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Candidates Continue Appearances Across Swing States; House Hearing on Credit Rating System; Feds Investigate Letters Sent to Banks; McCain Holds Rally in New Hampshire

Aired October 22, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Your wallet affecting your ballot. How issue #1 has become the priority in the presidential race.
And the election nears, but the voting is going on right now. We're live at one polling place.

It's Wednesday, October 22nd, I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Thirteen days now until the presidential election and candidates are on the last lap of their campaign. A lot of miles, a lot of stops.

John McCain begins today in New Hampshire. He then travels on to Ohio for rallies with running mate, Sarah Palin. From there, McCain goes to Florida.

And meanwhile, Barack Obama begins in Virginia today for a couple of rallies there. Then he travels on to Wisconsin. His running mate, Joe Biden, is on a tour bus in Colorado.

Today CNN's money team is teaming with the best political team on television. Our focus today, the economy's impact on the presidential race.

CNN's Christine Romans is watching your money in New York, Fredricka Whitfield is talking to voters at a polling place. Dan Lothian is covering the Obama campaign and Ed Henry is following John McCain.

Let's start with Ed in Manchester, New Hampshire where Senator McCain will speak in just a few minutes.

So, Ed, tell us a little bit more about why it's so critical for Senator McCain to win New Hampshire.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, I want to be quiet, because they just started the national anthem. But New Hampshire is very important for symbolic reasons because this is where his 2000 campaign took off.

It's also where he rescued his primary campaign just a few months ago. His campaign was left for dead. He came back in New Hampshire. There's only four electoral votes here but with Barack Obama now trying to pick up five electoral votes in Nevada, five electoral votes in West Virginia, John McCain desperately trying to offset any of those gains.

And one way he's trying to do it is to talk about taxes, a very important issue in New Hampshire and it's one he addressed yesterday in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, Senator Obama wants to raise taxes and restrict trade. The last time America did that in a bad economy, it led to the Great Depression. And they say those who don't learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.

Well, my friends, I know my history lessons, and I won't make the mistake Senator Obama seeks to repeat.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: And, obviously, with the four electoral votes here, John McCain has to do even better than just carrying these four electoral votes. When you look at the big picture of the battleground states, John McCain has to essentially run the table.

Let me give you an idea of the crowd behind me. It looks rather large, because we're inside at St. Anselm College, but I can tell you it's probably only several hundred people.

And by way of comparison, two days ago, I was in Colorado with Sarah Palin. She got something like 10,000, 11,000, maybe 12,000 people at an outdoor rally. John McCain is consistently getting smaller crowds than his running mate.

That's not a good sign when the top of the ticket is consistently drawing less people out on the stump than his number two -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Ed Henry for us there in New Hampshire. Certainly no disrespect -- by talking, as I know you know, Ed, off the topic (INAUDIBLE). I sure do appreciate that, Ed Henry.

And, of course, we will take you live to Manchester, New Hampshire when John McCain does speak. It's coming your way just a few minutes from now at the bottom of the hour.

Sarah Palin, the self-described hockey mom, is facing some questions about why taxpayers paid for her children's travel expenses.

According to an investigation by the Associated Press, the Alaska governor charged her state more than $21,000 for airfare for her three children. That does not include hotel expenses.

One questionable trip, commercial flights and lodging for the family so they could watch her husband, Todd, in a snowmobile race. Another, according to the AP, a five-hour conference in New York, but it cost taxpayers a four-night stay in a luxury hotel. Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children. But the AP says Palin later amended her expense reports to say the children were on official business.

A spokesman for the McCain/Palin presidential campaign says the Alaska governor followed the state policy. He says it allows governors to charge for their children's travel.

Democratic rival, Barack Obama, also focusing on the presidential battleground states. Yesterday, it was Florida. Today, Virginia.

CNN's Dan Lothian has more.

Good morning, to you, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Heidi.

Senator Barack Obama will be making two stops in Virginia today, one of them in Leesburg, Virginia. This is a state that has been red for 44 years. It's a state he would very much like to turn blue.

And we are expecting to get some poll numbers out later this afternoon which could give us a better view of how this race is shaping up. But I want to take a look at the poll numbers released last week, CNN/"TIME" magazine/Opinion Research Poll released last week that showed Barack Obama up by 10 points there in the state of Virginia, 53 percent to 43 percent.

Everybody that we talked to in the state of Virginia told us that Senator Barack Obama has spent so much time on the ground in Virginia. Everyone has gotten a phone call. They have heard someone knocking on the door and gotten a leaflet from the Obama campaign.

Obama has also -- the Obama team spent twice as many days in the state of Virginia as the McCain campaign. In addition to that, you can't turn on the TV without seeing an Obama ad. And it shows Obama in the numbers Obama has outspent Senator McCain in the TV ad wars, $18 million -- more than $18 million compared to McCain's more than $6 million.

Now, Obama, again, will be focusing today in Virginia on the issue that he has been focusing on now for weeks. And certainly yesterday in Florida, and that is the economy. Trying to paint the picture for voters that Senator McCain's economic plan is flawed, and, again, trying to tie Senator McCain to President Bush -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Dan Lothian for us this morning. Thank you, Dan.

Money fears also casting a large shadow overseas. Asian markets tanked in overnight trading. Japan's Nikkei index closed down at nearly 7 percent. South Korea's market lost more than 5 percent.

Things not as bad in Europe. The trading is still down. At one point markets in both England and Germany were down nearly 4 percent. So where is your money headed in the United States? A live look at the big board will be coming up shortly. Of course, the opening bell about 20 minutes away.

The politics of money, the power of fear. The gut-churning ride on Wall Street has left investments battered and nerves certainly rattled. So how is the election affected by the morning headlines every day?

CNN's Christine Romans is in New York for us this morning.

All right, so what we've tried to do here, Christine, is talk a little bit about how the economy and the current situation is now going to affect the election directly on November 4th. Lots to talk about here.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There really is. And there's no question that it will. You know that Americans will be heading for the ballot box indeed with -- with a lot to be concerned about, in the economy right now.

And the polls are showing that -- the poll yesterday showing that 61 percent of Americans say the economy is still "ISSUE #1" when they go and cast their vote in just 13 days.

And a poll out this morning showing that most Americans don't like the measure that this government has taken so far to try to fight this financial crisis. That $700 billion for assistance to banks and financial institutions?

This most recent poll shows about 40 percent favor it. That is down from the beginning of the month, 56 percent oppose it. So, as time goes on, more people are -- are getting more uneasy about just what that was meant to do.

Another CNN/Opinion Research Poll, October 17th through 19th, sampling error plus or minus 3 points -- 3 percent says, how is Treasury Secretary Paulson handling his job as treasury secretary throughout this crisis? Only 28 percent approve. Almost two-thirds disapprove of the way he is handling his job during all this.

So we knew that there had been a populist backlash to what the, quote-unquote, "decision makers" were doing in Washington to try to fix what is happening to the financial system and to the economy.

We know that they will be heading into the polls in just a couple of weeks with a great sense of a disapproval of what's been happening here so far -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, I'd love to know if there's a question, too, about whether or not people understand what would happen if -- if nothing was done. That certainly was something that we talked about an awful lot here.

ROMANS: That's right. We have more in this poll that we're going to give you in about another hour. But also talking about what do people think about direct homeowners' help, what do people think about the economy in general. So we'll bring all of those to you a little bit later.

COLLINS: Excellent. We're looking forward to it.

ROMANS: Great.

COLLINS: Christine Romans, thank you.

Well, time is money. Thousands of people are using their time to vote early. Casting ballots before the expected crush on November 4th.

CNN's Fredricka Whitfield is joining us live this morning from a polling center in Lawrenceville -- I almost said Virginia, that would be Georgia, right down the road.

Fredricka, how's the -- how's the crowd look.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That would be Georgia, right in your backyard, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Well, take a look here. If this is any indication of just how excited people are about this election season, we're about five minutes away from the doors opening up, we're in Gwinnett County, just outside of Atlanta, at a polling station here.

Folks have lined up all morning. Just take a look at the lines right now. Right over here, all the way down there. They may have about an hour wait. And this is early voting.

Georgia is one of 31 states that is taking advantage of this early voting and folks have come out very early this morning. Polling station about to open just minutes away.

And there are a lot of different reasons why people are deciding to vote early. For one, they say, you know what, they're afraid of what November 4th is going to look like. The lines will be long. They don't want any excuses, the reasons such as getting the kids off to school or perhaps being at work and not being able to get off work. That's why they're out here early.

Let's take a look and hear from folks one-on-one exactly why they've decided to take -- take some time out this morning for early voting.

All right, Tony Lenkini (ph), why?

TONY LENKINI, EARLY VOTER: Well, this election's being contested for so long, I think it's -- it causes a lot more people to be interested and there will be a lot more first-time voters. I just think Election Day is going to be very crowded.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's pretty remarkable. We're talking about 31 states that have early voting and already Georgia -- across Georgia they've seen a huge increase. 690,000 people have voted early. That's pretty remarkable.

LENKINI: It is remarkable. I've never voted early before and here I am. And I think a lot of these other folks, it's their first time for voting early as well so.

WHITFIELD: All right, Abby Radcliff (ph), it's your first time voting early like this. Why this year?

ABBY RADCLIFF, EARLY VOTER: Because I feel like it's going to be a lot more people out, and I feel next week it's going to definitely get worse. So, I prefer to be in line right now and get it over with now.

WHITFIELD: All right, so when you drove up this morning, were you pretty astounded to see this kind of line? This many people have the same idea as you?

RADCLIFF: Yes, within 10, 15 minutes the line went to what it is right now. So, I was happy that I'm here at 8:15. Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, good job, Abby.

And -- so how about you, Gerri -- I better not attempt your last name again -- Irinowitz (ph)?

GERRI IRINOWITZ, EARLY VOTER: You got it.

WHITFIELD: OK. You've done this before. You early vote all the time. But this is certainly unique.

IRINOWITZ: Well, I'm in accounting and I have this sort of -- I feel it's a privilege to vote, but I have to work it around my job, and -- so I just early vote. I came yesterday, but it was, like, 9:00, it was all the way down the line. So I decided to come back this morning earlier.

WHITFIELD: What are the issues, in particular, that you think have brought people out so early? It's not just an issue of making sure they're able to get off work or get kids off to school, et cetera, but important issues that they're hoping will be addressed by this presidency?

IRINOWITZ: There's so many, the economy, the war. There's just so many and I think the economy -- I think the negative campaigning is a big thing and people are just tired of it and want to get over with it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Gerri Irinowitz.

All right, we're again in Gwinnett County just outside of Atlanta. And this is a pretty extraordinary sight. John, my photographer here, I'm going to ask you to turn around one more time and get a better look at the line here. Polling station has just now opened, it is finally moving. And take a look. See these yellow pieces of paper that people are holding. That's the ballot. It's pretty extensive here for Gwinnett County, it's not just the presidency, but there are a lot of other issues that on the ballot as well.

And so -- because they got a lot of time in this line, they're given a chance to kind of look it over so that as soon as the doors open -- or as soon as they walk through the doors, they're able to make some quick choices right away.

You look like an eager beaver here. Not at all discouraged to see all these people?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not. Actually it's great that we can even vote. In some countries you can't even vote. So we're braving the cold and we're just going to work together.

WHITFIELD: All right, good job. All right, so there you go, Heidi. Once again, a lot of folks who have lined up here. 31 states so far with this kind of early voting, no excuses as they call it. No-excuses voting. You just kind of show up.

Two more states are added to the list. Next week New Jersey and Oklahoma. So we're going to see lines like this all across the country leading right up to November 4th -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, yes, they're up early. It is a little bit chilly, even in Georgia.

All right, Fredricka Whitfield. Sure do appreciate that.

WHITFIELD: It is. (INAUDIBLE) here.

COLLINS: I can tell by your coat.

Early voting as you probably know by now is available in many states. This map shows the 37 states allowing in-person balloting before Election Day. In some of the states you can apply for an absentee ballot and use on it the spot.

For complete information on your area, check with your county election board or secretary of state.

Florida is one of the states seeing long lines of early voters. Look at that. This video was sent to us by iReporter Nicholas Grande of Cape Coral, Florida.

So are you seeing the same thing in your state? We want to know about it if you are. Go ahead and send us your early-voting pictures and your stories, too. Just go to ireport.com.

The economy, cast in a major role in the election picture. Is it a sequel? Looking for historical links in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Yes, so when exactly was the last time a song in the jukebox cost a dime? It's been quite a while, as you probably know.

We are covering the economy. And we want to know just how important it will be on Election Day. Maybe we should look at some past races in history for some perspective on it. Let's bring in special correspondent Frank Sesno from Washington.

A little Joan Jett for you there, Frank. I hope you like her.

Let's talk about other conditions in history where conditions were similar to what we're seeing right now. And I ask it sort of hesitatingly, because we have been hearing for months now that we have never seen anything like this situation before.

FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've -- haven't seen exactly this situation before, but we've been here before where people are scared, where they're angry, where they're worried.

COLLINS: Sure.

SESNO: Back in 1992, for example, when Bill Clinton ran and said, it's the economy, stupid, I remember very vividly in the spring, as people were losing their jobs, we saw a direct correlation, for example, between people who said they feared that they would lose a job in the next 12 months or a family member and those who said they feared they would lose healthcare because the job and healthcare coincided, it gets personal.

And Clinton focused very much on that -- that laser on the economy and said I feel your pain.

Back in 1980 when Ronald Reagan ran against -- against Jimmy Carter, we were coming off that period of stagflation, gas lines, an age of limits, it was called, and it was that debate one week before the election when Ronald Reagan said, are you better off now than you were four years ago? And people were scared.

In 1932, FDR, of course, the Great Depression, that had been around since -- you know, for several years. The banks had crashed in 1929. People lost everything. They lost their savings. They watched the bank doors literally close in their faces in many cases. And they were wiped out.

And, you know, the famous speech, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Roosevelt ran on this vague thing called the new deal and he swept in. Fear is -- is a compelling factor here.

And in a poll that CNN did just a few days ago, two-thirds of the country said they were scared. And that is the connection between the wallet and the ballot box.

COLLINS: Yes, and a lot of the fear is the fear of the unknown. I mean, if we're being completely honest, there are an awful lot of people, including the lawmakers, who don't really -- understand exactly what has happened here to get us in the situation that we're in. And, therefore, what some of these decisions, either bailout, a second stimulus package, where that is going to put us in the next months or years, nobody can really answer those questions.

SESNO: Yes, anybody who's got their eyes open and their television on is riding the roller coaster of these markets. And its uncertainty is the prevailing sentiment now and great volatility.

It's very interesting, too, because there's something here at work that's worth pointing out, it's a very American experience. And that is our connection with our money and our lives is much more profound than, for example, in Europe where there really are socialists, where healthcare is provided by the state, where retirement is much more a function of the state, and where, if you want to send your kid to college or university, far fewer go, but it's in most cases provided or very heavily subsidized by the states.

Here we're very much on our own. So when this kind of stuff happens, it strikes very close to home, and that's why it gets as scary as it does, as fast as it does. And we always vote our wallets when we get to that ballot box.

COLLINS: Yes. Your (INAUDIBLE) so much smaller, too, so when you're talking about the second largest country like the United States, it seems to be -- it's such an issue, and you're right, it's about the personal responsibilities so that is often very scary.

Let's talk a little bit more about the history here, because it is fascinating to know about past races where the economy has absolutely, unequivocally been the deciding factor.

SESNO: Certainly, 1992 was the last one we saw. We were in the midst -- we were actually -- actually, we were coming out of a recession by the time the election hit. We were out of the recession. But there was this sense that George Bush -- George Herbert Walker Bush, the first George Bush president, was somehow out of touch.

There was that sort of apocryphal, not-quite-true story that he didn't know food was scanned at the grocery store like that. He was trying to tell people the economy was fundamentally strong and people were experiencing something that was quite different than that.

That's where Clinton came along. It's also where Perot came along and said both these guys have it wrong, we just got to get under the hood and fix it. So the economy played a huge role there. I'll go back again to -- to Carter and Reagan and Reagan got that and people were really scared because, as they say, they'd been sitting in gas lines and watching the dollar dwindle because of inflation.

COLLINS: For so long, we thought it was going to be the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan. You anticipate the economy actually being the deciding factor this time around?

SESNO: Without question.

COLLINS: Yes. SESNO: And when you look at the polling and when you talk to people and you see what they're voting, also if you see where Obama is opening up his leads, his commanding leads which may be driving some of the momentum he's seeing, it's all related to the domestic scene and to the economy right now.

COLLINS: Special correspondent, Frank Sesno, nice to talk with you.

SESNO: Nice to talk to you.

COLLINS: Thank you, Frank.

SESNO: Thank you.

COLLINS: Campaign attacks on economic plans. What's fact and what's fiction? CNN's Truth Squad is on the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: An Oregon couple is back in the U.S. after being brutally attacked on the beaches of Ecuador last week. The 35-year- old man stabbed two dozen times. He is now in critical condition.

In a blog, his fiance says he's had three operations and apparently now has an infection. The man's father was emotional as he waited to see his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON LEIS, SON ATTACKED IN ECUADOR: Walk into that room and kissed Brent's face. That's -- I can't imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: There reportedly is no word from Ecuador on why the couple was targeted or whether anyone has been arrested.

The military says coalition forces apparently killed Afghan soldiers in a possible case of, quote, "mistaken identity on both sides." The Afghan government says the coalition bombed an army checkpoint in the Khost province killing nine troops.

There were a number of operations against the Taliban going on in the area when it happened.

Global markets taking a hit today. We'll see how Wall Street reacts in just a moment.

Plus, where the candidates are as the race nears the finish line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are awaiting the opening bell which looks like it's going to be just about any second now. Of course -- there you have it. It is now 9:30. And the markets are open. So everybody's kind of wondering what's going to happen today after yesterday's triple- digit loss.

Susan Lisovicz is standing by at the New York Stock Exchange with more on what investors will be looking at during this particular session.

Good morning to you, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Well, we're going to be corporate earnings. I mean that's the focus this week. We're starting to see some thawing out in the credit markets. That's fantastic. But the sentiment is grim because a lot of these corporate earnings are telling us things that the outlook isn't very good, that the last quarter wasn't terrific and the concerns about a prolonged recession are very much in the marketplace right now.

The Dow erased half of Monday's rally yesterday. We're looking to see all of those gains pretty much vanish at the open this morning. We've got triple-digit losses within seconds of the opening bell. You know, yesterday we lost more than $400 billion market cap, so we may have a little bit more to go this morning.

One, you know, case in point, worse-than-expected earnings is from a financial. No surprise there. Wachovia, a $24 billion quarterly loss will likely be the bank's last earnings statement before it's folds into Wells Fargo. Obviously, a victim of the credit crisis. Merck clocking in with a nearly 30 percent drop in quarterly profits as doctors chose other options over the top-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor. The cut costs, the pharmaceutical giant says it plans to slash more than 7,000 jobs over the next three years. And that's another thing we're hearing more of, downsizing and we're seeing it in the tech sector, too, Heidi.

Yahoo!, the troubled Internet company, says it will cut 10 percent of its workforce or more than 1,500 employees by the end of this year. It's the second major round of job cuts this year for Yahoo! whose earnings tumbled nearly 65 percent. Quarterly earnings, I might add.

But we got a bright spot from Apple, reporting more promising results. What else? The new iPhone sales really helped its bottom line. But even Apple gave a very cautious outlook for the holiday time period.

Let's check the numbers. Well, we're down 200 points. There goes Monday's gain. Right there, in two minutes of trading, Heidi. The Dow is off 215 points or 2.3 percent. The Nasdaq is down 1.5 percent.

Can I mention oil?

COLLINS: Please.

LISOVICZ: Crude is down another three bucks, Heidi, to under $69 a barrel. Remember, earlier this year, there were forecasts by bright people that crude would hit $200 a barrel. We get inventories in an hour. We're expecting an increase in inventories. And all of this is related to the fact that the U.S. economy is slowing and so is the rest of the world. And there's just less demand, and that's why OPEC is meeting later this week to try to prop up the price of oil. Imagine that? Propping up the price of oil. That's how quickly things have turned around.

COLLINS: Yes, we haven't even considered it. All right. Susan Lisovicz, thank you. We'll be watching for that meeting, of course.

Meanwhile, still looking for answers. The House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing next hour. Members want to know how Wall Street credit rating agencies may have contributed to the nation's financial crisis. Former executives of the major credit rating agencies on the hot seat. We'll keep an eye on the hearing and bring you the news as it happens.

Hoax or not. Federal authorities are investigating dozens of letters containing something like powder sent to banks in several cities. Hazardous material teams were sent to a Chase Bank in Norman, Oklahoma, yesterday. So far, tests show the powder does not pose any health hazard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things are going to happen around here as the world gets worse every day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a scary thing, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just hope that the person that did this will be caught and taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Federal officials say the notes contained angry messages about the current banking crisis.

Candidates out in full force today. 13 days to go now until the election. John McCain holding a rally any minute now in Manchester, New Hampshire. Running mate, Sarah Palin, is in Finley, Ohio, at an event set to begin at the top of the hour. Barack Obama holding what his campaign bills as a national security policy meeting. That will happen in Richmond, Virginia. And at noon, he will address supporters at the Richmond Coliseum. Joe Biden out west in Colorado Springs. He's going to be talking to voters at a rally at a high school there.

You are looking now at Manchester, New Hampshire, where Senator John McCain is campaigning this hour. We're going to be going there live just as soon as he begins speaking. Then, in the noon Eastern hour, we'll join Barack Obama's rally as we said in Richmond, Virginia, 12:30 Eastern, we will hear from Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden from Colorado.

Sarah Palin, unplugged. Her first interview with CNN. The Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential nominee sat down with our Drew Griffin after a campaign rally in Nevada. In fact, Drew is joining us live from Reno. So, what was it like sitting down with Governor Palin?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION'S UNIT CORRESPONDENT: You know, interesting, delightful person. Certainly sat down and answered all our questions. And, Heidi, I came away thinking why didn't they roll this person out and make her more accessible much earlier in this campaign? It was certainly very easy to talk to her, whether or not she was saying the message she wanted to say or saying the message people wanted to hear is a totally different subject.

But she certainly was very pleasant to talk to. Her campaign stump speech deals a lot with Joe the Plumber, and Joe the Plumber calling Barack Obama a socialist. So, that's where we began the conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Is Barack Obama socialist?

GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to call him a socialist. But as Joe the Plumber had suggested -- in fact, he came right out and said it. It sounds like socialism to him. And he speaks for so many Americans who are quite concerned now after hearing finally what Barack Obama's true intentions are with his tax and economic plan.

And that is to take more from small businesses, more from our families, and then redistribute that according to his priorities. That is -- that is not good for the entrepreneurial spirit that has built this great country. That is not good for our economy. Certainly it's not good for the opportunities that our small businesses should have to keep more of what they produce in order to hire more people, create more jobs. That's what gets the economy going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: When I pointed out that the McCain proposals also include big government intervention and certainly big government infusion of cash, she said, yes, but the McCain proposal is to keep more money in the pockets of taxpayers rather than taking the taxpayers' money and redistributing that wealth. That's where she draws the distinction between the McCain and the Obama camp.

But, again, delightful interview. And she actually granted us a little more time than we were supposed to have. But like I said, it's been -- it's been a couple of months trying to get it.

COLLINS: Well, it is interesting. I wonder if she spoke at all about her relationship with the press. I mean, what does she think about all of that?

GRIFFIN: Well, she -- she spoke in terms of Joe Biden, basically, getting a pass from the press. She feels that she has been -- the press has been very critical of her. Not saying unfairly to her. But saying, look if, if it's fair to attack me on my gaffes, when she admits she has made, why isn't the press going after, in such a strong measures, when Joe Biden makes a gaffe or when other things happen on the Democratic sides? She sees an unfair balance in the press. Not necessarily criticizing us for going after her particularly.

COLLINS: Well, Drew Griffin, we sure do appreciate it. Interesting interview, coming to us live this morning from what looks like to be a pretty chilly Reno, Nevada.

Thank you, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Quite cold.

COLLINS: Hear a lot more from the McCain-Palin ticket later on today. Senator John McCain sits down with Wolf Blitzer, that will happen 4:00 p.m. in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

On the campaign trail, John McCain is saying Barack Obama's tax plan could force small businesses to kill jobs, maybe millions of them. Our Josh Levs with the CNN Truth Squad is looking at that this morning.

Hey, there, Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Heidi. There's actually a place right out of what Drew was just talking about. This whole idea of Joe the Plumber playing into that. McCain has been focusing a lot lately on small businesses and using Joe the Plumber as a symbol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: The Obama tax increase would come at the worst possible time for America. And especially for small businesses like the one Joe dreams of owning. The small businesses, that Senator Obama would tax, provide 16 million jobs in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And you see our ruling there. False. Here's the basic idea. Barack Obama has said, as a lot of people know. He would raise taxes only for individuals making at least $200,000 a year and families making $250,000. Now, this one involves a lot of numbers. I just want to give you all the very basic idea. Let's zoom in on the board.

The McCain campaign is pointing to a survey from this organization, The National Federation of Independent Business about how much money owners of small businesses make. And then they're going over here to the Census Bureau, and they're using figures from the Census Bureau to try to estimate how many people work for those businesses.

But you know what, even the campaign acknowledges that what they've got there is a rough estimate. Plus, McCain's claim involves assumptions about how these business owners are taxed in the first place. So, this is our verdict right here. The full thing. It's false. Because McCain uses an overly broad interpretation of the NFIB survey's figures and applies Obama's tax plan to those in a way that is highly unlikely to match reality, Heidi. There you go. That was false.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we sure do appreciate that. We know that you're also looking at Barack Obama's claim that John McCain once opposed tax cuts that he is now in favor of.

LEVS: Yes. Yes, this is interesting. I mean, Barack Obama has gone through this argument in the last couple of days. Let's take a look at what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just a few years ago he, himself, said those Bush tax cuts were irresponsible. He said he couldn't, in good conscience, support a tax cut where the benefits went to the wealthy at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief. That's his quote!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And there's our ruling. True. On May 26th, 2001, it was on the Senate floor, that John McCain said this -- we have a graphic. He said, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief."

And, you know, at that time, he was one of two Republicans to vote against President Bush's tax cut, and then two years later, he voted against additional cuts. But in 2006, he voted to extend them. He said that the economy had adjusted and he did not want to increase taxes. And I'll let you know, if you want to know more, go to CNN.com, the Fact Check button at the very top. We will get you all sorts of details there.

And coming up next hour, Heidi, we're going to look at two of the most popular Truth Squad of this entire election, all about issue number one.

COLLINS: All right. Josh Levs, we'll see you very shortly.

LEVS: You bet.

COLLINS: Thank you.

Quickly, as we have been mentioning, a lot of campaign events today. Let's go straight now to Senator John McCain in Manchester, New Hampshire.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MCCAIN: New Hampshire, I know I can count on you again to come from behind.

(APPLAUSE)

To again come from behind and take a victory and bring it all the way to Washington, D.C. next January. And, my friends, I'm asking you to come out one more time. Get out the vote. Get them out and we'll win and we'll have a great election night here.

(APPLAUSE)

And, my friends, my happiest -- some of my happiest, happiest memories are being here in this wonderful state. I feel I know it. I feel I know you. And I feel a great sense of pride and the independence spirit and the knowledge and the way that people are when they judge the candidates. Could I just mention to you my old friend Morris Udall who once ran back many years ago, and he said a guy in Manchester said to the other guy, he said, "what do you think about Morris Udall for president?" He said, I don't know, I only met him twice. And you know the reason why that's funny? It's true. It's true.

And a favorite joke that everybody has stolen. Everybody who ever runs has stolen Mo Udall's joke where he said, "I walked into a barber shop in Concord, New Hampshire, and said, Hi, I'm Morris Udall, from Arizona, and I'm running for president of the United States." And the barber said, "yes, we were just laughing about that this morning."

(LAUGHTER)

That's -- that's the way our campaign started, my friends, but it's not the way it ended.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to say -- pay special thanks to the best and strongest fiscal conservative, the best steward of America's, New Hampshire's and Arizona's tax dollars, that old skinflint, Judd Gregg. Thank you, Judd. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your voice of reason. Thank you for standing up against the big-spending -- big spenders in the Democratic Party. This is going to be our bulwark against what the Democrats in the Congress are going to try to increase your spending and increase your taxes. Thank you, Judd Gregg, from the part -- on behalf of everybody in America.

(APPLAUSE)

And I want to say -- I want to say how much I admire and respect my -- the smartest guy in the United States Senate, John Sununu. A guy who understands the issues. A guy who understands a great family man, a great family tradition and the next generation of leadership in this country. You've got to bring him back to Washington, my friends. Get out to vote for John Sununu.

(APPLAUSE)

Could I -- since I am -- I am back here, I'd like to just say, again, my feelings and my warmth and my love for Erin and Jim Flanagan. Erin, whose brother was killed in Iraq, and mentioned it at the first debate we had here in New Hampshire after Labor Day, and of course, Jim and Lynn Savage whose son Matthew Stanley was sacrificed a year ago -- just two years ago just before Christmas. I'm always thinking of them. I'm always with him. I wear Matthew Stanley's bracelet every single day, and I will every single day for the rest of my life. Thank you for their service and sacrifice.

(APPLAUSE)

CROWD: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

MCCAIN: You know, I've learned a lot over the years from the people of this state. And I know one thing for certain, it doesn't matter what the pundits think or how confident my opponent is, the people of New Hampshire make their own decisions and more than once. And more than once they've ignored the polls and the pundits and brought me across the finish line first. I can't think of any place I'd rather be as Election Day draws close than running an underdog campaign in the State of New Hampshire.

(APPLAUSE)

By the way, I see some -- I think some hockey players here. I'll tell Sarah Palin that I met you. One of the great hockey moms in America. My governor -- Sarah Palin, a wonderful person. I'm so proud of the enthusiasm that Sarah Palin has sparked across this country, and I'm proud to have her as my running mate. And I know you're proud of her, too.

(APPLAUSE)

Well, as I said, my opponent's looking pretty confident -- confident these days. He'll be addressing the nation soon. He's got another one of those big-stadium spectacles in the works, but acting like the election is over. It won't let him take away your chance to have the final say in this election.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, every once in a while my opponent gives us a little glimpse of what an Obama presidency would be like in the real world. And last week, his campaign actually found itself on a detour into the real world, in the driveway of Joe the Plumber.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, Joe -- Joe didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house, and he sure didn't ask to be famous, and he certainly didn't ask for the political attacks on him from the Obama campaign. You know, Joe's dream is to own a small business that will create jobs, and the attacks on him are an attack on small businesses all over this nation. (APPLAUSE)

Small businesses employ 84 percent of Americans, and we need to help small businesses and not raise their taxes.

(APPLAUSE)

And as it happened -- as it happened, the Obama tax increase is just what Joe had on his mind. So, Joe showed the Obama traveling press how to ask a tough question. And get an answer instead of just another talking point. Thanks to him, we finally learned what Senator Obama's economic goal is, as he told Joe. Barack Obama wants to, quote, "spread the wealth around!"

In other words -- in other words, Joe and guys like him will earn the wealth. Barack and politicians like him will spread it. Joe -- ,you know, you know, Joe didn't really like that idea much and neither did a lot of other folks who believe that their earnings are their own.

(APPLAUSE)

After all, before government can redistribute wealth, it has to confiscate wealth from those who earned it. And whatever the right word is for that way of thinking, the redistribution of wealth is the last thing America needs right now.

(APPLAUSE)

In these tough economic times, we don't need government spreading the wealth. We need policies that create wealth and spread opportunity.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, it was a candid moment for Senator Obama in the presence of a skeptical voter. And in a campaign as disciplined and careful as my opponent's, the worst missteps come when the candidate says what he really thinks. We've seen this before. We've seen this before. In a debate with Senator Clinton, he was asked why on earth he wanted to raise capital gains taxes when history shows that cutting that tax rate actually yielded more revenue to the government. Rates were cut in the Clinton years. Revenue went up. Rates were cut in the Bush years. Revenue went up.

My opponent's answer was that taxes still had to be raised, quote, "as a matter of fairness." Now, let's think about this very carefully. Let's think about this very carefully. Here we have a case where increases taxes would decrease the funds available for all the spending government does. But Senator Obama insists on a tax hike as a matter of principle and the principle seems to be the redistribution of wealth as an end in itself.

Apparently -- apparently, as my opponent sees it, there is a strict limit to your earnings and wealth, and it's for politicians to decide. The proper amount of wealth is not what you can earn, but what government will let you keep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: All right. Just a little bit of the flavor coming from Senator John McCain's live event in New Hampshire today. I also want to let you know, if you'd like to continue watching what he's saying, you can always do that, just go to CNN.com.

Something else we're talking about here today. An awful lot of states allowing early voting. Some of the lines are pretty long. We're looking at Gwinnett County, which is here in Georgia -- Lawrenceville, Georgia. Do you see some of the liens there? People getting out like early birds before November 4th. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Early bird voters lining up in big number, in 31 states in the District of Columbia. Voters in Florida, Louisiana and Kansas are among those casting pre-Election Day ballots.

Election officials in Florida adding new equipment and updating Web sites with wait times on the third day of early voting there. You can see it. Long lines also being reported in Kansas where early voting began yesterday. Election officials predict more than 30 percent of Kansas voters will cast their ballots early.

And in Louisiana, state election officials say some 34,000 people voted on the first day of early balloting.

Polling stations are packed with early voters. But the boost in turnout could also boost the risk of voting glitches. So, is your vote at risk? Trouble at the polls is part of our day-long focus, tomorrow, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Quickly we want to look at the big board. Well, some of you may want to look at the big board. Some of you may not want to. Right now, and we are only 30 minutes into the trading day. Dow Jones Industrial Averages down about 300 points. You can see it there for yourself. We're watching the numbers very closely. We will have the gizmo, as we call it, bottom right-hand corner of your screen, for the rest of the show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)