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Are Undecided Voters Ready to Pick a Side?; Tennessee Newspaper Uses Embarrassment as Motivation to Vote; Zimbabwe Confronted with Cholera Outbreak; Blind Iraqi Children Show Resiliency and Humble Gratitude for Gifts
Aired October 16, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These are very difficult times and challenges for America. And they were graphically demonstrated again today. America needs a new direction.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not going to be quick. It is going to be requiring all of us, Democrats, Republicans and Independents to come together and to renew a spirit of sacrifice and service and responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The presidential candidates make their closing arguments in the last debate of a very long 2008 campaign.
401 -- hey! Faces and fortunes falling on Wall Street this morning. Overseas, it was even worse.
And seeing the big picture, a follow-up look at an Iraqi school for the blind. Never short on hope, and no longer short on supplies.
Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live in the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, and you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
If polls were to be trusted the final debate was not a game changer, but not a channel changer either. Barack Obama and John McCain sharing a table, but not sharing the same ideas last night. They hit each other on the economy, taxes, and health care and negative campaigning. Both are back on the campaign trail for the final 19 days with emphasis on the economy.
The Dow has been all over the place today. At one point down 380 points, but much of that has been recovered. Right now it is up almost 4 points.
Money was a major theme in last night's debate with a mix of social issues and a little finger pointing thrown in for good measure. By all accounts John McCain needed a breakthrough performance to shift momentum in this race. So did he get the job done?
Our Ed Henry has the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Finally in the third debate, the gloves came off.
MCCAIN: You launched your political campaign in Mr. Ayers' living room.
OBAMA: That is absolutely not true.
HENRY: From the start McCain was crisper and stayed on offense. Pouncing when moderator Bob Schieffer brought up Obama's ties to former 1960s radical William Ayers.
MCCCAIN: Senator Clinton said, in her debates with you, we need to know the full extent of the relationship.
HENRY: Eager to avoid a gaffe that might knock him out of front- runner status, Obama was flatter than before, but he held his own by calmly pushing back.
OBAMA: Mr. Ayers is not involved in my campaign. He has never been involved in this campaign, and he will not advise me in the White House.
HENRY: On the day that the Dow lost another 733 points, McCain had the best performance yet on the economy, repeatedly citing Joe the Plumber, an Ohio man who recently pressed Obama about whether his tax plan would hurt small businesses.
MCCAIN: Senator Obama wants government to do to job, but I want , Joe, you to do the job. I want to leave money in your pocket.
HENRY: An attack Obama side stepped with a joke.
OBAMA: I am happy to talk to you, Joe, too, if you are out there.
HENRY: Some undecided voters in Joe's home state told CNN McCain repeated the story too many times. And he continued to struggle with the shadow of President Bush.
MCCAIN: Senator Obama, I am not President Bush, and if you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.
I'm going to give a new direction to this economy.
HENRY: A softball for Obama to drive home his underlying point about change.
OBAMA: You have shown independence, commendable independence, on some key policies like torture, but when it comes to economic policies, essentially what you are proposing is eight more years of the same thing.
HENRY (on camera): The bottom line is that McCain stepped up his game, but without a miscue from Obama the Democrat remains in the driver's seat with 19 days to go.
Ed Henry, CNN, Hempstead, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Debate watchers have some pretty strong opinions about what they saw last night. When asked which candidate did a better job, 58 percent said Barack Obama; 31 percent said John McCain. And when asked if Barack Obama's ties with Vietnam era radical William Ayers mattered to them, 23 percent said great deal; 14 percent said somewhat; 11 percent said not much. And 51 percent said it did not at all.
And finally when asked if they'd like to see some more presidential debates an overwhelming 67 percent said no. Now, as Ed Henry mentioned, it seemed that the candidates could not stop talking about Joe the Plumber last night. Earlier today, he had some interesting things to say about the debate and his newfound fame. We will have his comments at the bottom of the hour.
From now until Election Day, we're taking a closer look at those toss up states, the states leaning - that could decide who wins the Oval Office. And this hour, we're looking at Virginia in our latest CNN/"Time"/Opinion Research Poll, Barack Obama leads John McCain by 10 points. CNN now classifies the state as leaning Obama. That was enough to put Obama over the top in our electoral map.
Let's join our John Roberts in New York with more on the challenge facing John McCain.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, last night's third and final debate was a last chance for Senators Obama and McCain to on a massive scale try to make a case for the voters that they are the person who should occupy the Oval Office. And they are also going to try to change the electoral college map here in the next 19 days. The electoral college map, which now leads heavily in Barack Obama's favor.
Let's take a look at where we currently are: 277 electoral votes for Senator Obama compared to 174 for John McCain, with 270 needed to win the White House. So theoretically, Barack Obama is already over the finish line, and what is the reason for that? It is the state of Virginia. Hasn't voted for a Democrat since 1964, but the our new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation polling and Poll of Polls shows that Barack Obama is leading John McCain by 10 points there, which is extraordinarily significant.
So, let's see, does John McCain have a route to the White House? Kyra, I know you like to play pool. So we use sometimes the term, "run the table". If John McCain were to run the table in the rest of these battleground states, North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Colorado, and Nevada, he still can't get there. Look at this, he still only has 261 electoral votes. Barack Obama is still over the line.
So the only thing that John McCain can try to do here is to peel back some states that are now either leaning for Barack Obama, or heavily in his territory. The heavy ones are probably gone, but the leanings are where he might be able to play. So that is why you see today Sarah Palin is up here in Bangor, Maine today.
She is also going to be in New Hampshire trying to turn it around in that state. John McCain is going to be down here in the state of Pennsylvania. This is a map from the 2004 election. Specifically, he is going to be in Chester County, today which went 52 to 48 percent George Bush over John Kerry.
But let's apply the results of the primary election to Chester County. That is solidly Barack Obama territory. So the only thing that John McCain can do right now is to peel back some of the advantage that Barack Obama has. It is a much more difficult calculation than it would be if you are simply trying to play in the tossup states. But the way that things are now, if John McCain won every tossup state, that is left, Barack Obama would still occupy the White House -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John, thanks so much.
So what is behind this surge for Barack Obama in Virginia? Our Dan Lothian has been looking into it and he joins us now live from Richmond.
Hey, Dan?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello.
This was really a surprise to a lot of people, those numbers, double-digit numbers now for Barack Obama in the polling. Again, what we have been talking about now for the last couple of days, what everyone is pointing to changing the demographics, especially in Northern Virginia, where there is an influx of new voters in that area.
You know, the big issue here is that for so long Virginia has been a solid red state. The last time that a Democrat won for president in Virginia, that was Lyndon Johnson, 44 years ago. That was 1964. Now, you of course see those surprising numbers, polling numbers from Barack Obama.
I did talk to a Republican official today and she told me, listen, we are not watching those poll numbers. We're not concerned about the poll numbers. She says, we're very energized. And, in fact, they feel that Sarah Palin on the ticket has really energized Republicans here in the state of Virginia. And they think that when it all comes down to the vote on November 4th that John McCain can win here in Virginia.
Now I do want to bring up one other point; the number of people who have registered to vote here in the state of Virginia. We talked to state elections officials earlier today. And they tell us that they have record numbers and more than 5 million people have registered to vote here in Virginia. The exact number is 5,521,000 and of that number 436,000 people are first-time voters. They say it is somewhat of a surprise. Although, they had seen the numbers trending up, because so many people had been registering early on in the process, but still, when they saw the final tally of more than 5 million, they were really surprised.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN POLLARD, STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS: I think that people are energized about the candidates. I think people are energized about the process. There has just been so much surrounding this election that it is exciting. It is challenging, but it is exciting to see that many Virginians want to come out to take part in the whole process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Now, Kyra, of those first-time voters, 40 percent of them are under the age of 25. This, again, goes to what we are talking about, younger voters. In other states like Colorado, you are seeing that being a major issue. That is a big issue here as well in Virginia where these younger voters have been energized. And a lot of them, we are told by one estimate more than 60 percent leaning toward Barack Obama. But young voters expected to play a role in this election here in Virginia, of course, if they actually show up to vote.
One final note election officials telling that they expect voter turnout to be around 90 percent. Now how does that compare to past years? In 2004 it was 71 percent voter turnout so certainly they are having to gear up to meet those high numbers this time around, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dan Lothian, live from Virginia. Dan, thanks so much.
And good news for millions of Americans. Social Security benefits are going up, but will it be enough to make a difference? Susan Lisovicz here at the New York Stock Exchange with the details.
Susan, volatile day, again, on Wall Street.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, this is nothing, Kyra. This is relatively quiet right now. Give it time. Less than two hours to go in the session.
In the meantime, let's talk about Social Security, Kyra.
Fifty million Americans will see their Social Security checks increase in January. The 5.8 percent jump is the biggest in more than a quarter century. And the typical retirees monthly check will go up $63 to $1,153. I will have my dad take me out for an early bird special. The government is increasing the amount to reflect the surge in consumer prices over the past year.
Prices on Wall Street, meantime, well they are not going up. The Dow is down as much as 380 points after reports showed industrial production plunged last month by the largest amount, nearly 34 years. This is one of four reports that is used to determine whether we're in a recession.
Right now the Dow is receding, even after the second-worst point drop ever. Blue chips off of their lows, though, down 480 at the low today. Down just seven points now -- 380, excuse me. The Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, is on the plus side. It is up 15 points or nearly 1 percent, Kyra.
You missed my little joke about the early bird special.
PHILLIPS: No, no, I was laughing.
LISOVICZ: Normally, you would have jumped all over it.
PHILLIPS: Here is what's so funny. My mic was not up and I was laughing. And they should know better than to mic me up, because I thinking of when I talk to your mom or dad on the phone, and your dad is all about the early bird special. So I am trying to remember they love to go.
LISOVICZ: Well, they go in my neighborhood, actually.
PHILLIPS: Right, in Hoboken,
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: At 6:00 -- I mean, 6:00 is about as late as I can push it.
PHILLIPS: I love your parents.
LISOVICZ: They love you, too, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: They're good people.
Well, the Social Security increase, it couldn't come at a better time. A lot of Americans have seen their retirement accounts take a huge hit.
LISOVICZ: No question about it, Kyra. I mean, just what I am doing everyday is something that can affect the psyche. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Americans' retirement plans have lost more than 20 percent of their value over the last 15 months. And that doesn't even include the huge market drops we saw over the past week. It is not the market upheaval that is the problem, retirees are seeing their purchasing power decline because energy and food prices have soared over the past years.
But the good news is -- oil. Oil down $4 today, trading at about $70 a barrel. Less than half that record high that we saw three months ago, in July, on a better-than-expected supply report. Of course, the decline also attributed to fact that there are a lot of concerns about a recession here - and a global recession as well. But it is trickling down. You can see it every time you go to the gas station, no question. The pump prices are a lot cheaper, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Our air director says that 6 o'clock is not the early bird special. He says that's when he eats dinner. And I said, well ...
LISOVICZ: We'll have a big work family special then.
PHILLIPS: There we go.
LISOVICZ: On him!
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan, you see you in a little bit.
LISOVICZ: You got it.
PHILLIPS: Well, they had a big reason to sit glued to their TV screens. We will see what some Americans who are losing their homes to foreclosures had to say about the presidential debate last night.
When it comes to getting voters to the polls, shame is the name of the game for a small newspaper in Nashville. Is naming names and addresses of voters who didn't show up at the polls a good idea? We will talk to the editor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, across America, a sad and frightening thing for tens of thousands of families. They have lost their homes to foreclosure. CNN's Carol Costello watched last night debate with a Michigan feeling that emotional impact.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am in Macomb County, Michigan, a county that has been hit hard by the mortgage mess. More than 5,000 home foreclosures in this county alone. That is why you see so many for rent and for sale signs behind me. I sat down with a family foreclose victim, a family, to watch the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice over): The Wards consider themselves the little guy, one who has fallen on hard times. They were eager to watch the debate with the kids hoping to hear something that would help them.
OBAMA: What we have not yet seen is a rescue package for the middle-class.
COSTELLO: The Wards desperately want that. They lost their home to foreclosure, declared bankruptcy and while they are thankful they are able to rent nearby, it is not enough.
KEITH WARD, LOST HOME TO FORECLOSURE: It is not our home. We don't own it. What can they do to help that? That is my question.
COSTELLO: That's the answer that the Wards wanted from the candidates. Keith, a registered Republican, listened intently to John McCain, but did not like what he heard.
(on camera): When John McCain was saying stuff like, you know, I understand why the middle-class is angry, does that resonate?
K. WARD: No. How could he understand it? How could he really understand it? The man owns seven houses. He doesn't understand how we feel.
JENNIFER WARD, LOST HOME TO FORECLOSURE: So many of the politicians out there now that don't understand what the middle-class is going through.
COSTELLO: And neither Ward liked McCain's idea for the government to buy and refinance troubled mortgages. They felt it helped the banks, not them. McCain's references to Joe the Plumber as everyman was, according to Keith, annoying.
K. WARD: Senator McCain sounded like a used car salesman.
COSTELLO: Really?
K. WARD: Pushing this Joe the Plumber thing. All I heard out of him was big business getting cuts. Out of Senator Obama, I heard us.
COSTELLO: What did resonate with them was Obama's plans to cut taxes for those making below $250,000 a year. The Wards told me Obama's calm demeanor comforted them, too, until he went negative.
J. WARD: I am tired of the smack, the smear campaigning.
COSTELLO: Still, both Wards agreed Obama won the debate handily, but they are still not convinced he has the plan that will help them out of their economic nightmare. Although, they are now leaning toward voting Obama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Now, Kyra, the Wards still have hope. Keith has a job. And they are getting by, they just wanted to hear many more specifics from the candidates. Something they didn't hear last night - Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Carol, thanks so much.
Well, a medical chopper flying a little girl to the hospital crashed en route last night. The chopper went down in a Aurora, Illinois. That is west of Chicago. The 1-year-old and all three crew members with her, the ones that were with her, rather, were all killed. Investigators say that the chopper clipped a support wire on a radio tower, but they don't know why. One thing they are looking at if the towers warning lights were even working. This is the 11th medevac crash nationwide this year.
If you see the sign, keep moving. Sex offenders in Maryland risk violating their parole if they don't hang these notices on their doors on Halloween. Cops are trying to keep lots of distance between young trick or treaters and the offenders. And they are supposed to stay inside, keep their lights off and not answer the door.
A major storm churning in the Caribbean. Where is Hurricane Omar headed now? We will have the latest.
And progress reported in the fight of some big wildfires in Southern California, but the situation is still very touch and go. We have the latest from the front lines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, Joe. We heard his name so much at the debate last night, we feel like he is our plumber. Joe the Plumber, debate star, and overnight sensation, so who the heck is he?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Fire evacuees finally allowed back home in Southern California. Crews battling three major wildfires, now getting the upper hand. The flames destroyed dozens of homes, scorched at least 34 square miles around Los Angeles and San Diego. Firefighters say that there are places where fire lines still haven't even been established. If the wind picks up again, well, there could be big trouble.
And they feared the worst and got very lucky. Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and other parts of the northern Caribbean got far less damage from Hurricane Omar than expected. The storm is now moving away from the region after passing, overnight, between St. Martin's and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as a major Category 3 hurricane. The East Coast also catching a big break and Omar is expected to churning toward the open Atlantic and away from the U.S. mainland.
Our severe weather expert Chad Meyers has been keeping track of everything for us, monitoring that weather map.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
PHILLIPS: Well, can you embarrass people into doing the right thing? That is what a small Tennessee newspaper is trying to do. If local residents registered to vote in 2004 but didn't show up, well, guess what? Their name and address out there for everyone to see.
And oil prices have fallen sharply recently, so why haven't the gas prices kept pace? We will take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 2:30 Eastern time. Here are some of the stories we are working for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The Dow has really been jumping around today, sort of like our picture there. At one point this morning it was down 380 points, but it has made some late gains. Yesterday's 733 point drop was the second biggest point loss ever. Dow Industrials are down 73 points right now.
The NTSB is investigating a medical chopper crash in Illinois. That flight went down last night just west of Chicago killing the patient, a 1-year-old girl. The three-member crew also killed.
And there's no more room for debate. The third and final meeting between the two presidential candidates is history. They are both back on the trail right now, 19 days before Election Day.
Well, he is no ordinary Joe, at least not any more. An Ohio man named Joe Wurzelbacher confronted Barack Obama last weekend about taxes. Last night, Joe's name came up again, again and again. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: My old buddy Joe, Joe the plumber.
OBAMA: I'm happy to talk to you, Joe.
MCCAIN: People like Joe the plumber. Joe, I want to tell you -- hey, Joe, you're rich.
OBAMA: That includes you, Joe.
MCCAIN: I want Joe, you to do the job.
OBAMA: The conversation I had with Joe the plumber --
MCCAIN: What Joe wanted to do --
Joe was trying to realize the American dream. What you want to do to Joe the plumber -- we're going to take Joe's money.
Joe, you're rich. Congratulations.
OBAMA: Tax cuts, to Joe the plumber --
MCCAIN: Small business people like Joe the plumber --
OBAMA: Joe, if you want to do the right thing --
MCCAIN: I want Joe the plumber to spread that wealth around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So did Joe hear what he wanted to hear from either candidate? Our affiliate WTVG caught up with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE WURZELBACHER, "JOE THE PLUMBER": Well, sure. You know, I asked a question, Obama messed up in answering it a little bit, said (INAUDIBLE) that redistributing of some wealth and so everyone has kind of picked up on that, and so they are using just anybody to drive home a point. But it is a valid point though, so I don't mind being used in that area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Joe says that he is a bit overwhelmed by all of the attention. He says he feels kind of like Britney Spears having a headache -- quote -- "everybody wants to know about it."
Well, here is an interesting way to get out the vote. Find out who registered to vote but didn't show up at the polls four years ago and embarrass the sam hill (ph). That is what a small paper in Nashville is doing.
Amy Rao, from affiliate WTVF reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDER TERRENCE, LISTED AS VOTER NO-SHOW: I see my name.
AMY RAO, WTVF REPORTER: It is not often a person gets to see their name in print.
TERRENCE: Alexander Terrence, 1713 7th Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee.
RAO: However for Terrence Alexander --
TERRENCE: A lot of names in here.
RAO: -- it is not exactly a welcomed mention.
TERRENCE: I think they should have called and asked me, really, truthfully speaking.
RAO: Alexander and thousands of others now have their names, even their addresses, printed for all to see in the "Tennessee Tribune." All voters who were registered in the 2004 presidential election, but never went to the polls.
TERRENCE: I need someone around me at all times.
RAO: Alexander has a severe medical condition and can't drive himself, so in 2004 he intended to vote, it just didn't happen.
TERRENCE: I had a ride supposed to come to get me through the election services. No one ever showed up.
RAO: Regardless, his name is in the paper with no excuse printed.
ROSETTA MILLER PERRY, PUBLISHER, "THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE": Sometimes, when you embarrass people, they do the right thing.
RAO: The outing of voters is a bold move by the "Tribune"'s publisher to encourage voter turnout.
PERRY: We need to live up to the civil rights that have been given to us.
RAO: Perry tried this during the 2006 Senate election and cites success with one district going from a 37 percent turnout to 65 percent after the publication. She hopes this year's list will make a difference too, and already feels that the cost is worth it.
PERRY: We have people over here who won't go out and vote? That's -- it's ridiculous. It really hurts.
RAO: As for Alexander, the tactic, he says, did not change his mind. But if the "Tribune" really wants him to vote, he's got one favor to ask ---
TERRENCE: I intend to vote. Will they come and pick me up? That is what I want to know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: But is the paper doing the right thing naming all these names? After all, as we saw right there with Terrence, the list tells you who and where, but not why. The paper's publisher, Rosetta Miller Perry, joins us now live from Nashville.
Well maybe we should answer Terrence's question. Rosetta, are you guys going to organize buses or pickups to take these folks to vote?
PERRY: We have always been involved, and I'll personally pick him up, and anyone else that wants a ride to the polls.
I'm involved in many activities here. And we are all picking up, taking people to the polls. But that is no excuse for him. He could have had an absentee ballot. That is no excuse.
PHILLIPS: Well, do you think that all these folks are educated on their options, though, Rosetta? I mean, not everybody knows about absentee ballots, or where the polls are, or why it is so important to vote. A lot of it is lack of education.
Do you think that outing them in the paper is the right way to go?
PERRY: Yes, I do.
PHILLIPS: Tell me why.
PERRY: And they -- they're are educated. If they would buy the "Tennessee Tribune," we always keep information about voting in the paper, and where you can go to vote.
PHILLIPS: Well, some people think, wow, this is intimidation. What do you say to that -- to those that are --
PERRY: It is -- it's not intimidation. When I look back, and I have been involved in the civil rights movement for many years, at least 50, and when I look at the black men and white women who went out and tried to help blacks get the right to vote and were murdered, they killed, when I look at our grandparents who had to pay a poll tax, when I look at our grandparents -- you had to recite so many things in the Constitution to vote, you know -- we --
PHILLIPS: Is it --
PERRY: Go ahead.
PHILLIPS: Well it is interesting, Rosetta, when I hear you say that, wow, you tug at my heart strings. If I were to hear you say that, if you were to call a rally, call a forum, and say that to me, that would really want me to get out the vote. But I think if I saw my name and address in a newspaper I'd be like, hey wait a minute, that is my private information. Why are you doing that to me? It might make me more angry and not want to vote.
PERRY: Well, we have more positive phone calls than we have negative phone calls. And also, when I printed the first list, one of the first names on that list was someone who told me that they had voted, and I believed them. It was my grandson. Now I had every opportunity to delete his name, but being honest I would not do that. But he has voted every time since.
PHILLIPS: So are you seeing people then energized? Are you seeing more positive -- more of a positive response than people like Terrence that are not too happy about seeing their information in the paper?
PERRY: There is a lot of positive information out there, and there re people who are calling me, they're saying, they're taking the list, going down the list, to see if they see anyone on the list, and they're calling them. They're calling individuals who have nieces and nephews and so forth. So they are working on the list.
PHILLIPS: All right, Rosetta. So you said you would pick up people like Terrence. How do they get in touch with you? Do they call the paper and say, Rosetta, I need a lift?
PERRY: Yes, very definitely. And Terrence really needs to call. I will pick him up, I'll get a limousine to take him to the poll.
PHILLIPS: There's going to be a lot of people calling you now.
Rosetta Miller Perry, publisher of the "Tennessee Tribune," outing all those non-voters. Let's see how many people do turn out. We will follow up with you, Rosetta.
PERRY: OK.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
PERRY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Better late night than never? Well, after a bit of delay, John McCain is set to pay Dave Letterman a visit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, another concern for a country with enough problems already. Zimbabwe is coping with a cholera outbreak. We've got the report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: One side effect of this struggling economy is sharply lower oil prices. In fact, the price of oil is below where it was last year at this time. But gas prices are higher. Why the discrepancy?
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.
Hey, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi there, Kyra.
Well the big problem is that gas prices are not falling nearly as quickly as we're seeing oil prices fall. Yesterday, crude oil closed below $75 a barrel. Today it is right now, believe it or not, below 70 bucks a barrel. That is because we have more U.S. stockpiles of crude here in the U.S. than we've had in quite a while.
Now a year ago the price of oil was nearly 12 bucks -- the price of gas rather -- it was higher, you see it right there on the screen showing you the difference. As for gasoline, the national average -- $3.08 right now. Last year it was about $2.78.
Unlike oil, the price at the pump is higher than last year. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense so we asked some experts. Here is what they told us. First, gas distribution is still not back to normal because there is that refinery capacity issue after Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Another reason here, gas prices tend to fall slower than oil prices, as distributors wait to see if those lower prices will stick.
Experts also say that oil prices ran up a lot quicker than gas prices, believe it or not, they had further to fall. And this is interesting, one oil analyst told us today, gas stations are making up for the tough bit of this year that they had -- for the first eight months or so this year. Unlike you might think, they actually make more money when the prices are falling. They can mark that gasoline up just a little bit more, Kyra.
But I guess good news -- that the gasoline prices, at least for folks out there, are down again today.
PHILLIPS: Definite good news.
Thanks so much, Poppy.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Zimbabwe is a country racked with problems, and now there is more misery to add to the mix, a cholera outbreak. CNN's Nkepile Mabuse takes al closer look at what is happening in our "Planet in Peril" segment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Raw sewage from burst pipes spews like a fountain contaminating everything in its path, including wells and streams where many Zimbabweans are now getting water. Robert Mugabe's government says it does not have enough chemicals to clean water. It has simply stopped providing it in some areas.
Those living in the capital Harare and surrounding areas tell us they have not had running water since October of last year. As a result, eight agencies say there is a deadly outbreak of cholera in the country. The government confirms there have been 18 deaths, but the Zimbabwean Association of Doctors for Human Rights believes that number is higher.
29-year-old Joy Kabottid (ph) died of cholera last month. His family says cholera took his life in a matter of hours.
(on camera): Despite this, many here, including the Kabottid family continued to use wells and other risky ways of getting water because they simply have no choice.
(voice-over): Unicef, and other aid organizations, are providing waterer and chlorine tablets to the most affected communities. But these are not reaching everyone.
Some here drink this water without even boiling it. Zimbabwe's health ministry acknowledges that the lack of proper infrastructure in this impoverished nation is behind the outbreak, and say the government has dispatched teams of health workers to educate people and provide them with water tanks. But we never saw these teams and the residents we spoke with had not either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they don't even care.
MABUSE: The health minister insists the outbreak has been contained, but medical activists disagree.
DR. DOUGLAS GWATIDZO, DOCTORS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Definitely the government is not properly -- doesn't have the capacity to control the spread of cholera, or to put a stop to it at the moment.
MABUSE: If the sources of the problem are not addressed experts say there will be many more grieving families like this one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you can find out more about that story on our Web site, CNN.com/world. There you can find out about the next "Planet in Peril" special airing on December 11th with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Blind children getting a lot of help from the U.S. Iraqi students -- well, they can't hide their smiles over shades sent from America. I will update you on some amazing --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: When you go to a war zone, you expect to see devastation and death. It is a grim reality. So when I went to Iraq six months ago I made it my mission to bring all of you, our viewers, a different perspective. And you know, the Iraqi people are very resilient and they're full of hope, especially the children. And it was the blind students in Baghdad that not only inspired us, but made us all want to give back. We hope you may, too.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): The Al-Noor Institute is Baghdad's only school for the blind. I thought I was coming here as a reporter, but I ended up a student, learning unforgettable lessons.
MURTADA, STUDENT: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine --
(CHEERS)
MURTADA: 10, 11, 12.
PHILLIPS: Yes!
MURTADA: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
PHILLIPS: Ten-year-old Murtada counts more than numbers; he counts his blessings.
"God gives me things, and takes things away," Murtada tells me. "Even though I'm blind, God gave me cleverness. The lowest grade I ever received is 85. And thanks be to God, I succeed every semester."
And his teacher, Amar Ali, is making sure of that.
PHILLIPS (on camera): You were a student here, now you teach here?
AMAR ALI, TEACHER: Oh, it is a kind of feeling that cannot be described, really, really. It's a kind of happiness that cannot be described.
PHILLIPS: Are you sharing that happiness with these children?
ALI: Yes, yes. I feel myself with them.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): But we realized quickly Amar needed much more than just love for these kids. He needed supplies.
So what better resource than the school where Helen Keller studied. Perkins School for the Blind in Boston didn't even hesitate about a donation. And the next thing we knew, Braillers, paper, dictionaries in Braille and sunglasses were headed to Baghdad.
But it wasn't easy. From Boston to Baghdad, delivery in a war zone can be life threatening. But these boxes made it with help from the charity IRD., International Relief and Development.
"Here we go," says this teacher, who immediately types a thank you note with the new Perkins Brailler, a special machine for the blind that types Braille.
But it only got better. Meet Jacalo (ph). She has never owned a pair of sunglasses in her life.
"Not on your hair," her teacher says, "on your eyes. It's to protect them."
And remember teacher, Amar Ali?
ALI: I'm really, really happy. I can't believe myself, to have is a dictionary.
PHILLIPS: When is the last time you saw a grown man cry over a new dictionary?
DAVID ELKINS, INT'L. RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT: The school didn't have one until now, in English, and it was -- Mr. Amar, who was the teacher who was interviewed, made that request so he would be better in his teaching. And so that was one of the important deliveries that was made.
PHILLIPS: And you know what else is so remarkable about these students? Their humility. All these gifts received with wonderment and soft thank yous.
"I thank everyone for this symbolic gift," says this 13-year-old Youseff. "Things will be better now."
Better? Maybe. Hopeful? Absolutely. Grateful? Always.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Thank you!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you, too, can help these Iraqi students. Check our Impact Your World page on CNN.com for more information on the Al- Noor Institute for the blind. You could help change those kids' lives as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, from no show to late show, Senator John McCain is finally sitting down with David Letterman. Dave, of course, not amused when McCain canceled on him last month. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT"'s A. J. Hammer has got that plus more showbiz meets politics news.
A.J., great to see you.
A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" ANCHOR: Great to see you, Kyra.
Yes, and we're coming up on a big night for politics and the entertainment community. As you said, tonight John McCain is scheduled to take on the other man who has been attacking him on the campaign trail, David Letterman. And John better show up, Letterman has been mocking the Republican candidate relentlessly for the past few weeks.
It all started when John McCain canceled an appearance on Dave's show at the last minute saying that he had to run back to Washington to help out with the financial crisis. Well, when Letterman caught McCain doing an interview with Katie Couric, while he was scheduled to be at "The Late Show," and then found out that McCain in fact stayed in New York until the next day. Suffice it to say, Dave was not happy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW": I was deeply disturbed because I thought, OK, it's just me. But nonetheless, come clean on the deal. Come clean on the deal and say, look, either do the show -- 90 minutes, he could not come in here and talk to me for like 30 seconds and announce to you, the American public, hey, the economy is cratering, Dave it's been great, Paul, nice to see you. We play him off and he gets in the cab, that's it. That would have been fine.
Everybody would have looked good if that had happened. But it didn't happen. And so, now, he will be here tomorrow. He's got a lot of explaining to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: We will be watching that explaining because we also want to see if the two of them are going to kiss and makeup.
And I should point out, Kyra, that the Democrats also will be represented on late night TV. In fact, opposite Letterman, Joe Biden is scheduled to be on with Jay Leno.
PHILLIPS: I wonder who Dave Letterman is going to vote for. We have to try and found that out.
HAMMER: Do you have any sense of that?
PHILLIPS: I know he's going to give it to John McCain. That will be interesting.
All right. Well, Obama -- he may not be on "The Late Show," but he is hanging out with a couple of music legends, isn't he?
HAMMER: Yes, couple small guys you may have heard of. Big concert fundraiser starring these two guys tonight, local guys for us New Yorkers. Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel performing. What a ticket.
And the cost of getting into the show -- well that would cost anywhere from about 500 bucks up to $10,000. So obviously it's going to be giving the Obama campaign a lot of money. And with that money, Obama is going to be buying some air time during primetime on the broadcast networks.
Listen to this, he has bought half hour blocks of time on NBC, CBS and Fox at 8:00 p.m. on October 29th. Now, in order to accommodate the Obama special, what Fox had to do was get permission from Major League Baseball, because the special conflicts with a possible sixth game of the World Series. So, if there is a game six, the start time of the game will actually be pushed back 15 minutes to allow for the Obama broadcast.
As for ABC, no word yet on whether or not they're going to be selling Obama the time. The last candidate to do this was Ross Perot. That was back in 1992.
Now coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," Madonna's mess -- talk about money. The dramatic fall out from the pop icon's stunning split from director husband, Guy Ritchie. Is it true they didn't have a prenup? What is going to happen to Madonna's half a billion dollar fortune?
Well, we are following Madonna's money trail tonight on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. You'll find "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on Headline News at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
Kyra, we'll look forward to you tuning in and joining us at that time.
PHILLIPS: If it's you, A.J., always.
HAMMER: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Thanks. Great to see you.
All right. Rick Sanchez takes it from here. The next hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.
