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Ballot Bowl 2008

Barack Obama's Final Push; Voting Troubles?

Aired November 02, 2008 - 18:00   ET

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

OBAMA: So I'm going to invest in early childhood education to close the achievement gap and we'll recruit an army of new teachers and we'll pay all our teachers higher salaries and give them more support and we'll raise our standards and increase accountability.
And I want to make a deal with every young person in America and every young person in Cleveland. If you are willing to serve this country or your community, whether it's in the military or in the Peace Corps, in a veterans home or a homeless shelter, whatever your form of service, then we will guarantee that you can afford to go to college, no ifs, ands or butts. That's the commitment that I make.

We'll invest in you, you invest in America. Together, we'll move this country forward. And, finally, when it comes to keeping this country safe, we don't have to choose between retreating from the world and fighting a world without it. It is time to stop spending $10 billion in a month in Iraq.

I will end this war. I will ask the Iraqis to step up and reach for their future. We will go after bin Laden and al Qaeda. I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but we will use our military wisely and use diplomacy, regain our standing in the world, speak to those who yearn for freedom, speak to those who yearn for justice, and we will make sure our men and women in uniform have the best training and best equipment when they deploy and the care and benefits that they have earned when they come home. That's what I'll do, because that's what they owe -- that's what we owe our veterans. Now --

CROWD: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

OBAMA: Now, Cleveland, I won't stand here and pretend that any of this is going to be easy. The cost of this economic crisis, the cost of the war, means that Washington is going to have to tighten its belt, just like families are tightening their belts and businesses are tightening their belts. We're going to have to stop spending on things that might be nice to have but we don't need.

So I'm going to have to go through the federal budget line by line, ending programs that aren't working and making the ones that do work, work better and cost less. But as I've said from the day we began this journey, the change we need won't come from government alone. It will come from each of us doing our part in our own lives, in our own communities.

It will come from each of us looking after ourselves and our families, but also looking out for each other. You know, it's been a while now since where we made a virtue out of selfishness. There's no virtue in that. We made a virtue of irresponsibility. And we need to usher in a new spirit of service and sacrifice and responsibility.

Government needs to lead the way on energy independence, but each of us has to do our part in our own lives, our own homes, our own business, to become more efficient. We've got to put more money into the schools, but I can't be the parent that turns off the television set and makes the child do your homework. That's your job.

We need a return to responsibility, but also a return to civility. We can argue and debate our positions passionately, but we all can also summon the strength and the grace and the humor to bridge our differences, to unite in common effort, all of us, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Democrat, Republican, young, old, gay, straight, disabled, not disabled, all of us have a role to play. All of us have to pull our weight if we're going to move this country forward.

I'm tired of being divided, the same old political games that pit us against each other and make us afraid of one another. Despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country. There's no city or town that's more pro America than anywhere else.

We are one nation, all of us are proud, all of us are patriots, all of us salute the flag. The men and women who serve on our battlefields, some are Democrats, some are Republican, but they fought together and they bled together and some died together. They've not served a red America or a blue America. They served the United States of America.

It won't be easy. It won't be quick. But you and I know it's time to come together. You can feel it in your gut. It's time to change this country. And some of you may have come here cynical and some of you may be fed up with politics and you've got every right to be.

But despite all of this, I ask of you what has been asked of the American people throughout our history. I ask you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about change, believe in yourselves. I know that change is possible because I've seen it over the last 21 months.

In this campaign, I've had the privilege of meeting the American people all across this country and witness what is best in America. I've seen it in the faces of men and women I meet at rallies and town halls and VFW halls and diners. Men and women who tell their story, they share their struggles and they share their hopes and their dreams.

There's a woman I met in Ft. Lauderdale, she came to a rally of ours. Her name was Robin. And after the event, her son, who is in high school, almost went into cardiac arrest and was diagnosed with a heart condition. It can only be treated with a procedure that cost tens of thousands of dollars. And the insurance companies wouldn't pay. And the family didn't have that kind of money.

So in her e-mail Robin wrote to me, she said, "Senator Obama, I ask only this of you. On the days where you feel so tired you can't think of uttering another word to the people, think of us. When those who oppose you have you down, reach deep and fight back hard."

Ohio, that's what hope is. That's what kept some of our grandparents going when times were tough, when things weren't going their way. That's what led them to say maybe I can't go to college, but if I save a little bit each week, maybe my child can go to college. Maybe I'm working on a factory floor, but if I work really hard, maybe my child can open up their business one day. It's what led those who could not vote to say that if I march and organize, maybe my child or grandchild can run for president some day. That's what hope is.

That thing inside us that insists that despite all evidence to the contrary that there are better days ahead if we're willing to work for it, if we're willing to shed our doubts, if we're willing to reach deep inside ourselves when we're tired, when we're discouraged, when it looks like the odds are against us, and we come back and we fight harder.

So don't believe for a second that this election is over. Don't think for a minute that power won't concede. We've got to work like our future depends on it in these last two days because it does. But I know this, Ohio, that time for change has come. We've got a right to swing and in these last couple of days, if you are willing to knock on some doors with me, if you're willing to make some calls with me, if you're willing to talk to your friends and your neighbors, and explain to them what's at stake, if you will stand with me and fight by my side, then I promise you this, we will not just win Ohio.

We will win this general election and together you and I, we're going to change this country and we will change the world. A rising is coming. Thank you everybody, god bless you, everybody, and god bless the United States of America.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Barack Obama live out of Cleveland. "BALLOT BOWL" has to get out of here right now, but we want to give you a programming note, something you should not miss. Tonight at 8:00 Eastern, the next president, two days to go. You want to see that. But you want to stay tuned, period. I know Don Lemon is coming up. We'll also have a lot of politics as I bring in my colleague, Dana Bash. You know Dana, a little bit of nostalgia here because this is our last weekend "BALLOT BOWL" of the presidential season.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure is and we hope our viewers enjoyed what we did. I think it really has been unprecedented, the way we have tried to bring the campaign trail to our viewers, these live events throughout really the presidential election year.

And really these large chunks of the candidates speeches. So we hope our viewers enjoyed that and we also want to give a shout out and a thank you out to Christian Duchateau (ph), who for the most part has been at the helm navigating through all of this and all of his staff inside the control room on the production staff and on our political desk because they were the ones who made sure that this happened and were able to bring all of these candidates' speeches to our viewers. So with that, we want to say thank you very much for watching and stay tuned for Don Lemon. He's up in the NEWSROOM right now.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you very much, guys. Let's talk about the race for the White House. It is the top story with just two days to go. Really it is the only story. Hello, I'm Don Lemon, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The presidential hopefuls and their running mates are focused on the big prizes today. You have seen them all out there on the campaign trail during "BALLOT BOWL." That means Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a handful of other states rich in all those important electoral votes. Obama has led in the polls for weeks, but John McCain has a lot of fight left. He is in New Hampshire this hour and we'll bring you his remarks. We're expecting to go hear from him in about 10 minutes. We are looking at live pictures from Peterborough, New Hampshire. We'll see in you just a bit. McCain credits New Hampshire with reviving his political fortunes in the past. Now our new CNN/Opinion Research Poll suggests he'll need, you know, to stage one of those big comebacks that he's staged in the past. Our nationwide survey of likely voters gives Obama 53 percent to John McCain's 43 percent.

Well as always, we have the best political team on television to help us cover this race from every single angle. Our Dana Bash is with John McCain, you just saw her during "BALLOT BOWL." She is in New Hampshire. Candy Crowley traveling with Barack Obama, that campaign, she is in Ohio. And our senior political analyst Bill Schneider standing by for us to help us sum all of this stuff up. He is in New York. We turn now to Democrat Barack Obama and Candy Crowley is standing by.

Candy, he just wrapped up the speech in Cleveland, but you are looking ahead because he's going to be speaking in Cincinnati tonight holding a rally there in just a few hours. That speech, Candy, I have to say, very moving. We know that he is a orator, but it appears that in the final throws of this campaign, he is stepping up his game even in that department.

CROWLEY: Yes, because there's nothing like a crowd to rev up these candidates. And honestly, the last 48 hours of a presidential campaign are like nothing you've ever felt unless you've been out here.

Because of course the supporters are on edge, they come out to kind of give that final boost to the candidate while the candidate is trying to give the final boost to his voters to get on out there to vote.

So I think you heard it in his voice, a speech that he's been giving for the last several weeks, but certainly one that gets more and more energized as we move on.

So it's been a combination, I think this speech is a combination of a little bit of policy, a little bit of McCain bashing, and a lot of that high flourish rhetoric where a lot of people first got to know Barack Obama frankly. So you are seeing increased energy among the voters and the candidates.

LEMON: All right, CNN's Candy Crowley -- Candy is in Cleveland. Again, she ahead of where Barack Obama is going to be speaking. She's in Cincinnati. Barack Obama is in Cleveland so he'll be speaking there a little bit later on this evening. And we'll bring that to you as well. All right, our thanks to Candy.

Now let's move on to John McCain. The senator is in Hew Nampshire today or this evening, depending on where you are. Our Dana Bash is in Peterborough, where McCain is going to hold a town hall meeting. And we said at the top of the hour in about 10 minutes. So Dana, let's start first to talk about what we might hear from him in this speech. Is it going to be pretty much the same? More energized, he has been as well, sticking to his stump speech. And again, it has been very pointed and more energized, the crowds are into it even more so as well.

BASH: They have been, but this is going to be really interesting here in Peterborough because it isn't going to be the same as what we've been hearing. He has been giving rally after rally giving the same kind of address. This is not going to be a rally actually, Don. This is a town hall meeting. He is going to go back to his roots and his roots are in town hall meetings, interacting with voters.

There may be 500, 600 people here. And this is actually part sentimental, part superstition, the reason why John McCain is here. Peterborough is the place where he ended his campaign in 2000. He had almost his last event in the Republican primary season here in 2008. It was actually the place where he had his 100th, right where I am, where he had his 100th town hall meeting.

And it's unusual, it really is for a candidate with just 36 hours to go before the polls open to not just keep hammering at the same points over and over in rallies and to really put himself at risk. Because that is what he is going to do by keeping it open to voters' questions.

You never know what questions he's going to get, which is the kind of thing that frankly has energized John McCain. But because you don't know what the kind of questions you're going to get, you don't know what you're going to have to say and you may throw yourself off message a little bit which again is a little bit risky for any candidate to do.

But New Hampshire is a place that is important to John McCain, one of the reasons why he wanted to come here. And when you look at the general election map, John, it also is one of those places that is a battleground state. But to be honest with you, he is very far behind here and I'm not sure if you talk to any Republicans here in New Hampshire or frankly in his campaign who think that it will not be close to impossible for him to win here. But he's coming here for other reasons as well, Don.

LEMON: Yeah, risky as you said, but part of the job of the president may be risky for a candidate, but part of the president's job. OK Dana, thank you very much. And, of course, we heard Dana talking about just how hard it is for John McCain or it's going to be for him to catch up. So that is the story from the two tickets.

And it is worth repeating, our new nationwide poll tonight gives Barack Obama a seven point lead over John McCain among likely voters.

Let's bring in our senior political analyst Bill Schneider to talk about the polls here and also some intriguing statewide surveys from several key battlegrounds. But Bill, also the national polls really haven't changed that much. Obama still in the lead.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, I walked down the street in New York and other places and people come up to me and say is it tightening? Is the lead growing? What's happening? Actually not much is happening. That seven point lead is pretty stable. It has been that way for the last several weeks. Really the big thing that happened in this campaign was the financial crisis, which happened in late September. Obama built up a lead because of anxiety about the economy and that lead has held pretty steady for the last month.

LEMON: So we talked about that's the national pole. There's been a little bit of tightening in I think one poll, one battleground state poll, and that is Pennsylvania. Just a little bit of tightening. But all of a sudden, how does Montana pop up on the map as a toss-up now?

SCHNEIDER: Well, let's take them one by one. Pennsylvania has tightened a little bit. It's a seven point lead for Obama in Pennsylvania. He is still ahead, but his lead was once 13 points, 10 points, something like that. Now it's down to single digits because McCain has spent a lot of effort and energy, he and Sarah Palin, in Pennsylvania. You mentioned Montana. Look at Montana, it's up there -- there's Pennsylvania, a seven point lead. Montana on that map is now a yellow state, it's a tossup state. It had been a red state. It had been inclined to vote for John McCain. Our latest poll of polls in Montana, which was released a few days ago, shows McCain was ahead by only by one point. Montana has been a fairly reliable Republican state. It's only voted for a Democrat once since 1964. Bet you can't guess when that was.

LEMON: No, I can't. And I couldn't really because someone was talking in my ear, so I didn't really hear your question, Bill?

SCHNEIDER: All right, the question was when did Montana vote for a Democrat since LBJ in 1964? Here's the answer.

LEMON: Bill Clinton?

SCHNEIDER: It voted by a very narrow -- yes, Bill Clinton, you get the prize. And that was a very special reason. In 1992, Bill Clinton carried Montana because Ross Perot got a lot of votes there. He got over a quarter of the vote. But otherwise, Montana has been a reliably Republican state, but now too close to call. The Democrats are finding a foot hold in a lot of western states, Colorado, Nevada, Montana.

LEMON: I'm glad you mentioned the states that usually go Republican. Because Florida usually falls in that column. What is the latest on Florida now? Not in the column so far, Barack Obama's in the lead there, Bill. Talk to me about Florida. SCHNEIDER: Florida, Barack Obama is in the lead, but only by four points. There you see it, 49, 45, nobody has the majority, 6 percent are still unsure. That four point edge for Obama has also been steady for the last couple weeks. It hasn't really moved. Florida being a state that's very close, too close to call. Yikes, we could come down to Florida again.

LEMON: I like that word, Bill Schneider, yikes. And I can't wait to see you out on the campaign trail or out there next week with your hat. Love your hat. All right. A nice hat wearer and part of the best political team on television, as well. Thank you, Bill Schneider, Candy Crowley and Dana Bash. Again, part of the best political team on television.

And, of course, we'll see all of you, all of them, the rest of CNN's political team, on Tuesday, election night in America. Our coverage starts 6:00 Eastern, one hour before the first polls close. And we want to know what's on your mind tonight here. We like to get your comments, we want to hear what you're saying. We put them on the air. All of those places that you see there, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, iReport, reach out to us and we want to hear what you're thinking. Again, we'll get them on the air.

Also, we're standing by to listen to John McCain. And we will get to John McCain as soon as he takes the stage. In the mean time, let's talk about early voting. Millions of people have done it, but is it a good thing? Our Josh Levs has been looking into that and he joins us now. So Josh, in a lot of ways, right.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's a good thing in a lot of ways.

LEMON: There are some problems, right?

LEVS: Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's a good thing in a lot of ways, but it is leading to some problems. What our voter hotline, I'll tell you, incredible number of calls. We're hearing from a lot of people who just can't spend hours in line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, want to tell you we're standing by for John McCain. Peterborough, New Hampshire, he is going to be taking the stage in just a little bit. He is holding a town hall meeting there. That's supposedly the best platform for him to speak to voters. He has been using that throughout his campaign.

Again, we were given a 10-minute call just a little bit ago go, but so far, he hasn't shown up. But you won't miss any of it. As soon as John McCain takes the stage, we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Meantime, Barack Obama is dealing with a surprise report this weekend involving his aunt. CNN has confirmed a report that Zeituni Onyango, his late father's sister is living in the United States illegally four years after she was ordered to leave by an immigration judge. The Obama campaign says the senator was unaware of his aunt's status, but that he believes the appropriate laws should be followed. A top McCain adviser had no comment on the report. He called the issue, quote, "a family matter."

It has taken two, three, sometimes up to eight hours to vote early at some polling places across the country. And you guys are calling our voter hotline to talk about it. One of our callers from Florida dialed us after waiting three hours in line. We checked back with him. He did, indeed, vote two hours later. And, guess what? One of our callers in Columbus, Ohio says she and her friends will vote on Tuesday after they found out it would be six hours before they could cast their ballot.

And in Georgia, voters got an extra day to get their vote in. Folks in line said the wait was about three hours long. CNN's voter hotline has been very busy. So far, our hotline has taken close to 25,000 calls. Some people are just looking for information about voting, but 8,100 of you have complained about some kind of voting problems. If you have a voter problem, I want to tell you, call our hotline. See the number there, 1-877-GO-CNN-08. Or 1-877-462-6608.

All right, let's take a closer look now at some of the hotline calls. Josh Levs joining us now. Josh, I was down at one of the polling places here on Friday. People were waiting four, five, six hours. One group of first time voters from Spellman said they waited for five hours. I included them if my live shot and they were very excited. So, man, it's -- the interest in this election is unbelievable.

LEVS: Oh, it's amazing. And this is actually an angle that I hadn't given a lot of thought to. But we're going to see here is really interesting. Introduce this question as about whether these huge lines are really fair for all the voters and if they're effectively preventing some people from voting. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to play for you now clips from two different calls that we got at the hotline.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MUNIR VENJENK, FLORIDA VOTER: I'm calling from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and I think the present system of early voting is prejudiced against older people. I am 84-years-old. I waited for an hour and a quarter yesterday. When I got to a certain point, they said it was an additional two hours to wait. People in their middle 80s cannot stand for three hours. And I think this will discourage many people from early voting.

PEG ARNOLD, OHIO VOTER: I am 65-years-old and I waited two and a half hours in line at my board of elections this morning. When I left, it was three hours to get into the polls. People are wrapped completely around the building. It's outside. There's nowhere to sit, go to the bathroom, get a drink and I finally gave up."

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEVS: You can see this is serious stuff. Now I'll tell you, in some places, people who have trouble waiting are ushered to the front of the line and one caller actually said at some locations in Virginia, people who need assistance can vote in their cars. Workers will come out to help them sometimes.

And the callers you just heard, though, they say they did not see any assistance and they didn't vote by mail because they didn't know that the lines were going to be so huge. Now it's too late. We are keeping an eye on what various states and districts are doing for these people who just cannot stand in line that long. And once they get them, I'll tell what you Don just told you. We're asking to you help us track the problems. We'll report them in real time. It's 1- 877-462-6608, that's 1-877-GOCNN-08.

We are, of course, keeping them honest all the way through the election and beyond. I mean Don, we're going to be doing this all week because we obviously expect some calls Tuesday and Wednesday based on what happens when people go to the calls and gather up their stories and tell us about it. We'll be looking into this for quite awhile.

LEMON: Josh, I like to hear those calls from people. I mean, it's good to hear from them. And also this is like drive up voting now. I think they're trying with the resources they have, they're trying to do everything they can to make it as convenient as possible for people to vote.

LEVS: They are and look, a lot of people are very excited about this election. That's the great part. But we as a nation can also take a look and say, OK, is it going to be this kind of turnout in what do we do? More sites, more people, more machines working? How do we best make this work and how do you especially tailor to those people who physically cannot stand in line for hours at a time? It's serious business here and that's something we all need to take a look at, Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Josh Levs, for that. Speaking of standing, we're standing by for John McCain to start his rally in Peterborough, New Hampshire. When that begins, we'll bring that to you and we'll let you listen in on that. We'll also have a check of your forecast, your Election Day forecast. Hey, Jacqui Jeras.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Don Lemon. We have some rain to talk about and we'll also let talk about the impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to get to you Peterborough, New Hampshire in just a bit. John McCain taking the stage, they're doing their introductions and thank yous so you won't miss anything. We'll bring that to you when it begins, we'll listen in. But no matter what year, no matter what election, you can always count on one issue to crop up. As soon as I said that, Jacqui, you popped up. Are you an issue?

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: We want to get you live now to Peterborough, New Hampshire where Cindy McCain is taking the stage. We're going to go live to that town hall meeting when John McCain takes the stage, seconds away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Cindy McCain just leaving the microphone. There you see Joe Lieberman also talking now. Again, as we've been telling you, that's live in Peterborough, New Hampshire and John McCain is going to hold a town hall there in just a second. Cindy McCain doing some introductions. Now Joe Lieberman doing some introductions. As soon as John McCain takes to the microphone we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

No matter what the outcome, this election gives us a sense of how far America has come. An African-American is a potential leader of the free world. For some, it is a dream come true. A Dr. King dream come true, his children, civil rights leaders and the Atlanta community will gather at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church to watch the election outcome. And Reverend Raphael Warnock, he is the pastor there, thank you very much. I also remember you from New York, as well.

REV. RAPHAAEL WARNOCK, PASTOR, EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH Good to be here with you Don.

LEMON: Good to be with you, as well. So you're having a watch party, which is a tradition.

WARNOCK: Watch night worship service Don.

LEMON: Ok, we don't party. It's a party, you can party in the right way.

WARNOCK: It is a great celebration. It's a great celebration.

LEMON: Watch night, worship service, let's put it that way, a tradition in the African-American community.

WARNOCK: Sure.

LEMON: Waiting for the emancipation proclamation. Explain to us how this goes back and exactly what you guys are doing and why you're doing it.

WARNOCK: Sure, watch night goes back, as you said, all the way back really to the signing of the emancipation proclamation in the African- American community. And as the story goes, the slaves were gathered, certainly Frederick Douglass and others were gathered in Boston waiting on the signing, but some believe that slaves in the south were waiting for the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And so this is normally held on New Year's Eve night, but in a real sense, we'll all be watching to see a historic moment. And so we're calling Tuesday night a watch night worship celebration. We will gather at the crypt of Dr. King. That's really the place to begin. And in a real sense, regardless of the outcome of this election, both tickets owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. King. There could be no Barack Obama and there could be no Palin were it not for the activism of Dr. King. LEMON: It's interesting that you say that because I was out earlier, there was a march here, a million voter march, saying that no matter who the candidate is, they wanted to get civil rights to make sure that it was on the agenda. And you're talking about slavery and those sorts of things. This election in many ways has so many historical meanings that come behind it. So it's going to be even more important that night. So when you see, when you hear people talking about that, getting civil rights back on the agenda, an African-American possibly going to be the president, and all of those long lines of people that you see at the polls, I asked people what do you think Dr. King would think. Hosea Lewis' daughter was there. What do you think Hosea Lewis would think? What do you think Dr. King would think to see all these people gathered where he's buried?

WARNOCK: It's an exciting moment. John Lewis, who is a member of Ebenezer, will be there. And in a real sense -- Reverend Sharpton will be there. He's our partner in pulling this all together. But John Lewis was in church this morning, he's a member of Ebenezer, and I just thought about him even as the service went forward. Here's a man who was there on bloody Sunday during the great Selma demonstrations and we're now moving from bloody Sunday, I believe to triumphant Tuesday. Because through the tools of nonviolent struggle, the civil rights movement opened the door, blacks weren't the only folk who walked through door. Women walked through that door.

LEMON: I have to ask you an interesting question and I don't know if it's been posed to you before. Usually I know that the church tries to stay away from politics, right? You focus on the bible and other things. But how much has that played this time? Because people are talking about it so much. It's at the top of minds. Has that played a lot into things that you speak about, the importance of things on Sunday, what you talk to the congregation about?

WARNOCK: Well actually the black church in a real sense has never shied away from politics. In the sense that we've always been focused on the work of social liberation. And in order for that to happen, you have to engage the political process. But we can't endorse a candidate from the pulpit.

LEMON: You have never been able at one point, except for Jesse Jackson, to talk about the real possibility of an African-American person being president, that's what I'm talking about.

WARNOCK: I see. Yeah, it's a very exciting moment. To go back to your earlier question, I went to vote myself earlier this week. And it was so exciting to see lines wrapped around the building, young people wrapped around the building to get in a building not for a concert, but to vote. A member of our congregation, Dollie Parks, who is 108 years old, went this week. She was accompanied by Dr. King's sister, Christine King Barrett(ph), to vote. And so on Tuesday night, we'll gather at Ebenezer Church, America's freedom church, the home of Dr. King. We will be watching the polls. We'll be watching CNN, but we'll be praying.

LEMON: Thank you, sir. It's a pleasure.

WARNOCK: Good to be here with you.

LEMON: And a watch service, not a party.

WARNOCK: We'll have a party later on.

LEMON: That you reverend. We want to get you live now. We told you we'd bring you John McCain as he starts to speak, there he is going to speak, he's speaking now. He's making introductions as well. Of course he's going to have some meaty stuff coming up in that speech and we will bring that to you just on the other side of a break, just seconds away.

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LEMON: Live now to Peterborough, New Hampshire and John McCain.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Senator Sam Brownback is with us from the great state of Kansas, a very pro-life, pro family valued person. Senator Richard Burn and his wife Brooke from North Carolina. And a person I had the honor of serving in the House of Representatives with, a great governor of the state of Pennsylvania, the first head of our homeland security, a great American and Vietnam veteran, congressman -- Governor Tom Ridge is here, as well. And I know I've left out so many of my dear friends and comrades that I've gotten to know over the years. And I would just maybe again -- I don't want to talk about the past, but in July of 1999, we decided to have a town hall meeting here. Not enough people were going to show up, so we moved to the basement. Still nobody showed up, so we gave away free ice cream. Our campaign ate ice cream for the next two weeks. And we ended up in the 2000 primary as you know here in Peterborough at a great town hall meeting that had overflow as we have here tonight. Some of my greatest memories and some of my most wonderful friends, I love my home state of Arizona. I will always treasure it. I hope you will come and visit us in the winter and in the summer, as well. But I really do mean the special feeling I have for this state and the wonderful people who take their responsibilities so seriously. And I want to assure you again, I will do everything in my power as I just did to make sure that New Hampshire keeps its first in the nation status. It is a tradition and it's important. It is important and vital that we have this process because you cannot buy an election in the state of New Hampshire, my friends. The people decide in New Hampshire. And I will forego all the jokes that I've told you hundreds of times in the past about New Hampshire. Applause that I'm not telling it.

So here we are on the eve of what many have described as an historic election. And obviously because of our nation's economy, the worst economy in anyone's lives, Americans are worried. Americans are very worried. We are also in two wars as we know. And Americans are in harm's way as we speak tonight. So this is an historic election. And I admire and respect my opponent. He has motivated millions of people around the world and around the nation and has secured the nomination of his party against some pretty formidable opposition as we all know. So what is this election about? It's about reform, prosperity, and peace. Reform, prosperity and peace. And we have to start by reforming the way that we do business in Washington, my friends. We cannot keep this up. The last approval rating I saw of congress was at 9 percent. You get done that low, you get down to blood relatives and paid staffers. It can't get -- and here we just saw that the most senior republican senator in the United States Senate is convicted of corruption. We have former members of congress now residing in federal prison. So when Tom Coburn says that earmark and pork barrel spending is a gateway drug, he's not exaggerating. I'll never forget the anger that so many of us felt when Duke Cunningham, the congressman from California's trial, there was a list of the amount of money that he got for certain projects, and then the amount of money next to it that he got personally. I don't think he came to congress with that kind of thing in mind. So we've got to reform the way we do business and it's got to do with restoration of trust and competence in both the executive and legislative branches of our government, the greatest nation in the world.

Now, there's a lot of reforms that need to be made. We've got to have transparency in our financial markets. We're in a global economy. We've got to hold people accountable who have done wrong. We have got to have a consolidation of the regulatory agencies which now are stove piped and separate and obviously somebody, some regulatory bodies were asleep at the switch for a long time. And it was done with a complicit cooperation of members of congress. When Fannie and Freddie had an inspector general report that said, look, what's going on there at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it's going to lead to a disaster, there was some of us that proposed legislation to reform it. And you know what? There was members of congress who were defending what Fannie and Freddie were doing and obviously we got the train wreck that we have today, which triggered this crisis. And by the way, it's a complex crisis. It's global and you'll read and your eyes will glaze over until, by the way, you have trouble making your mortgage payment. But we've got to keep people in their homes. That's the key. We've got to realize the American dream. And until we do, this -- this economy's not going to turn. And I hate to say it. But it means doing what we did in the great depression. We had a thing called the homeowners loan corporation. You've got to go in and buy people's mortgage and give them a mortgage they can afford. Now, you're going to say what about the person next door? Well, if that home next door is foreclosed and vacant, then your home value is going to continue down. We've got to stabilize it.

So we've got to reform the way we do business in Washington, and we've got a long list of reforms. And it's got to be done in a bipartisan fashion. We've got to reach across the aisle and work together. You know, one of my first examples that I remember way back in 1983, social security was going broke. It was going broke. It was on the verge. And I'm not kidding. It was in a crisis situation. Tip O'Neill, the liberal democrat from the neighboring state of Massachusetts and Ronald Reagan sat down together and we fixed social security for about 20, 25 years. Was it a great solution? Would I have written it exactly myself? I don't think so. But we got to sit down together, and we have to work across the aisle. And that's my record, my friends. That's my record. And that's why independents have supported me in New Hampshire, and that's why I believe I'll win New Hampshire because we'll get republican and independent and democrat votes. Let me just -- let me just talk about prosperity for one second. Obviously you know the economy. You know what Americans are facing. You know what working families are facing today. Obviously we've got to stop the spending spree in Washington, we have to stop it. We presided in the last eight years over the greatest increase in government since the great society. 40 percent increase in the size of government. Ronald Reagan used to say that if you're going to increase the size of government, sooner or later you're going to increase taxes. And that is not something Americans can do today. We cannot raise anybody's taxes in a bad economy. And that's what my opponent wants to do.

So we've got to stop the spending. And, yes, yes, a good economy creates jobs. It does. And we can't even -- and we can't cut the capital gains tax. I mean, we can't raise the capital gains tax. We have to cut it. My opponent was -- Charlie Gibson said, well, every time we cut capital gains tax, revenue has increased. Why do you want to increase capital gains tax? He said because of fairness. That's this whole philosophy of my opponent. Fairness. Redistribute the wealth. Spread the wealth around. We can't do that, my friends. That's not the right way to fix our economy. So finally please can I just say to you, look, I know what challenges we face. And obviously we are succeeding in Iraq. If you notice that the lowest casualties were just last month and that's good. But we also -- we also -- we also face a great challenge in Afghanistan. Part of that has got to do with our relations with Pakistan, the border areas, the fact the Afghan army has to be doubled. I'm happy, I am so happy that General Petraeus is now in a position where he will have responsibility for the strategy both in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have never met a finer leader in my life than General Petraeus. But -- and we'll win -- we will win in Afghanistan. But we've got a lot of challenges around the world. We still face the challenge of radical Islamic extremism. They're still trying to establish cells, al Qaeda is, in the United States of America. We've got to increase the size of our military. We have to have a larger army and marine corps and military establishment. And we will be in a titanic struggle for a long time with people that want to destroy everything we stand for and believe in.

So I understand very well the responsibilities associated and the great burdens of office. But I have served my country all my life. And I've always put my country first. And you know that -- and so -- so, again, I come -- I come to the people of New Hampshire. Republicans, independents, democrats, libertarians, vegetarians, all of them, and ask again, and ask again, to let me go on one more mission. And so I thank you very much for being here. And now in the tradition of New Hampshire, I'd like to take a few minutes and respond to any questions or comments or insults that you may have for me. Thank you very much for coming tonight. Thank you and God bless.

There's a microphone coming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for coming to New Hampshire.

MCCAIN: You want to take -- give her the microphone, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok, can you hear me?

MCCAIN: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a concern here in small town America. All my friends' families, it seems to be a tremendous anxiety that this country has lost the ability to have honest elections. What can you say to comfort us that we still have that ability r what do we need to do to get it back?

MCCAIN: I'm concerned about many of the allegations that we are hearing through the media, particularly in some of the -- in the battleground states. And the activities, very frankly, of A.C.O.R.N. and other organizations. And, by the way, I heard that -- that Mickey Mouse was registered in Florida to vote now. I don't know if we ought to investigate that. Because I think the big rat is a republican. But it is -- it is -- it is disturbing. And one thing we want is to not have a repeat of the year 2000, election in 2000. We want the American people to have confidence in the results. Confidence in government is directly related to their confidence in the process that they've pursued. So I am concerned about it. I do know that the FBI is conducting an investigation. And we will obviously have people who are observing the election. I just hope that it all comes out so that there is no question about the election on Tuesday. But, yes, I am -- I am concerned. I don't have any additional information besides what I've seen in the media. Thank you. Yes? Yes, sir? There's a microphone right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I may be jumping a little ahead. Mr. President, I have a question for you.

MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thought that has come across my mind in the light of the present economic crisis that our country faces. And I'm wondering if any thought has been given to what's going to happen in February when people who have lost more in the stock market than they have made apply to get all of their taxes back. What kind of an impact do you feel that this is going to have and will steps be taken to alleviate that situation? Because I think there are probably thousands and thousands of people who will be not paying many taxes. And is that going to have an additional impact?

MCCAIN: Well, I don't think there's any doubt that there is already effects as a result of decrease in revenues. As a result of this staggering economy. And it's being felt first, as you know, at the state, local, city, town, county level because they're the ones that have to maintain a balanced budget at all times. I was interested in the fact that the mayor of New York City announced that there would be across the board budget cuts in New York City and other selective cuts.

In fact, he said -- he says his deputy mayors had 24 hours to complain about it and then get to work on it. And so we're going to have to understand that we're going to have to scrub every agency of government. Every single one of them. And we've got to do away with those ones that aren't serving the American people. And one of the areas, obviously, is many of these programs that have kind of been created and then they grow and grow and grow. We have not eliminated any of these agencies, nor many of their functions. And we're going to have to take -- we're going to have to scrub them. And we're going to have to seriously scrub them and we're going to have to make tough decisions.

And, again, it shouldn't be so hard when you consider that we presided over a 40 percent increase in the size of government in the last seven years. Don't tell me that there isn't so many billions of dollars that we can save.

And also, again, somebody will stand up and say, in all due respect, they'll say, well, the $18 billion in earmark projects is only one- half of one percent. Well, why don't we start there? Why don't we start there?

So, look, the ripple effect of this crisis is not only affecting countries throughout the world. Iceland is a classic example of a small country that got carried away by this international feeding frenzy or bubble. And I think it's going to require very tough decisions.

Americans are ready for tough decisions if they are looked straight in the eye and tell exactly what we're doing and why. And that's why I'll talk to the American people all the time about what we need to do. Thank you.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Senator McCain. Thank you for coming. I'd like to say thank you for serving my country. Because of your service, we are a free country and that's phenomenal. Everybody wants to live here.

MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is this.

Regarding illegal immigration that takes place here in our country and with all the things that have taken place since 9/11 in trying to secure our borders, what kind of program do you see or action can you put into place to keep us a secure country over the next four, eight, 12 years that we can count on?

MCCAIN: Thank you.

Twice I went to the floor with Senator Ted Kennedy, and we tried to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We tried to do that because it's a federal responsibility. It's not a state or local responsibility. Immigration is a federal responsibility. And we tried to get comprehensive reform, which has three pieces.

One is securing our borders. The American people want our borders secured. And I'll talk about that just a little more in a second; a temporary worker program that actually works. And that is we have the technology for tamper-proof biometric documents.

And putting people on a path to citizenship that deserve it on the principle that no one who has come here illegally could have any priority over those who have come or waited legally. Now, there's 12 million people in this country who are here illegally according to Chertoff. And so we can't -- we don't have 12 million pairs of handcuffs.

But also let me just go back to border security a second. My friends, I've spent a lot of time in Mexico. I come from a border state. I recently was in Mexico City, and I met with the President Calderon.

We are finally cooperating with the Mexicans. And guess what? There's an existential threat to the country of Mexico by drug cartels. The drug cartels are taking over towns on the border, on the other side of the border. On the other side of the border from my own state of Arizona in Nogales, there was a number of people just killed just the other day.

So the fight has got to be to secure our border and not only because of the issue of illegal immigration, but the drug cartels that are in danger of threatening the Mexican basic fabric of their government. So it's an argument for getting our borders secured and cooperating with the Mexican government as Calderon, the president of Mexico is trying to do.

My friends, this is a huge threat. I mean, there's corruption at the highest level of government because these drug cartels have so much money. Tom Ridge will tell you about it, our former head of Homeland Security.

So all I can tell you is that I will make my highest priority getting Comprehensive Immigration Reform done, and that obviously means securing our borders.

But these also are God's children. And they have to be handled with a humane and compassionate attitude towards many of them. And I just have to say that -- and I'm sorry for the long answer.

I have somewhere in my office a sign that one of my staff people got -- found in an antique store. And it's a sign that says, "Irish need not apply."

I think many of you may remember. There has been waves of immigration that have come into this country and made us -- and contributed to our vitality, our strength, our blood, and made us the greatest nation in the world and made those cultural contributions, too.

Your answer to that is, that's fine. But it's got to be done legally. And I will get it done legally. But please understand the contributions that have been made to our country by people who have come here for generation after generation.

I know that answer doesn't make you completely happy. But I have to also give you a straight talk in that respect.

Could I -- could I mention -- at every town hall meeting practically I've ever done all across America; young people come who are members of an organization called "One." They were inspired by Bono. And they -- it's now over 2 million volunteers, young people who are serving as members of "One." And they go to Africa and they help fight malaria and disease. And there one of their young people who is here tonight, please say hello and we'll give you your 30 second commercial.

Thank you. It what America's all about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, thank you, Senator. As you just said, the One campaign is a new organization really rallying Americans in the fight against aids and poverty in Africa. Stupid poverty we call it, poverty where you die from unpreventable disease, poverty where a kid dies because there's no food in its belly, poverty where you die from a mosquito bite, you get malaria, stupid poverty.

But this is Sunday and there's some good news here. In the past few years our nation under this administration with bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate has really responded to the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world. We're Americans, we don't hide from that. We can make poverty history.

We've been fighting aids saving over 2 million lives. Getting out bed nets, it's a really a cheap way to help save lives. Senator Sunnunu helped co-sponsor the New Global Aids Bill is going to save millions more lives. Senator, you signed on to that. Senator Brownback knows the importance of the Millennium Challenge Cooperation and great way we're digging wells, building roads.

So again, the future, with your pledge to end deaths from malaria. We're the greatest nation in the world. We prove it day in, day out in the poorest parts of the world. I wanted to thank you very, very much for that.

MCCAIN: Could you just mention, and I don't mean to interrupt, but we'd appreciate, tell a little bit about the volunteers, how many in New Hampshire and basically --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2.4 million Americans, conservative Republicans, Liberal Democrats, Independents like here in New Hampshire; 17,000 members here in New Hampshire.

MCCAIN: 17,000 young people volunteers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go to college campuses. They're enlightened up for the world's poorest people are all coming together to save lives. We represent the best of America. But you know, Secretary Gates the other day was talking about how the world needs to see this much more in America. And if we're going to win this war on terror in a dangerous world, we really need to ramp up our efforts.

He kind of tied this humanitarian efforts to our national security, our own defense spending. So again, very proud to be an American, proud to be one. Thank you, Senator.

MCCAIN: Thank you. Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to thank you for taking unfiltered questions from the American audience. I know of another candidate for president who does not do that and will not.

MCCAIN: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'd also like to thank you for your very brave leadership on a host of issues over the years including the McCain/Lieberman Bill in 2003. I know another candidate for president who does not do that.

And my question is, we need accelerated research on clean coal technology; bearing and sequestering carbon dioxide pollution from coal. It's going to take a number of years to do that. We don't know how much it's going to cost. Will you oppose building new coal plants that don't have that sequestration technology?

NCCAIN: I'd love to tell you that I would. But I can't. Because we're going to have to build new power plants, and we're going to have to build them, and a lot of them as our economy expands.

But I will tell you that I believe that a proper role of government is investment in pure research and development. That's how we got the Internet. That's how we've had a number of technological and scientific breakthroughs. I will invest $2 billion a year in clean coal technology. And that will be a creation of thousands of jobs.

And once we get this technology, the United States of America is sitting on the world's largest reserves of coal in the world; we'll be able to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. I will accelerate clean coal technology, make it a reality and eliminate our dependence.

But I -- again, the purpose of town hall meetings is to tell you the truth. I can't look you in the eye and tell you we will not build another power plant that is simply not conventionally coal as the source of the energy. But I can tell you I will accelerate the process.

And second thing I can tell you is that I will do everything in my power and we can do it as a nation, to build 45 new nuclear plants, which means you don't have to build a coal-fired plant. And we can eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.

The navy veteran right there; he'll tell you we've sailed ships around the world for 60 years. And nuclear power plants are safe. And there's a place not too far from here called Seabrook which has succeeded after a great deal of controversy surrounding it.

So it's the question -- the question is storage and reprocessing. The British, the French, and the Japanese now all reprocess spent nuclear fuel. We can do that, too. The technology is there. It's a matter of national will.

Nuclear power will create 700,000 new jobs in America. And eliminate our dependence on foreign oil over time and clean coal technology is a vital part of it. And it's going to restore the economy to some of the hardest hit parts of America.

Yes? Yes? Yes? Go ahead and take the mike. I'll do both. Let me start with you and then I'll go back, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. I'm married to a navy vet. And I'm working for a small businessman who has a company devoted to green buildings, green technology. We're working with homeowners who want to put energy efficient systems in their homes. As well as building homes with these energy efficient systems.

What type of tax credits, refunds, or other programs as president would you put into place to help offset the initial investments that we've put into these technologies?

We need to provide you with those kinds of tax credits and incentives for green technologies. And, by the way, one of the places where we can start, where the president has a great deal of influence, is in all the federal buildings around America that are not energy efficient and provide you with the incentives to install the green technologies that are necessary.

But obviously we need to provide you not only with tax credits for installing it, but tax credits for new expansion of your business and the acquisition of equipment and new employees so that you will be incentivize to do so.

And the last thing we want to do is exactly, in all due respect to my opponent, who wants to raise taxes on 50 percent of the income in small business and raising taxes is the wrong thing to do for America. I will give you the kind of incentives and I will also provide the incentives for the government buildings and where huge landlords, as you know, as well as owners of federal buildings, to make them green and energy efficient and that'll spill over into the private sector as well.

One more. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a senior in college. And I'm going on to grad school next year. I was wondering how the fear of the economy is going to affect financially for students like myself across the country.

MCCAIN: I think that it's going to -- the economic difficulties we're in now are going to affect every aspect of American life. That's why it's vital we get this economy out of the ditch as quickly as possible.

But as far as student loans are concerned, I think we need to do three things. One is to relieve the burden of immediate repayment of your student loans. Jobs are going to be more scarce, so let's give you a pause or a break and negotiate as to when you need to pay back the student loans and under what circumstances.

State universities and state institutions, there ought to be full funding for grants so that you can afford the full tuition. And I also believe that the cost or the -- or the student loan availability ought to be tied to inflation. So that every in-state institution, if students want to attend, they can afford and receive loans for the full tuition. But you've also got to -- I was -- I was in an elevator a month or two ago and a guy got on the elevator with me. It was several months ago. He said I've just finished my residency and I've got a $256,000 debt to pay off.

Well, you know, that's a disincentive from people to go into the medical profession. But it's also a terrific burden to place on someone when they are just beginning to establish their practice and their enterprise. So I think we ought to give them some relief as well.

But we cannot kill the goose that's laying the golden eggs. And that is student loans must be kept abreast of our economy and they must be available and affordable to all Americans who can qualify for an education. I thank you.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Senator John McCain in Petersburg, New Hampshire, addressing a town hall meeting there, addressing people there, talking about a number of issues, the economy as the last question that he took, that he fielded was about the financial future for young people, especially student loans.

He also talked about reducing the size of government by eliminating certain government programs. Alternative energy, as well, talked about in that speech. Very interesting moment when someone got up and said hey, I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but said, Mr. President. And then he asked him a question as well.

Also talking about voter registration problems that may happen on Tuesday and that they will have poll watchers watching for this.

The "Next President" we'll talk about all these issues. Issues facing both people, both men, who are -- could be the possible president of this country. The "Next President" airs 8:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

I'll see you tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern here in the CNN newsroom. I'm Don Lemon.

"Lou Dobbs This Week" begins after a quick break.