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New Book on President Bush Out Today; New Polls Show Deadlocked Race; Comparing Tax Plans

Aired September 08, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Havana under siege from Hurricane Ike. Again, Cuba is being battered. And again, Haiti is devastated. Also again, the U.S. Gulf Coast under threat.
And the race for president again is dead even, just like before the party conventions. We're going to see what that means for the home stretch.

And this may not be the best time to jump into the mortgage business, but you just did. We'll see what the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac means for you.

Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Kyra Phillips at CNN world headquarters right here in Atlanta.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. So one's in Michigan, one's in Missouri. Both trying to springboard from the party conventions to the presidential election, now just 57 days away. But it looks like John McCain and Barack Obama are right back where they were before they were formally nominated.

A new CNN poll shows a dead-even race just like before the conventions. And our latest Poll of Polls averaging three nationwide surveys show McCain with just a one-point lead.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser joins me now to crunch these numbers and the trends behind them.

All right, Paul, so what's behind this virtual tie? Are we seeing a bounce from the convention?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, I was just talking to Bill Schneider. You know him, our senior political analyst...

NGUYEN: Yes.

STEINHAUSER: ... and Keating Holland is our polling director, and they told me this, and I think it makes sense. These conventions, it was the first time in modern history you've had one party convention right after another, one week after another. And they're saying basically the two conventions are canceling each other and that whatever bounce the Democrats got out of the their convention was negated by the Republican convention. That's why we were pretty much dead even going into the DNC, and we're pretty much dead even, Betty, coming right out of the RNC. It's all the same, dead even, 57 days to go.

NGUYEN: It's the first time though that McCain has led Obama in these polls. And something else that I found very interesting of them was the demographics, how that really played out.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, we're seeing, again, female voters, Obama has a slight lead, about seven points in our new poll, in our new CNN/Opinion Research poll out today. And among male voters, John McCain has about a seven-point lead.

So there is a gender gap there. There's also -- and I think Bill Schneider was talking about this last hour -- there's a difference in age as well. More senior voters going for John McCain, younger voters going for Barack Obama. It's a trend we've seen for a while. And our new poll, which was taken over the weekend, so it was all over after the Republican convention, is showing that trend.

NGUYEN: Yes. You know, but we just spoke with Bill Burton of Obama's camp, and he said something that you even echoed a little bit earlier. This is really a battle for the states.

You can show me all the poll numbers in the world that you want, but it's a battle for the states. When it comes to people who are going to the polls, what do you know about enthusiasm for these candidates? Are you seeing that rise?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, we're seeing a rise on the Republican side, and this is interesting. Maybe you can call it the Palin factor. But when we polled before the convention, before the Republican convention, about 49 percent of registered Republicans said they were very enthusiastic or pretty enthusiastic about voting. That has now jumped up, as you can see right there, to 60 percent. And I think it could partially be from two things.

First of all, the convention excited Republicans. And second of all, maybe McCain's naming of Sarah Palin as his running mate is exciting Republican voters. And that's one of the reasons -- or two of the reasons, I guess -- why you're seeing that jump.

And to your other angle there, yes, while the national polls are very important -- and they are -- this is a battle for the states and their electoral votes. And that's why every week, CNN and "TIME," every Wednesday, are polling in the battleground states. So we're going to be doing that straight through the election because, again, it's all about the electoral votes in the states in the end.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser.

Thank you, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you. NGUYEN: All right. So now let's hear a bit of John McCain's remarks last hour in Lee's Summit, Missouri. The Republican nominee was joined once again by his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin.

Now, she's been scheduled to start campaigning on her own, but the campaign likes what it sees when crowds see the ticket together. But here's McCain's take on the economy and the latest shock waves on the housing front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A moment of straight talk. These are tough times. You're worried about keeping your job, finding a new one, struggling to put food on the table and staying in your home. Today, we're looking at costly government-led restructuring of our home loan agencies. We need to keep people in their homes, but we can't allow this to turn into a bailout of Wall Street speculators and irresponsible executives.

(APPLAUSE)

I'll keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them.

I'll open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them.

I'll cut government spending. He'll increase it. He has the most liberal voting record of anybody in the United States Senate.

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them.

My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan -- his plan will force small businesses to cut jobs and reduce wages and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor. We won't let that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: So later this hour, faith, politics and Sarah Palin. You've heard her talk about her religious convictions, but what exactly are they? And how do they affect they her political beliefs? We're going to take a look at that.

Of course, we can't talk politics without talking issue #1, the economy. What would your income tax bill look like under President Obama or President McCain?

Here's CNN's senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: With all the talk of what the major candidates will do to your taxes, we thought we'd have a look at one breakdown of how their policies would have an impact on your federal personal income tax.

Now, this was done by the Tax Policy Center, and they broke it down by income groups. So let's start with the lowest taxable income group, those earning between $38,000 and $66,000 a year.

As you can see, under John McCain, your average income tax would go down by about $325, whereas under Barack Obama, it would be triple that. A drop of more than $1,000.

For those earning between $66,000 and $112,000, you'd see the drop under John McCain almost under $1,000, whereas under Barack Obama, more than $1,250. Now, that trend stops after that.

In the group of people earning $112,000 to $161,000, you get a bigger drop under John McCain, just more than $2,500. Under Barack Obama, just a little more than $2,100. And as it goes up, that trend continues. If you earn between $161,00 and $267,000, you'll see a drop of almost $4,500 in federal income tax under John McCain, and about $2,800 under Barack Obama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: So there you go.

Well, millions of mortgages, they are in Uncle Sam's hands, maybe including yours. Call it a bailout or call it a takeover, the government is basically running mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac right now.

Stocks, they are rallying on this news, and hopes are surging that mortgage rates will drop. So what's the big picture here? What does this mean for you?

Let's bring in our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis.

A lot of people looking at this thinking exactly that -- how am I going to be affected by this?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi there, Betty.

Well, let's start with homeowners and people who would like to be homeowners. Look, this deal won't fix housing prices. If you bought at the top of the market and prices are down in your neighborhood, you're probably going to have to wait out the cycle. However, if you want to take advantage of low prices by buying, the news is good.

Look, Treasury's action could bring down rates from anywhere from an eighth of a point to three-quarters of a point from their current levels of 6.39 percent. And that is real savings for buyers. On a mortgage for a medium-priced home, a half-point drop in rates could mean monthly savings of 70 bucks.

Now, this deal won't do much to loosen the every-tightening credit market. If you're in the market for a loan, you'll still need a credit score of 700 or more, and a 20 percent down payment to get the best terms.

Adjustable rate mortgage holders, there is good news for you. If you're in one of these loans, maybe your rate has reset on you and it's squeezing your budget. Now is the time to investigate getting a new loan and getting out of those painful rates.

That's also if you have a home equity line of credit, what they call a HELOC, and it was frozen by your bank, the Treasury's move may not alleviate that situation. Banks froze these popular products because of changes in housing prices, not the credit crunch -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. And so when we are told that, you know what, this is going to fall on the backs of the taxpayers, when people hear that, they want to know, well, how is that going to affect me? How am I going to be paying for this should it come to that?

WILLIS: Well, of course the tax issue is a big one. We don't have all the answers yet.

Conservatively, a $30 billion price tag for this thing, maybe as much as $200 billion. We don't really know yet. But I can tell you another way that you probably are affected.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae shareholders have already been devastated. Those stocks down 80 percent or more.

Now, you may say, I don't have those share, but the reality is, if you own a 401(k), hey, you probably do. Big mutual fund companies own those stocks, and have for a long time -- AllianceBernstein, Legg Mason, any standard stock index fund. So taxpayers, as we said, on the hook, but also folks with a 401(k).

NGUYEN: All right. It has a wide-ranging effect.

Gerri Willis, as always, we do appreciate it. Thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, you know, rumors of a bankruptcy filing have sent a major airline stock just plummeting. Those rumors now flatly denied by the parent company of United Airlines after its stock plunged nearly 30 percent.

The drop was so dramatic that it prompted the Nasdaq Exchange to shut down trading of UAL stock around midday. UAL did file for bankruptcy, if you'll recall, six years ago. A spokeswoman says the story written back then was re-posted online which made it sound like it happened today.

Well, it could be one of the most costly and disruptive strikes in years. And strikers, they are digging in.

More than 27,000 of them -- Boeing machinists, to be exact -- they are in the third day of a walkout which could cost the Seattle- area plane maker about $100 million a day in revenue. It's also pushing back production on a new line of fuel-efficient jets at a time when fuel costs are soaring.

Top union officials tell "The Seattle Times" that they prepared for a long strike. Workers fear contract changes demanded by Boeing could cut jobs and drive up health care costs.

And this is something that we are following very closely. Cuba takes a beating as Hurricane Ike batters the island. We're going to find out where the storm is heading and when it might impact the Gulf Coast.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It is half past the hour and here are some of the stories that we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Stocks -- they are rallying today on hopes that the battered housing market may finally get some relief. Federal regulators have taken over struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, meaning the government is now in charge of $5 trillion in home loans.

Hurricane Ike now tearing through Cuba after slamming the shore with waves topping buildings. The Category 2 storm could gain strength, as it heads into the Gulf of Mexico and could reach the Texas/Louisiana coast by week's end.

Dead even. Barack Obama and John McCain, they are tied at 48 percent each among registered voters in a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll. It was taken after the Republican convention. Only 3 percent of voters are undecided.

Just a month ago, the religious beliefs of the governor of Alaska weren't of much interest to anybody outside of her family. But now, Sarah Palin is a national figure, and faith is a big part of her life. The Republican vice presidential nominee worships at a nondenominational church in her home town of Wasilla. But for most of her adult life, she belonged to the Wasilla Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church that teaches, among other things, that Alaska will be a shelter at the end of the world.

(VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: CNN's Randi Kaye has just wrapped up an interview with Palin's former pastor, and she is on the phone now with us from Anchorage.

And Randi, what kind of insight was that pastor able to give you about Sarah Palin's faith and how that could possibly shape her politics?

VOICE OF RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Betty.

We got some pretty interesting insight. Just a little bit on the background of the Assembly of God, this Pentecostal denomination. At her church, Pastor Tim McGraw told me that the congregants were encouraged to speak in tongues. He said he never saw Sarah Palin speak in tongues, but this is something that he said is done in private. So there's no way of knowing, he said, if she has done that. It's a very private matter. They also believe in the end times, that there will be this dramatic upheaval in the world signaling the second coming of Jesus. They believe in faith healing, that doctors may not be the answer in terms of healing the sick.

And so, we talked a little bit about how some of these beliefs and the teachings there at this church may contribute to Sarah Palin's beliefs and even how they may shape her policy. And Pastor McGraw says really that everybody has a view of life that they live by, a code that they think is real. And he says that Sarah Palin does, too, since her view of the world includes a God that loves us and is accessed by us. He said it would be very logical for her to frame some of her policy-making and some of her policy decisions for the world with that possibility in it.

NGUYEN: That is really interesting. And we were just looking at some video on YouTube of Palin's speech at her Pentecostal where she talks about Iraq and praying for a pipeline. Was he able to add any insight to that as well?

KAYE: Yes, that video has been making its way around the Internet and it's really interesting because this was during a speech that she gave at the church back in June, just a couple of months before she joined the Republican ticket. In speaking about Iraq, she suggested that soldiers are there on a mission to God. She said that it was a -- she told the group that it was the task of God that the soldiers are there.

And in the pine line case, she was saying that she was encouraging the students there to pray for this $30 billion pipeline, that it would be built. This is one of the missions here in Alaska.

I'm not sure if you have any sound from that --

NGUYEN: We do have that. I was going to interrupt you --

KAYE: Yes, let's listen in to exactly what she says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built. So pray for that. Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right also for this country. That our leaders, our national leaders, are sending them out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to picture that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: So there you have it, some more sound from Sarah Palin on YouTube as she was giving a speech there at her church.

Randi Kaye joins us by phone from Alaska. She's been looking into this.

In fact, Randi, you have the first television interview with her former pastor. And something that I find very interesting, especially when you talk to her former pastor, is that we haven't heard much about this. We haven't heard McCain really touting Palin, talking about her Pentecostal roots.

KAYE: No, and she did leave this church, this Pentecostal church, about six years ago. And certainly, since she hit the national stage, she has not talked at all about her Pentecostal roots. And the campaign isn't talking about it at all. All they'll say is that she has very deep religious convictions. So, they don't want to address this at all.

And I talked with Pastor McGraw about this, from the Assembly of God, the Pentecostal church, and he said that he thinks there may be issues of beliefs that could be misunderstood or played upon by people that don't know. He doesn't think that there is a stigma attached to Pentecostalism but he said they just happen to believe in the presence of God or spirit and God is available in the now. But he says he doesn't think everybody understands it. And that could be one reason why the campaign doesn't want to touch it, and certainly, Sarah Palin isn't talking about.

NGUYEN: So we're going to see more of this interview again it's the only television interview with Pastor Tim McGraw tonight, Randi?

KAYE: That would be tonight at 8:00 and 10:00 Eastern. And there's much more that he has said about counseling her and her deep religious beliefs that I think you'll find really, really interesting.

NGUYEN: I'll be watching for sure. Randi Kaye joining us live.

Make sure viewers watch and get some additional information about Sarah Palin and her background.

And speaking of, she's getting all the publicity after being tapped for the GOP VP slot, so where does that leave Joe Biden?

CNN's Jim Acosta has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She may not be the biggest celebrity in the world, but Sarah Palin is elbowing Joe Biden out of the vice presidential spotlight. Drawing big crowds for John McCain and solely gracing the covers of national magazines across the country.

Biden does have Palin beat on one score -- the Sunday talk shows. Making his 42nd appearance on "Meet the Press," the sometimes overheated Biden tempered his criticism of the Alaskan governor.

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Eventually she's going to have to answer questions and not be sequestered. Eventually, she's going to have to answer questions about her record. ACOSTA: Steering clear of a dog fight with a self described pit bull in lipstick, Biden is instead tearing into John McCain, unloading on the Republican convention.

BIDEN: It was deafening on jobs, on health care, on the environment, on all of the things that matter to the people (INAUDIBLE) grew up in. Deafening.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: No way, no how, no McCain, no Palin.

ACOSTA: Still, it's not Biden, it's Hillary Clinton who is seen by some Democrats as Obama's best bet to counter Palinmania. Over the weekend, Clinton offered a preview of what's to come when she campaigns for Obama in Florida this week.

CLINTON: Senator Obama and Senator Biden offer the new ideas and positive change agenda that America needs and deserve after eight years of failed Republican leadership. Senator McCain and Governor Palin did not.

ACOSTA: As for Biden, he's making the case, as Senator Clinton once did, that he's a kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, not just a creature of Washington. Part of Palin's star power lies in those now well-known small town roots.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, but they got a celebrity on the Democratic ticket. His name is Barack Obama. They didn't need a celebrity running mate. John McCain did. That's why Sarah Palin has made so much difference for him, because he needed that star power.

ACOSTA (on camera): The old political adage is that people don't vote for the bottom of the ticket. Still, Biden versus Palin at this year's vice presidential debate will undoubtedly go down as one of the hottest political events of the year.

Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Barack Obama is in Michigan today and the economy is on his mind. So here's what he had to say at an interview yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The economy is weak right now. The news with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae I think along with the unemployment numbers indicates that we're fragile. I want to accelerate those tax cuts through a second stimulus package, get more money into the pockets of ordinary Americans, and see if we can stabilize the housing market. And then we're going to have to re- evaluate at the beginning of the year to see what kind of hole we're in.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: All the latest campaign news is at your fingertips. All you have to do is go to CNNPolitics.com. We also have analysis from the best political team on television. It's all right here -- CNNPolitics.com.

A trail of tropical systems brings misery to Haiti. A city cut off by high water. How will rescuers get aid to the people in need?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, it's a nervous wait along the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ike batters its way across Cuba. It could be just days from an expanded landfall in the U.S., and no one is taking any chances. From the Florida Keys to Texas, millions of people are tracking this dangerous storm and getting ready just in case.

You know, every time a big storm churns through the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, they take notice. Over the weekend, 18,000 people packed up and headed north. Our Susan Candiotti joins us from Key West where a lot of folks there have really taken heed to this warning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did, actually.

Although on the other hand, authorities also acknowledged that many residents here did not take the evacuation order, in their view, seriously enough. Still, some did leave town. Although the emergency management officials earlier this afternoon decided to let the mandatory evacuation order expire as it was planned to at noontime today. That simply -- it does not mean that residents can come back, that visitors can come back. No. Authorities say you must now wait until the storm passes until you can return to the Florida Keys.

A little bit earlier, I spoke with one of those emergency management officials about the action they took.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMAN GASTESI, MONROE COUNTY, FLA. ADMINISTRATOR: It has expired. The mandatory evacuation order has expired, and it expired at noon.

CANDIOTTI: Why did you decide to do that?

GASTESI: Well, it wasn't that we decided to expire it, it was already scheduled to expire. But we decided not to extend it. There's no need to extend the evacuation order.

CANDIOTTI: So where do things stand now?

GASTESI: Well, we'll wait and see right now. It is what it is. We did the evacuation. We responded to the weather, we responded to the forecasting that we had. Now, we wait and see. There are tropical storm winds that are scheduled to start tonight, all day tomorrow and we're still under a hurricane watch so we have to be very, very careful. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: There you go. They're not taking any chances.

Neither are the owners of all of these boats in one of many, many arenas here in Key West. As you can see, there are extra lines that are tying these boats down, one of many precautions that have been taken throughout the city of Key West for example, and throughout the Florida Keys. Businesses have boarded up. They've done just about everything they did to prepare, at the very least, for a tropical storm, and at worst, a hurricane. It looks like that hurricane is probably not going to make a direct hit, obviously, here, but they are expecting tropical storm conditions to start, as you heard, as early as this afternoon, certainly through the night and probably tomorrow.

What does that mean in terms of when people can return here? Well, they said once the storm has passed, then residents probably can start returning as early as Wednesday. Visitors to the Florida Keys, tourists, can come back probably as soon as the weekend.

Now, of course, every time one of these evacuation orders is put in place, it means a lot of tourist dollars are lost. Tropical Storm Fay just last week, a few weeks ago, rather, $10 million lost in revenue. Money that could have been spent on hotels and restaurants, that kind of thing. And they expect a few million more to be lost this weekend so they're anxious for this storm to pass.

Back to you.

NGUYEN: All right, Susan. We do appreciate it.

So, let's find out exactly where this storm is. Jacqui Jeras is in our hurricane center.

And Jacqui, when we talk about Ike, a lot of people really looking to the Gulf Coast and wondering where it's going to end?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well it looks like the western and north Gulf have the greatest chance of getting a direct hit from Ike. Right now, Ike is back over its heat, an energy source, and that is the warm waters of the Caribbean. Before it was on the north side of Cuba. And now, we're back down here. And the waters are extremely warm so we could see some more intensification.

Right now, Category 2, maximum winds of 102 miles per hour. We saw Susan's live shot. You can see some of the showers and thundershowers moving across the middle Keys at this time and starting to make their way towards to the lower Keys. You can see some tornadoes here and those winds will be picking up by this evening.

Now, once we get past Cuba, by tomorrow morning, we'll watch for Ike to get back into the Gulf of Mexico here and start to intensify. Landfall would be Friday or Saturday. And look at that cone of uncertainty, still quite wide, Betty, really from the Mississippi River on westward.

NGUYEN: We have seen that one before.

OK, Jacqui. Thank you for that.

First Gustav, then Hanna, now Ike -- Haiti has just been pummeled by three tropical systems in a row with more than 200 people killed.

CNN's Karl Penhaul has the story now. And we do want to give you a warning, you may find a few of the images disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN VIDEO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The flood waters just go on rising in Haiti. The body count, too. In the mountain town of Cabaret, a river burst its banks early Sunday, killing men, women, and children as they slept. Some tried to make a run and died, too. Haiti's Red Cross said at least 52 people died here alone. More are still missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It started around 1:30 in the morning. And then 2:00, 3:00, 4:00. All the time it was raining heavily. A lot of water fell over here.

PENHAUL: In another incident Sunday, Red Cross officials say they dragged 21 bodies of fishermen from the sea along Haiti's north coast. The rain unleashed by Hurricane Ike compounded the misery caused by the one-two punch of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna, in the last two weeks.

The Red Cross has confirmed at least 150 dead in the coastal city of Gonaives, from those two storms. Highways and bridges to the city have been washed away and aide agencies say survivors are getting desperate because they cannot get sufficient relief supplies.

Citizens waded to higher ground as the rain beat down on Gonaives again. And as a CNN team tried to reach Gonaives from the north on Sunday, its advance was blocked by this landslide. Volunteers shoveled to move the rocks and debris.

This woman said she had set out in the flood-stricken city the previous day. She says the only possessions she now has left are the ones in the plastic tub on her head. She leaves, but says she doesn't really know where she's headed.

(on camera): That woman like thousands of other Haitians, just hopes the rain will cease and they can finally find some dry ground.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Cape Haitien, Haiti.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: So if you would like to get involved in relief efforts for those affected by the most recent hurricanes, visit CNN.com's Impact Your World page. You're going to find links to groups providing food, shelter, to people in need. That's at CNN.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Issue No. 1, it's the economy and members of Congress couldn't get away from that topic even on their summer recess.

Here's CNN's Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JOE SESTAK (D), PENNSYLVANIA: (INAUDIBLE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak says people are fed up and they want solutions now.

SESTAK: Inevitably, I get a question, I really think Washington has to stop this politics down there.

BOLDUAN: Sestak's office says they've been flooded with complaints and suggestions on the energy crisis.

CHARLES HAUM, VOTER: We hope we can do something the Republicans can agree on.

BOLDUAN: Nearly 100 people packed an energy town hall Sestak hosted in his district outside Philadelphia during the August recess.

DAVID LIPSON, VOTER: Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to drill offshore. We understand that. But no one has said why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The more fundamental issue is that we have no cohesive energy policies.

SESTAK: This cannot be dealt with on a single track way. And heaven forbid, Congress is not best (ph) at sitting back and thinking and acting strategically.

BOLDUAN: Offshore drilling, wind and nuclear power among the options voters brought up as Congress still has not acted.

(on camera): You do accept some responsibility being in the majority?

SESTAK: I do. Do I? Absolutely. I put as much blame if not more on the Democratic Party because we're the majority party.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Sestak says he is opened to compromise, but like many Democrats, remains skeptical expanded domestic drilling will lower gas prices. His Republican opponent, Craig Williams, disagrees and is attacking Sestak on the issue. Williams recently visited part of Alaska to highlight the importance of drilling.

Many other Republicans are trying to use the issue to their advantage as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD)

NARRATOR: Feeling the pinch at the pump? Everyone is. Everyone it seems but Congress. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And dozens of House Republicans stayed behind in Washington to stage a protest calling for a vote on drilling.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: Put up or shut up. Make sure that you're saying the same thing at home that you're saying here in Washington, D.C.

BOLDUAN (on camera): There are compromise bill in the works in the House and Senate, but Congressman Sestak at least is not optimistic they can get anything done as Congress returns to face only a few weeks left in the session.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Oil traders are once again focusing on a hurricane heading for the Gulf of Mexico, but Ike isn't the only factor affecting prices. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our Energy Fix from New York. She joins us now.

Hi there, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi there, Betty.

A number of factors at play. We know Hurricane Ike has already caused big problems in Haiti and in Cuba, but will its affects be on oil prices here in the U.S. as the storm heads right for the Gulf of Mexico? After climbing more than $3 earlier today, oil prices have turned slightly lower. So it really seems like the rising value of our currency and the weak economy U.S. economy packed just as big a punch as the storm these days.

That's a good thing for you at the pump and for gas prices and oil prices. But there are lots of concerns ahead. The oil industry, remember, still trying recover from Gustav. As of yesterday morning, the Department of Energy said about 87 percent or more of the Gulf's oil production is still shut down. About three quarters of natural gas production is still shut down, Betty.

So we're still looking at this storm. But right now, oil prices pretty level right now -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Poppy. We do thank you.

And this, too, no drama, just some trophies and a standing O for Britney Spears last night. We're going to look at whether things are finally looking up for her after a rough year.

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NGUYEN: All right. So from disbelief and jeers in 2007 to trophies and cheers in 2008. What a difference a year has made for Britney Spears. Take a look. She won three awards at last night's Video Music Awards show, including video of the year for a song, "Piece of Me." She didn't perform at last night's show, though. You might remember last year when some said it looked like she was sleepwalking through a dance number. Not this time around. She got up there and got her Moon-Man.

All right. Well, thanks for joining us. There's still a lot more to come. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Rick Sanchez.