHETRY: This is going to be the first election, the 2010 election, where Twitter's played a huge role. What do you think of that as Twitter as a means to get across your message and almost losing the middle man whether it's the media, whether it's you know, your ability to reach people because you don't have a lot of money in your campaign. I mean, is it equalizing this campaign in a way?
DORSEY: Absolutely. This whole process of Democracy and being able to participate in it instantly is something I've never seen before. It really brings the government back down to our level, to government of the people, and now, anyone can use the system and anyone can broadcast for free, and instantly.
CHETRY: What do you think about Sarah Palin and many have lamented that she's able to use Twitter as sort of a one-way conversation. Meaning, her tweets become news instantly, but there's not really necessarily a back and forth in answering of questions with reporters. DORSEY: I think when you start with Twitter, you use it as promotion, but then, you get into the more participatory aspect and the conversation. So, eventually, I think she will go to something where she's using it to converse with her constituents instead of just broadcasting it.
CHETRY: Well, the Square is a really cool new thing. Let's see if this one catches on as well as your wildly successful Twitter. Jack Dorsey, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
DORSEY: Thank you.
CHETRY: Nice to meet you.
DORSEY: Nice to meet you.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Wow. Guy's got a few ideas up his sleeve.
You may have heard about the real housewives of D.C., but what about the real Democrats of D.C., the new ad from gay conservatives that's targeting Democrats like Barney Frank.
And the southeast under the gun for strong storms this morning. Our Reynolds Wolf is watching it all. He'll have the travel forecast coming up right after the break. Forty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 45 minutes after the hour. You were saying?
CHETRY: You know -- no -- I'm just saying we're talking about the things that we're talking about in the NEWSROOM. One is why didn't we think of that?
ROBERTS: Oh that the --
CHETRY: -- the Square.
ROBERTS: Or Twitter.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: What's the guy worth?
CHETRY: I -- I -- he said Twitter is now -- you asked him in the commercial break. We just finished interviewing the co-founder of Twitter. He said that they are now making money so.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: And they're -- they are in the black.
ROBERTS: But still even before they were making money, though, it was worth a lot, right? CHETRY: Billions.
ROBERTS: Another -- another 28-year-old billionaire. Seriously.
But here's some of the other things that got us talking in the NEWSROOM this morning. First up, an admission and a denial from Brett Favre; the Vikings quarterback reportedly telling the NFL that yes, he did leave voice mails for former Jets employee Jenn Sterger but did not send her any lewd photographs when he was a member of the team. The NFL investigating all of this.
CHETRY: All right. so is this real or is this just tricky videography, you decide. Lebron James doesn't have this shot, in his repertoire does he -- these are hoop stars from Perth, Australia -- very excited about these shots from way downtown. Real or fake? You be the judge.
Wait, watch this one. One-handed, standing backward, made it in. These kids are sinking shots, the top tier of the stadium. Congratulations. We think it's fake.
ROBERTS: Yes. It's either fake or they -- they sat there all afternoon and finally hit a couple.
"Paranormal Activity 2", it's a smash hit, the independent film raked in over $41 million this weekend. That's the highest weekend total ever for a horror film. The success of "Paranormal 2" though comes at the expense of the new Clint Eastwood drama "Here After" film. I saw it over the weekend, I quite enjoyed it. Just $12 million though during it's opening day.
CHETRY: Did the dying meet the dead, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: The dead meets the dying.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: It was a fascinating premise.
ROBERTS: It's a -- it's a very good film. It's very good.
CHETRY: Well, in New Orleans, nothing is more sacred of course than the Super Bowl champs, the Saints. The "Who Dat Nation", well, that's why a lot of parishes are going to celebrating Halloween Saturday because the Saints play the Steelers Sunday, one parish is actually voting to move trick or treating to Saturday so that the kids won't miss the big game Sunday.
ROBERTS: Have you figured out what you're going out as?
CHETRY: Oh yes, we're -- the whole family is "Toy Story". Jesse, Buzz, Woody.
ROBERTS: I'd like to go as a 28-year-old billionaire. CHETRY: Yes and be inventor of Twitter.
ROBERTS: And then just stay like that.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly. Why change back.
ROBERTS: You know when your mom told you don't do that because your face will stay like that, same principle.
CHETRY: She told me that a lot. It never happened.
ROBERTS: Yes.
Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines with Reynolds Wolf in Atlanta. And he is a busy, busy man today.
CHETRY: Yes you sure are, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Guys, crazy day. We've had some rough weather, not only this morning but certainly yesterday in parts of Texas. We had some strong storms this morning, they are surveying the damage from high above.
We've got some video for you and it's coming from our CNN affiliate in Dallas. Take a look at some of these pictures showing you the damage and there is plenty of it. Now, what's going to happen, this is just some traffic choppers that you have over the area that take a look at some of this damage.
But later on today there will be some aerial reconnaissance taken by the local National Weather Service Office. What they'll do is take a look at this debris field. And if all of the damage looks like it's in one direction that would indicate straight-line winds.
However, in this circumstance I would think they are going to find a lot of the damage going to the northeast, some going to say the southwest, which indicates rotation and that of course, would mean a tornado.
Some of that rough weather driving eastward and we see the delays beginning to stack up. In Charlotte, we've a ground stop until 9:00 a.m., ditto for Teterboro. In Atlanta, ground delays for about 20 minutes and same deal at Reagan National in Washington, D.C. And the reason why, right here before your eyes, the storm system that's been driving east, we've got some tornado watches in effect for Alabama.
We chalk it up over towards Georgia and to the Carolinas, even Tennessee and now a new severe thunderstorm watch in effect for the Piedmont, even up into Virginia. That's going to be something that may linger through the midday hours and possibly into the early afternoon.
And it's not just going to be for the southeast but also into the western Great Lakes and into the Midwest. Iowa, into Missouri, even into Wisconsin and Illinois before the day is out; you may have some delays in Chicago. And not just from the heavy rain but also from strong winds, some wind gusts topping 50 to 60 miles per hour. Tropical storm force winds.
Speaking of the tropical storm, let's take a look at the latest one we've got, that is tropical storm Richard. Sustained winds at 45 miles per hour, gusting to 75, we do anticipate as this storm moves across the Yucatan Peninsula. It is expected to weaken as we wrap things up, into Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The storm should eject into the bay of Campeche and into the Gulf of Mexico, possibly weakening and dying out.
But again, I don't want to sound like a broken record but these things can be very fickle. It could get a little bit stronger, it may die out altogether. A lot of unknowns with the system; we'll watch it for you very carefully.
Guys -- back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: So -- so, they have to go look at the damage in Texas from an aerial perspective to figure out it was a tornado?
WOLF: That's the best way to do it. I mean -- from what I've seen I can tell you, I'm definitely going to say it's going to be a tornado. But just for clarification, they are either going to fly over, and they are going to take a look and they study these things --
ROBERTS: Yes.
WOLF: -- for any kind of clues, you're getting a better ideas of how they can be -- actually prepare -- better prepared for them in the future.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Wow, all I got to do is look at the video that our guest this morning, Eric Meyers, had.
WOLF: I'm with you.
ROBERTS: Oh yes. A tornado.
WOLF: Unmistakable.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: But maybe they will learn something because he said, it seemed to take a hard right and come down a totally different path very suddenly so --
WOLF: Absolutely.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet guys.
ROBERTS: Learning what you can how capricious these things really are.
CHETRY: Oh yes.
ROBERTS: Well, Sarah Palin receiving an unlikely parting gift -- pink underwear. We'll tell you why and who gave it to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most Politics in the Morning. Fifty-three minutes past the hour. Crossing the "Political Ticker" this morning, a gay conservative group is hoping to win over reality television fans.
ROBERTS: Our senior political editor, Mark Preston is live at the University of South Florida in Tampa this morning, the scene of tonight's debate. And what are we talking about here, Mark?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, John -- well, Kiran, good morning. You know Kiran, I'm not sure if John will actually acknowledge this. I will acknowledge this. I've watched the "Real Housewives of Washington, D.C.", of Orange County, of New Jersey, I've watched them all. I'll tell you what. It's entertaining, fun.
This gay conservative group GOProud is running an ad starting today in several states across the country targeting Democrats. One Democrat they are targeting is Barney Frank an openly gay Democrat. In fact let's take a look at this ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house wives were dysfunctional. Wait until you meet the real Democrats of Washington, D.C. They are catty.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are arrogant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am at the --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a -- you know, do me a favor. Could you say senator instead of ma'am? It's just the thing. I worked so hard to get that title.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: So, there you go. A little entertainment being tied together with politics; that's an ad, it's about $50,000 running on Bravo and another cable network for the next week
I'm going to blush here for this on but John you said it at the top. Joe Arpaio, that brash -- tough talking sheriff out in Arizona, well, he's known for a lot of things including pink underwear. He makes his inmates wear pink underwear.
Sarah Palin was in Arizona a couple days ago for a campaign stop. Joe Arpaio met with her, had some kind words. He gave her a pair of pink underwear as a gift -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Every potential presidential candidate needs a pair of pink underwear from Joe Arpaio. No question about that.
CHETRY: Oh man. Well, maybe that's a good way she can start disciplining her kids. I'm going to do what Joe Arpaio does if you guys don't listen to me.
ROBERTS: And true confessions here Mark. I have never watched the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" but I have met them.
CHETRY: Wow.
PRESTON: All right. So you have one up on me there.
ROBERTS: Maybe two. Thanks mark. See you again soon. Fifty- five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD, ACTOR: What did I tell you? Eight-eight miles per hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was 25 years ago that Doc Brown built a time machine out of a Delorean and this weekend, super fans of "Back to the Future" had a chance to geek out at theaters all across the country. The original film was re-released Saturday.
Here are a few pictures from outside of one of the theaters on Long Island. Why do we have them? Well, because our writer Nick (INAUDIBLE) clearly was geeking out with them. The parking lot loaded with real Deloreans.
ROBERTS: Some of them even pimped out like the time machine, the flux capacitor inside -- that's the device of course that makes time travel possible if you can generate 1.21 gigawatts of electricity; also the save the clock tower flyer on the windshield. The entire three-movie set is going to be released on Blu-Ray tomorrow, October 26 -- 25 years to the day Marty McFly traveled back in time in the first film.
CHETRY: Wow. And we're here.
ROBERTS: Twenty-five years ago. And we're still here.
CHETRY: Wow. That brings back some memories. ROBERTS: Where's Biff?
CHETRY: I don't know where he is. Watch how you are in high school. You never know who is going to come back for you.
ROBERTS: Exactly.
That's going to wrap it up for us today. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you back here again bright and early tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: Sure will. Meantime, the news continues. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Hey Kyra.
