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American Morning
Top 100 Races to Watch; Referendum on Obama: Majority Plan to Vote Against Obama; The Reid-Angle Showdown; Voting Underway on East Coast; Economy: Issue Number One
Aired November 02, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And today is the day. It is Tuesday, it's November 2nd. Americans around the country head to the polls. The power in Washington up for grabs. I'm John Roberts. Good to have you with us this morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Yes, polls are opening in many states across the country right this minute.
All right. We are covering, by the way, today's midterm election like no other network can. We want to let you know that we have correspondents fanned out throughout the country following all the races big and small and they are, of course, part of "The Best Political Team" watching you all morning long. So let's tell you a little bit about what you're going to be seeing throughout the hour.
Right now, as we said, it's 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time and polls are opening in eight states right now. We have Kentucky, Indiana, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia all opening right now. And more than $3.5 billion, this is actually the most expensive midterm campaign ever. Polls are showing that voters could literally clean house by tossing out Democratic majorities in the House, possibly doing the same in the Senate, so a lot to focus on this morning.
And we have with us Tom Foreman. He's focusing on the top 100 races to watch.
Good morning. Good to see you this morning.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CHETRY: So walk us through where we should be keeping our eyes this morning.
FOREMAN: You just walked us through the place you want to watch right now, where those polls are opening. Because I'm telling you, all of this buildup for all of these months is leading up to just this. These are the 100 races that are most on the knife's edge here that we think could change.
And look, we have some in the very areas you're talking about here. This is the class of 2008. These are people who came in with Barack Obama when he became the president. Look, there's Connecticut, one of the places you just mentioned. Jim Himes there. Dan Debicella here in Connecticut's '04 district. That district went for Barack Obama, 60 to 40, but now we'll see if that holds up with the president having a hard time.
We move into New York here. You mentioned that New Jersey open here. New Jersey '03, that's got John Adler and Jon Runyan running against each other there. Again, we have a case where Barack Obama carried it 52 percent to 47 percent. The question is, will that hold up?
New York down here in New York's 13, New York 25, New York 29.
CHETRY: And those are going to be interesting to watch because New York is a typical blue state.
FOREMAN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: But that may not be the case this time around.
FOREMAN: Absolutely. So all day long if you watch this wall up here, you'll be watching to see what happens. And when you look at this, we've got somewhere around the 16 -- 39, that's the magic number up here -- 39. If 39 of these change, that means that the Republicans have taken control. So watch those states as they open up. We've got about 16 seats that in our magic 100 that are now in the polls open, as you said. People are deciding.
CHETRY: The top three races we're keeping an eye on today?
FOREMAN: More on the Senate side. We're going to pay a lot of attention to what's happening on the Senate side. You're going to watch what happens in Delaware. You're going to be very interested in there because of Christine O'Donnell, the effect there. You look at Nevada very closely to see what happens in Harry Reid's old state. And watch Colorado because Colorado is an unusual state. There are strong Democratic areas, strong Republican areas, strong kind of middle areas.
CHETRY: Right. And both in Colorado and Nevada, we've seen the polls within the margin of error they're so tight.
FOREMAN: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: Delaware, not so much right now.
FOREMAN: Yes, exactly.
CHETRY: But she's closed the gap as the last few days have gone on.
FOREMAN: Right. You just want to see how she performs. Whether she wins or not, you want to see what the performance because you guys were talking earlier about the independent vote and how people responded. That's not really the independent vote with Christine O'Donnell, but it is sort of a rogue vote, if you want to call it that, and you want to see what it does as an early indicator of what might happen elsewhere.
CHETRY: It will be interesting stuff. Tom Foreman, great to have you with us this morning. Let's go over to John.
ROBERTS: All right. A couple minutes after the hour now.
With the economy clearly issue number one, candidates spent $3.5 billion to win your vote this campaign season. That's a record for a midterm election. But when all is said and done tonight, this day will really come down to a referendum on President Obama's policies in his first two years in office.
Dan Lothian live at the White House this morning. And, Dan, in a CNN poll, a slight majority of Americans say they plan to vote for the candidate who is most opposed to the president's policies. So definitely this to some degree is a referendum on what the president has done for the last couple of years?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It really is because there's so much frustration across the country. And everyone acknowledges that even here at the White House. As Republicans like to point out, this is an administration that came into power under that banner of hope and change, but there's been that lot of disappointment. Even among some of those in the president's own party because they don't believe he's moved quickly enough in delivering on some of his campaign promises. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," for example, or closing Guantanamo. But the most important issue at the top of the list for Americans is the economy. The president promised during the campaign that he was going to turn things around, and yet the economy is still struggling.
Now this administration, the president in particular likes to point out, out on the campaign trail that this was an economy that was in a much more difficult spot than they even anticipated. And so it's going to take time to turn things around. But as voters head to the polls today, there's that frustration. Many of them are out of work or know someone who's out of work or they're struggling to hang on to their homes. They are not necessarily happy with the alternative, but they're certainly not pleased with where they are right now, John.
ROBERTS: So the president did spend the weekend out on the campaign trail trying to, you know, get those votes out for Democrats at the last minute. What's he planning on doing in these next few hours as the polls begin to open?
LOTHIAN: He's going to be on the radio, first of all. Yesterday, he taped some nationally syndicated radio shows, including Ryan Seacrest of "American Idol." That will roll out this morning and then he'll be doing some live interviews on radio in some of these key states like Florida, California, Nevada and Illinois, try to reach out to as many voters as possible.
We heard the president over the weekend when he was in Cleveland say how if he can get people energized, if they can turn out in the numbers that they did in 2008 that brought the president to power and other Democrats, as well, he believes that they can also win in this midterm election, but it's a tall order, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Dan Lothian for us live at the White House this morning. Dan, thanks so much.
After you vote, turn on to CNN. "The Best Political Team on Television" brings you up to the minute results and analysis in this critical midterm election. Our live coverage begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
And AMERICAN MORNING picks up the post-election coverage bright and early, beginning at 3:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning. Just keep it on CNN for the most comprehensive election coverage on television and online, by the way.
CHETRY: And we'll be bright but we'll have adrenaline to carry us through as we try to see. You know, a lot of those races are not going to be decided by 3:00 a.m.
ROBERTS: Exactly. We'll try to be as bright as we possibly can.
CHETRY: All right. Well, also new this morning, she says she sees all the hallmarks of a plot by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That word coming from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano talking about mail bombs that were found on planes coming from Yemen late last week. She also told us that the U.S. is now extending a cargo ban on shipments from Yemen and that security teams from the U.S. are already in that country working with officials there.
ROBERTS: Six months after the worst oil spill in U.S. history, BP is profitable again. The oil giant says it still can't estimate the full cost of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but the company just posted a $1.7 billion third quarter profit after taking a $17 billion loss in the second quarter.
CHETRY: And the long wait is over. The San Francisco Giants have won their first World Series title since 1954. They beat the Rangers 3-1 last night taking the series four games to one. And they celebrated on the field in Arlington. That must have hurt. Poor Rangers. And on the streets of San Francisco, the Giants will be honored with the, of course, traditional ticker tape parade that's going to take place on Wednesday.
ROBERTS: That didn't take long, did it?
CHETRY: No. Quick work of the Rangers, unfortunately.
ROBERTS: There you go.
Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in Atlanta. And I take it, Rob, because your Yankees weren't in the series, it probably wasn't all that interesting to you?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, no, it's always interesting. But it was interesting that Texas pretty much laid down after giving the Yankees quite the shellacking offensively, so I don't know where the Texas bats went. But congrats to the Giants, it's been a long wait there in San Francisco and I'm happy to see them win, as well.
All right. San Francisco is going to be dry today. Los Angeles, as well, will be warm. And if you're going to the polls across parts of the south including Texas, boy, it is raining to beat the band right now. A pretty strong system that is not moving very quickly. And that's a problem when you're near the Gulf of Mexico because that means it's going to rain. It's going to rain heavily and it's doing that right now in Houston. East toward Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange, Texas, Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lafayette, heading towards Baton Rouge, and this will be with you, I think, for a good chunk of the day today. So there will be localized street flooding. Those severe thunderstorm watches have been allowed to expire right now at least. We're just looking at torrential rains and yes, some thunder and lightning and some of the cells did have some hail with them earlier today and last night.
Sunny in Denver, 71, getting to the polls in D.C. And New York, into the upper 40s lower 50s. So a chilly start, definitely a jacket. Might even bring the gloves, maybe even a scarf, across the I-95 corridor, but no rain to deter you from getting to the polls.
John and Kiran, back up to you. We'll talk more about tropical storm Tomas a little bit later on the program.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good. No excuses today as you said.
MARCIANO: That's right.
CHETRY: Just bring a scarf and head to the polls.
Well, the stakes are so high that they actually sent in the closer as she's called. First Lady Michelle Obama campaigning for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada saying that her husband can't do it alone. A closer look at the race and what is on the line in Nevada coming up.
It's eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eleven minutes after the hour now. And voting in 10 states already underway this morning. The balance of power on the line. Some very big names with their jobs in jeopardy. And even if Democrats can't hang on to the Senate, they could lose the Senate leader. Senator Harry Reid fighting for his political life in Nevada against Sharron Angle. It's one of the closest, most watched and nastiest races in the entire country. And with so much at stake, the White House sent First Lady Michelle Obama to Las Vegas to make one last pitch for the man who fought for the president's agenda in the Senate saying my husband can't do this alone.
Jim Acosta up early on the strip for us this morning. All eyes clearly on this race. Jim, good morning.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. And you're right. You can place your bets at this point because nobody really knows how this race is going to turn out. It's all going to depend on who can get out the vote between the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Tea Party favorite in this race, Republican Sharron Angle. And as you mentioned, Harry Reid, his job very much on the line here. This race has been neck-and-neck for the last several months and he brought in the closer, as you put it. Michelle Obama, the first lady, who is firing up the Democratic base here in Las Vegas yesterday telling the crowd that Harry Reid needs another six years here in Nevada.
Now, Senator Reid is a former boxer and he framed his final argument to voters here yesterday as one more fight he'd like to finish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: Thanks, insurance companies and these oil companies take advantage of us. We've got to keep fighting to stop it. And I'm not finished fighting for you. I want you to join me in this fight. I ask for your vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And for her part, Sharron Angle, a former state lawmaker here, a former teacher, grandmother, she has surprised the entire Republican political establishment by winning the primary here earlier this year by beating well-known Republican in this state. She has for the most part avoided the media during this campaign. She's done a few interviews with the traditional media over the last several months, but she went back to conservative talk radio host Sean Hannity last night on FOX News to make her final argument about the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: When he weren't the Senate majority leader, we were at 4.4 percent unemployment, and now as you point out we're at 14.4 percent unemployment. But when you put in the underemployed and those who have quit looking for jobs, we're really at 22.3 percent unemployment. And we lay those squarely at Harry Reid's doorstep. He's the one that pushed, promoted and made deals for those poor public policies that have absolutely crushed our economy here in Nevada.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And, John, you mentioned how nasty it's gotten on the airwaves here. You can't turn on the television in Las Vegas without seeing a negative attack ad coming from one of these candidates aimed at each other or from these outside groups that we've talked so much about. They've also come here and dumped a lot of money on to the airwaves, trying to knock Harry Reid out of this race.
I was watching the World Series last night, John, here in Las Vegas, and it was sort of like watching a three-hour negative campaign attack ad occasionally interrupted by a baseball game. The polls open here in about 3 1/2 hours from now. They'll close at 7:00 at night tonight. And this race is so tight we may not find out who the winner of this race is, and so well into tomorrow East Coast time, John.
ROBERTS: We'll be here covering it all each and every step of the way. Jim Acosta up early in Las Vegas this morning. Jim, thanks so much. Kiran? CHETRY: All right. John, thanks.
I want to let everyone know that we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to be talking to a panel of experts from both sides of the aisle, independents as well, about some of the big issues, key races to watch. As we said, the polls have been open for 15 minutes in eight states.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eighteen minutes past the hour. Welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING on this Election Day.
As we've said, voting's already underway in many states across the country, and we have "The Best Political Team on Television" with us this morning.
We have senior political analyst Ed Rollins with us, as well as Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez. And then separating them, of course, from the Democrats, we have John Avlon - just kidding - DailyBeast.com columnist John Avlon. We have Cord Jefferson with us. He's the Washington reporter for TheRoot.com. And CNN political contributor Hilary Rosen, as well as Democratic strategist Kiki McLean.
Thank to all of you for being with us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.
CHETRY: So, first of all, just what are the big races we're going to be looking out for today? I know we're about three and a half hours from the polls opening in Nevada, but that's a big race.
KIKI MCLEAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I have to say, I - I care a lot about (INAUDIBLE) - so I know there's been a lot of talk in the last couple of weeks about the House and the Senate and control of the legislature, but I have - I have gubernatorial crushes, because those are CEOs. That's where you see innovation from both sides come to play.
Obviously, there's been a lot of coverage of the California race, with Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman, but I think Alex Sink and the Florida race, the woman Democrat running for governor, great credentials on economic issues. That would be a big win for us for all kinds of reasons in the future with Florida.
And then, obviously, you've got a big race in New York. You have a lot of voters who could be living under Democratic governors after today.
But the most important thing this morning is, before we get into the analysis, is everybody's got to go vote. So, if you're up right now, if you don't have a way to get there, pick up the phone and call somebody. And if you've got a car, pick up the phone and take somebody else to the polls with you today. That's the most important thing.
CORD JEFFERSON, WASHINGTON REPORTER, THEROOT.COM: Looking at the governors is - also is really important because of all the redistricting that's coming out. And I think that we're going to see a lot of Republicans taking the governorship in a lot of states, actually. We could - we could possibly have 35 Republican governors in office very soon. And with states like Texas poised to gain four Congressional districts, Pennsylvania gain - set to lose a Congressional district, I mean, these are - these are huge things.
JOHN AVLON, COLUMNIST, THEDAILYBEAST.COM: And that's why the parties are - are doubling down so hard on Ohio in particular, because that is such a presidential bellwether, and who's the governor there has huge ramifications for 2012.
Also, governors, Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, Independent, has been edging ahead in the polls. That's a real race. He'd be the first Independent governor since the 1990s, so that's exciting.
Two other races I - I'm looking at. Illinois Senate race, Kirk versus Giannoulias, Kirk being a very centrist Republican; and - and Pennsylvania, Sestak-Toomey. Great race.
CHETRY: Yes. The Sestak-Toomey race in Pennsylvania right now is pretty tight. I know that this is going back and forth. Some people call Pat Toomey the original Tea Party candidate, right, Leslie?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, definitely raised a lot of money, generated a lot of support. It's interesting, and - and it - kind of to this point a little bit is the Midwest, the resurgence of the Republicans in the Midwest, very important, just like 1978. We won nine governorships. That set the framework for Reagan coming in in 1980.
I think you're going to see a lot of that in the Midwest, and some of these kind of rust belt states that are critical for the party moving forward.
CHETRY: When you're worried about economic issues, and we've said time and time again, Ed, that the economy is the number one issues on - you know, on voters' minds, is it just the party in power, or does that always tend to, at least in the minds of Independents, favor Republicans?
ED ROLLINS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. I think whoever's the party in power sort of gets - sometimes gets the credit for things they don't do and sometimes get the blame for things that they're not responsible for.
The amazing stories, to me, are the comebacks of two people who were around when I started politics. Jerry Brown and I were altar boys together. I lived - I lived through his eight years way back when - seminarians, as a matter of fact (INAUDIBLE).
MCLEAN: That - that was a great commercial he ran, saying - Meg Whitman liked it. (INAUDIBLE). ROLLINS: And - and Terry Branstad on Ohio, who basically was a governor in the early - the early 80s.
The - the race that I - I have great affection for is John Kasich in Ohio. In 1982, John Kasich came in my office, when I was the White House political director. We're getting clobbered everywhere. We lost 26 House seats.
He walked in and he said I'm running against some overwhelming Democrat district. I want you to support me. I said, John, I can't support you. He said, I'm going to be back here in January. I'm going to be a member.
He was the only candidate who beat a Democratic incumbent in 1982. So never underestimate John Kasich.
CHETRY: Well, we'll see if he can do it again.
Hilary, you know, you brought up an interesting point, though, about the issue of fresh blood. No offense to you, Ed, but I'm saying, in - in California -
ROLLINS: My blood - my blood -
CHETRY: Well, he said he was an altar boy with Jerry Brown.
ROLLINS: My blood isn't fresh -
CHETRY: What does that tell you -
ROLLINS: -- but it's still flowing.
CHETRY: What - and that's a good thing.
What does that tell you, though, that, you know, that - when we talk about needing new ideas and wanting new ideas and innovation, that California may be looking to go back to somebody from three decades ago who lead, to see their way out of this deep fiscal hole they're in.
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, in part, I think that's a - that's a byproduct of how this election has gotten nationalized, because, in many respects, it ends up being more of an anti-Washington election, not an anti-Republican or anti-Democratic election, and the Democrats just simply have more at stake - more to lose.
The - so, Jerry Brown, ironic as it is, is seen as an outsider by many people in California because he hasn't been - you know, he's been attorney general, which is not particularly a political job. He hasn't been in office that - in - in that sort of political way, and so he - he was able to capture that - that outsider view.
And, I think, in one respect, you know, we see with some of the failed Republican candidates, like, I think, Meg Whitman and like in - in Florida, hopefully felt (ph), candidates where, you know, business people come in and think well, this is the year you want experience and you want business leadership and you want that.
In - in many respects, what voters are going to respond to is the sense of have - do you understand my frustration, my anger? Have you been there? Or have you been part of the - of the system that has put it - put us down?
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. We're going to continue that conversation in just a moment.
Twenty-four minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're just about to cross the half hour. It's 6:30 here in New York, and the polls are open in eight states across the country right now on this Election Day.
We're back with our panel, chewing over some of the big issues today. We have Ed Rollins with us, as well as - sorry. (INAUDIBLE) - as well as Leslie Sanchez - sorry - John Avlon. We have with us Cord Jefferson, with TheRoot.com, Hilary Rosen and Kiki McLane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.
CHETRY: All right?
(CROSSTALK)
MCLEAN: You got it. You did it. You did it.
CHETRY: I want to first start off by asking about something that's perhaps a late in the game attack on the president by some in the Republican Party. It was a quote that he gave when he was talking about immigration reform to a - he was talking to Univision. And he said, "Our enemies."
Is that the wrong language? There were Republicans that then said - I mean, you can be an opponent, but you don't have to view people who disagree with you politically as enemies.
JEFFERSON: I think that's absolutely the wrong message. I mean, he's the president of the United States. There are no Americans that should be considered his enemies, and there are no Americans that should be considered - regardless of whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, you are not my enemy.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: The president apologized right away after he said this.
JEFFERSON: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: It was after a 24-hour, you know, straight campaign spell. I mean, he's tired. People make those mistakes. MCLEAN: He's a human being.
ROSEN: But - and - I don't - this is not his sentiment, and he's already apologized. This is such a non-issue.
SANCHEZ: There's an interesting thing here I don't know if you heard a lot about, is what these candidates say when they speak to different audiences. So, for example, Univision, Spanish language, there used to be a times a lot of candidates still happen to say things in the Spanish language that they don't think are going to be picked up by mainstream media.
He's talking about ethnic solidarity, Latinos all vote together, we're monolithic, go against your enemy. I think he had very strong intentions in deliberately using that language -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you really think that, Leslie?
AVLON: I don't think it was -
SANCHEZ: I really do.
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: I don't think it was - if you look at it in context, it was not.
SANCHEZ: Absolutely. He didn't say it on mainstream media.
AVLON: It was not - it was not an intentional salvo, in - in context. And - and clearly is something that wasn't, you know, (INAUDIBLE) it was a good idea.
It speaks to something larger, though, and I'm glad to see Republicans jumping on it, because maybe they'll start applying the same standard to themselves. We have gotten to a point in our politics where woo often we refer to our political opponents as enemies. We call the political - opposition evil. And - and let's draw that clear, bright line. Let's say that that's unacceptable for everyone who does it.
CHETRY: We've seen it - I feel like we've seen it more in some of the ads out there, people calling each other crazy -
ROLLINS: This has been as partisan and -
CHETRY: -- dangerous -
ROLLINS: -- negative a campaign I - we've all been -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes. Yes, yes.
ROLLINS: We've been around a long time.
And every element of negative out is - has been out there today, and it's - there's - normally you used to do mostly positive, some negative in the end. This has been all negative from the get-go. And I think the president has set a tone that I think to a certain extent has not worked when he's gone out and basically got into the campaign mode - which he was very good at - that I think when you go back and look at the follow-up polls where he's been, he hasn't necessarily benefited this candidate.
MCLEAN: You know what's interesting to me, you talked about the ads, and you're right. And there are dirty hands from California to North Carolina in this campaign, this cycle. But I have to say out of clever, funny ads, out of biting ads, out of -- you know, not every negative ad is a bad ad. Negative ad draws comparisons that are important.
But Sharron Angle ran an ad that was so deliberate and so race- baiting in Nevada that that's the one that I just thought really was the top of the heap for crossing the line.
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: I mean, for me, the worst out of the season is Alan Grayson, his Taliban Dan.
CHETRY: And I was going to say Alan Grayson's Taliban Dan probably equal to outrage.
AVLON: Yes. I put that in the same category. The other one, look at the backlash against Jack Conway's Aqua Buddha. Independents, all of a sudden, in the wake of that ad, go two to one for Rand Paul. It's directly in response to that negative ad.
CHETRY: But, you know, you guys all brought up an interesting point when you said -- you said sometimes you say things to one group of people. I mean, the interesting thing is -- I mean, candidates have closed-door meetings all the time. You talk to different groups and you can talk differently.
But nowadays with 24/7 cable --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Anything you say is going to be out there.
MCLEAN: Any smart candidates today, and I think Bill Clinton was the first national candidate who demonstrated this. And he caught beans for it, man. He went in front of one audience and told them the same thing as he told anyone else. As chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, when nobody in his own party wanted to talk to him -- that is what made him presidential because he told the truth in every place he went.
ROSEN: One of the things I think President Obama has tried to do as he has gone out and in a large measure, it has -- it has energized Democrats and some independents. But it has reminded people of the choices. And I think what we have seen is a frustrated president not about sort of the communication problem or other things people ascribe to it. But a frustration about the level of choices that people have. There is not a big disagreement the fact that everything that happened this year got no Republican support. That even when Republican ideas were put into the health care or put into the tax bills that the Republicans voted against it anyway.
And I think what you saw out there was a frustrated president saying, you want me to be bipartisan, I have tried to come up with ideas that were combined. And we didn't get there. Now you have a choice. And so compare and contrast.
(CROSSTALK)
ROLLINS: One Republican crossed the line, Louisiana two, the congressman from there, and he gave a vote. The president cut a spot against him. When we had Democrats support Reagan in the early '80s, we gave them all a pass.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't ask the president to cut --
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to have to leave it here.
ROLLINS: No, they cut one to the opponent.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: We'll be talking until 9:00 a.m. and beyond.
MCLEAN: Breaks are just for everybody else.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Coffee break. Thanks so much to Ed Rollins, of course, to Leslie, to John. Thank you for coming in and joining us, (INAUDIBLE), as well as Hilary, and Kiki.
Great to talk to all of you.
Thirty-three minutes past the hour. Let's go over to John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much.
We got half past the hour, 6:30 Eastern on the East Coast. And as we're crossing the bottom of the hour, polls now are opening in three more states. They're opening in Ohio, West Virginia, and North Carolina, which looks a little bit like South Carolina if you read the bottom. That should be North Carolina.
After a long and nasty and expensive campaign, voters are finally deciding the balance of power in this country -- balance of power, of course, on the line. We're looking at all the big races this morning. In the Senate, 18 Republicans are stake, 19 Democrat seats. Obviously, 51 seats needed for a majority in the Senate.
Looking at all the big issue as well, and the big picture.
Our Tom Foreman is over at the data wall for us this morning as Tom is checking in on a couple of races where the Tea Party had a big influence.
And just think, Tom, that 18 months ago, nobody knew who the Tea Party was.
FOREMAN: Exactly. Huge, huge change.
Look at Delaware over here. This is one of the races that absolutely you know a lot of people are going to watch today.
Christine O'Donnell has not been doing particularly well in the polls. But the truth is, this whole business of her defeating the Republican, being the candidate now with Tea Party support, Sarah Palin behind her. Everyone wants to see how strongly she does here against Chris Coons and see if that's a predecessor to everything else that's going to happen in the country.
ROBERTS: Particularly because before the primary, before the Republican primary at least, this was considered probably a Republican pick-up if Mike Castle had become the nominee.
FOREMAN: They thought Mike Castle -- they were saying Mike Castle's in, one of the luckiest guys in Delaware right now by many accounts is Chris Coons because he had an opportunity. The real question here will be Palin power to some degree. You can look at it that way, because she came out and said she'd like to help here. This will be some indication of whether or not that's going to work.
Another race, though, that we should really be looking at today is one that was mentioned a minute ago, Kentucky out here -- the question of Jack Conway and Rand Paul. Jack Conway did run that very, very strange Aqua Buddha ads. It's one of the stranger political ads I've ever seen. If you look at the state, John, it's all red.
But I want to switch over. Just touch the House races button over there if you would for a minute, and you can see these big clusters of the blue here. And if you move in, somewhere like Louisville over here and change it back. If you want me to pull it back out, I'll give you the Senate. Pull it back to the Senate if you would.
If you move into Louisville, look at that, 17 percent of the population out here at Frankfort, you get another 1.2 percent. Move over there to Fayette County, those 6.4 percent. Those are deep in the blue area. Jack Conway's got to do well there if he wants to pull this state.
ROBERTS: Because Rand Paul is about 10 points ahead right now.
FOREMAN: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: What's really fascinating too about this is that in the Republican primary, Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader was heavily against Rand Paul, now the two of them are working together like this. We'll see if Rand Paul sees himself --
FOREMAN: Those strange bedfellows we hear so much about in politics.
ROBERTS: Yes. We'll be talking to Rand Paul, by the way, in our 8:00 hour this morning.
FOREMAN: Excellent.
ROBERTS: We look forward to that -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Now to one of the most important governors' races in the nation right now in the battleground state of Ohio. The incumbent Democrat, Ted Strickland, is locked in a very close battle now with his Republican opponent, former Congressman John Kasich.
Just to give you an idea of how critical the state of Ohio is to Democrats, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and former President Bill Clinton all went there to campaign for Strickland. Yesterday, though, Kasich said has no doubt he will win the election.
Meantime, Ohio's congressman, John Boehner, who's in line to become the speaker of the House if Republicans capture that chamber is pouncing on something that President Obama said last week.
Our Carol Costello is live in Westchester, Ohio.
Carol, we talked a little bit about that conversation that the president had where he used the term "enemies" to describe his political opponents.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, I'm sorry, I can't hear you. I just took IFB out of my ear. We're having a little bit of technical difficulties here. But hopefully you can hear me.
I'm in Butler County at a polling station. And there actually was a line of people waiting to get in. In fact, there are about 20 people preparing to vote right now.
Voter turnout is expected to be about 52 percent here in the state of Ohio. Pretty good turnout, although Democrats are hoping that percentage increases because, of course, they say that will help them.
But here in Butler County, it's very much Republican territory. It's John Boehner country. There was a big Republican pep rally last night.
And you're right, Kiran, John Boehner did bring up those remarks by President Obama, remarks he made on the radio, calling his Republican opponents "enemies." John Boehner brought that up. He went on the attack against President Obama. And the crowd loved it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), OHIO: Well, Mr. President, I have a word to describe those people. Those people who have the audacity to speak up against the big government, the people who have the audacity to go out and support our Constitution, the people who are out there every day fighting for a limited government that has served our country so well for 200 years. And, Mr. President, that word isn't enemies, they're patriots.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: There are a couple of hundred people at that rally. And while they embrace those remarks by John Boehner, make no mistake: if he becomes speaker of the House, they want action. They want him to evoke change. They want him to bring jobs to the state of Ohio. It doesn't matter if he's Republican.
Listen to one of the voters I talked with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: John Boehner may become speaker of the House. Do you think that'll make a difference?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hoping so. Again, we have -- we have a lot to change. And it's going to be a challenge. We're going to be holding John Boehner accountable, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The goal here is to get the Republicans in the job, in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, and maybe in 2012. But the voters still want something to happen. They want Republicans to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats, something that has not happened as you know in the past two years.
Again, here in Butler County, the polls are now open. As you can see behind me, people are coming in to vote. Of course, it's early -- the polls will be open until 7:30.
The other important race here in the state of Ohio is, of course, the governor's race. It's very close. Who knows who will win?
Some results should be pouring in, Kiran. About 8:00, 8:30 tonight. But that governor's race -- that may become -- those results may come in later because the race is so darn close.
Back to you.
CHETRY: Yes, we might still be trying to figure out who won in many of these states like Ohio into the night, into the wee hours of the morning. Carol Costello for us -- thanks so much.
Let's go over to John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING: check out what else is happening for you today. The cargo bomb plot revealing some gaping holes in airline security. We've got new details after the break on just how cargo is really checked for bombs before it gets on an airplane.
And it's going to be expensive, it's going to be crowded. Thanksgiving travel expected to surge -- why you may want to leave a little early if you're flying.
Stay with us.
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CHETRY: Forty-two minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the special edition of AMERICAN MORNING today. Of course, it's Election Day.
We're going to give you a look at top stories, though, what else is new this morning. We're going to get back to talking politics in a moment.
First, a federal appeals court ruled the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy can be enforced while the Obama administration appeals a lower court ruling which found the policy unconstitutional. The gay rights group that filed the suit may now make an emergency appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
ROBERTS: The Yemen mail bomb plot uncovering some gaping holes in airline security. According to "USA Today," only about 20 percent of the 9 billion pounds of air cargo that comes from overseas each and every year is physically checked for bombs.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told us that the U.S. is extending a cargo ban on shipments from Yemen.
CHETRY: Former Congressman Gary Condit testifying in the trial of the man accused of killing Chandra Levy in 2001. Condit allegedly had an affair with a Washington intern but refused to tell the court if they were intimate. He did say that he didn't commit any crimes.
Meantime, Ingmar Guandique is on trial for allegedly killing Levy while she was jogging in Washington.
ROBERTS: Phone service is back up across New England today after a robocall overload. Several Democratic and Republican field offices in New Hampshire lost phone service last night. Comcast which provides phone service in the area says all of the last-minute political calling maxed out the network.
New Hampshire Democratic Party says it contacted authorities because when their phones went out because of the history there. Several New England GOP leaders were sentenced for jamming Democratic phone lines back in 2002.
CHETRY: More Americans will be flying to their Thanksgiving holiday destination this year. The Air Transport Association says about 24 million people are expected to be in the air. That's up 3.5 percent from last year. The airline industry group says the increased travel demand is a good sign for the economy. Bad news, however, if you are traveling, the fares will also be higher.
ROBERTS: Good news, that always takes more out of your pocket somehow.
Well, still to come: the balance of power on the line today. More states opening their polls in just 15 minutes time. Voters deciding some key races, including the Christine O'Donnell-Chris Coons contest in Delaware. We're breaking down all of the races to watch coming up at the top of the hour.
CHETRY: Also, there's no debate that when it comes to the number one issue of concern for voters, it's the economy. Our Christine Romans is going to break it down for us, coming up.
ROBERTS: And after you vote, be sure to turn on CNN, "The Best Political Team on Television" will bring you up-to-the-minute results and analysis from this critical midterm election.
Our live coverage of all of the returns begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Of course, we'll be on the election all day today.
And you are watching a special election edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Time to get a quick check on the weather headlines as people head out to the polls this morning. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather center for us. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, Kiran. Hey, John. Yes, chilly across the northeast, but no rain in the forecast. Check out some of these numbers if you are heading out. It's pretty much like it was yesterday, maybe in some spots a little bit chill, 32 degrees in Philadelphia, 36 right now in New York City, and 34 degrees up in Central Connecticut, 34, as well, in our nation's capital. So, certainly feeling like fall on this second day of November.
Thunderstorms rumbling across parts of the lower Texas coastline into Southern Louisiana. These are slow-movers. So, they'll be dumping heavy rain throughout the rest of the morning and through the afternoon. And this will cause some localized street flooding at the very least. So, this is of an area that's going to be slow-go for sure. So, pick up your elderly neighbors and get them out of the house and put the umbrellas over them and take them to the polls today because this is going to be a spot that I think will slow down that process.
Pacific northwest, little bit of rain. You guys are used to it. Warm across parts of Southern California. Temperatures there will be near record-breaking in some cases. So, folks may very well be on the beach. So, go pluck your neighbors off the beach and take them to the polls there. All right. Tropical storm Tomas, 50-mile-an-hour winds in the Caribbean and expect it become a hurricane.
This forecast track has not changed very much over the past couple of days. We are still looking at the potentially involve Hispaniola and Haiti over the weekend as potentially a category one hurricane. We'll keep you updated on that. John and Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: And that's not good news at all. Rob, thanks so much.
Still ahead on our special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, Election Day, our Christine Romans breaks down the issues that are weighing heavily on the minds of voters today.
CHETRY: Also, with the majority of Americans saying they're going to vote for any candidate who opposes the president this midterm election really has become a referendum on the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency. We'll examine that and the issues surrounding it at the top of the hour. Again, you're watching a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning. The economy, issue number one in today's election, and no surprise with unemployment running at 9.6 percent nationally and much worse state to state. Our Christine Romans joins us now with a look at issue number one. Good morning to you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. We're test driving some new technology to show you exactly -- so you can really visualize what this means, and we're going to use this for exit polling after the polls close tomorrow so you can see what people really did in the voting booth instead of what they said they were going to do. I want to talk about the top issues here. No surprise. Issue number one is the economy nationwide.
And what's fascinating here is that 52 percent, when you take a look at just how big that -- watch this. Look at this, 52 percent. There's nothing else that even comes close. 8 percent health care, all that talk on the campaign trail about health care, 8 percent of people say health care's our top priority. You look at everything else combine including illegal immigration, including stock market, everything, altogether, that's just 32 percent.
So, it gives you a sense of just how dramatic the 9.6 percent unemployment rate will be in this election here today. Now, let's talk about when asked how things are going, if things are going well, and comparing that with other midterm election years. How does this midterm stack up in terms of the number of people who say things are going well? Take a look at this. Today, 25 percent say things are going well. Compare that with 49 percent in 2006, 50 percent in 1994, and in 1982, 40 percent said things are going well.
In 1982, you'll recall, that's when you had a popular president whose approval ratings were starting to slip whose party lost 26 seats in the midterm elections, that was Ronald Reagan. And it's fascinating because a lot of people are drawing these parallels, John, between the 10.4 percent unemployment rate back in 1982, and the 9.6 percent unemployment rate today, a popular President Reagan and Obama and what that could mean next year for the general election. Of course, Reagan was reelected.
ROBERTS: Yes. I love this new technology, the polling fence (ph) here that you're standing behind.
ROMANS: I feel you're test driving a brand new car. You're trying to figure out where the gas button is.
ROBERTS: So, on the point of the economy, for the last decade, I guess, Democrats have won on the issue of the economy. When asked who do you trust more to handle the economy, grow the economy, Democrats have won that poll. What's it looking like this year?
ROMANS: Let me show you this one. So, we've asked this question again, who can handle the economy better and Democrats are not. Take a look, nationwide. Who can handle the economy issue number one better? You've got, yes, competent Republican Party ability to handle economy, 57 percent, competent Democratic Party abilities just 45 percent. So, that's how that one played out.
ROBERTS: That's amazing. You had that at your fingertips. Do you know where the heated seats are?
ROMANS: You could have stumped me, but I had it right here. Ask me anything, John. Let's compare with the cohort in 1964. We can do it. That's on tomorrow. Wait until tomorrow.
ROBERTS: Sure, you did. Well, done. That's fabulous. Love the technology. Thanks, Christine.
Top stories coming your way right after the break. He's been endorsed by the tea party and Sarah Palin, but can Alaska Republican, Joe Miller, ride their coat tails to victory in the Senate race? We're live in Anchorage just moments away. Stay with us.
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