Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama Talks Foreign Policy; Problems Reported with Voting Machines; Minnesota Rep.'s Comments Spark Furor
Aired October 22, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Ripley believe it or not.
CALVIN THOMAS, VOTER: I went in there and pushed the Democrat ticket, and it jumped to the Republican ticket on the president of the United States.
PHILLIPS: Ripley, West Virginia, that is. The case of the touchy touch screen. Early problems with early voting.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would.
PHILLIPS: Be careful what you wish for. A Republican congresswoman finds herself in the headlines for denying her own statement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Katrina hit I was living in Washington, D.C. I couldn't believe the pictures that I was looking at.
PHILLIPS: No one could. The difference is, Liz McCartney made a difference. That's what makes her a hero.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We're going to get right to it. Fighting to hold, fighting to take. Thirteen days before November 4, the candidates for president are split on pretty much everything, including strategy.
John McCain in New Hampshire, a state near and dear to his heart, having picked him in its Republican primary twice now. Barack Obama lost the state to Hillary Clinton in this year's Democratic primary, but polls show him ahead of McCain now.
Obama's in Virginia today, a state that hasn't gone blue in a presidential race since 1964. Polls show him ahead there, too. And not only that: he's taking foreign policy, which is usually considered McCain's strong suit. He just spent two days in Florida, where he accused McCain of making stuff up, while, quote "running out of time." Well, Obama's running mate phoned in to that foreign policy event from Colorado. It was Joe Biden, you may recall, who predicted that he and Obama would face a generated crisis from U.S. adversaries within six months of taking office.
Well, this is Biden's second straight day in the state that hosted this year's Democratic convention and where polls show Obama with an edge.
Sarah Palin is using Biden's so-called warning as an attack line. She's in Ohio today, where John McCain will join her later this afternoon.
Now, reliably Republican in past, maybe not this time around, Virginia and Colorado both getting the hard sell today from Barack Obama, and his running mate, Joe Biden.
CNN's Jessica Yellin joins me now live from Richmond -- Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
We are awaiting Barack Obama, who will show up momentarily at this rally. He is fresh from that meeting you just talked about with talk of foreign policy and national security experts. Barack Obama opening a new front on this national security question after focusing so intently on the economy these past few weeks.
He made the argument today that America has to be economically strong at home to be diplomatically strong abroad and to be able to persuade world leaders that the U.S. is still the nation's -- the world's preeminent superpower. Barack Obama trying to link these two issues to shore up any concerns that may exist out there about this national security credentials.
Now he did take on these issues that Joe Biden raised, his running mate. You talked about it just now, when Biden said that Barack Obama will no doubt be challenged, face some sort of test by a foreign crisis within his first few months in office. Here's what Obama had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoever is the next president is going to have to deal with a whole host of challenges internationally, and that a period of transition in a new administration is always one in which we have to be vigil. We have to be careful. We have to be mindful that as we pass the baton in this democracy that others don't take advantage of it. That is true whether it's myself or Senator McCain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And he pointed out, Kyra, that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff himself made this same point in a print interview. He said that whichever man becomes president, there is a good chance that adversaries of the U.S. will take that as an opportunity to try to strike America or test America.
So Barack Obama talking about national security. We do expect him here in his comments, though, to hit home again on his economic message. Again, that has resonated so forcefully here in Virginia and around the nation -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll take it live when it happens. Jessica Yellin, thanks so much.
Now, the big toss-up state, Ohio, plus New Hampshire, they're both in the spotlight today on the Republican side.
CNN's Ed Henry is in Manchester, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John McCain is trailing Barack Obama by eight points here in New Hampshire in the latest CNN poll of polls, but McCain told this crowd at Saint Anselm College that he was also behind in the Republican primaries here in the Granite State, and he staged a dramatic comeback by holding one town hall meeting after another all across this state. He said he's planning to do the same in terms of staging a comeback in the general election.
He needs these four electoral votes. It's not many when you compare it to 27 in Florida, for example, but McCain is behind in so many battleground states all across the country, he needs every electoral vote that he can.
And here in New Hampshire, where they're especially sensitive on the issue of taxes, he's trying to do it by hitting Barack Obama on his comment about spreading the wealth around.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've 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, Joe didn't really like that much, and neither did a lot of other folks who believe that their earnings are their own.
HENRY: Barack Obama has repeatedly pushed back against that attack by saying he's just trying to bring more fairness to the U.S. tax code. But it's clear that John McCain is not going to lay off on this. In the final 13 day, he's going to keep hitting Obama on the tax issue hard.
One interesting bit of color out here on the trail: John McCain drew several hundred people here in Saint Anselm College, but that is much, much smaller when you compare it to what I've been seeing at Sarah Palin rallies in battleground states like Colorado, for example, two days ago. Sarah Palin had something like 10,000 people at one rally that I attended. It's a very interesting barometer at this stage of the campaign, that John McCain is consistently being outdrawn on the campaign trail by his running mate. Ed Henry, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And just days ahead of decision day, John McCain joins CNN's Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." What's his strategy for gaining ground in the home stretch? Find out today, 4:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Well, if you're ready to vote, there's no need to wait, until November 4th, that is. Every state offers early or absentee voting, and we're seeing pretty long waits already, but lines are one thing. Malfunctioning machines are another.
We sent our Brian Todd to rural West Virginia after a number of calls to the CNN voter hotline. Here's what he found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Calvin Thomas has voted in West Virginia since Truman beat Dewey. He's 81 years old now, and his eyesight is deteriorating, but when he tried to vote early in his hometown of Ripley and brought his daughter, Micki Clendenin, into the booth to help him, Thomas' vision wasn't the problem.
THOMAS: I went in there and pushed the Democrat ticket, and it jumped to the Republican ticket on the president of the United States.
TODD: Micki helped her dad touch the screen a couple of times, but his vote for Barack Obama still clicked on John McCain. Then it happened to Mickey. Each time, poll workers had them repeat the process.
MICKI CLENDENIN, VOTER: The lady came in and she just -- she very nicely -- she just said, "Oh." She said, "It's just been doing that. So just hit it again." So we hit it again. And this time it did go to Obama.
TODD: Same thing happened to Bobbi Oates in neighboring Putnam County.
BOBBI OATES, VOTER: When I went to my U.S. senators, I touched Jay Rockefeller. And it put a check mark beside Jay Wolfe, and I'm saying, "No. I didn't do this."
TODD: At least five voters reported the same problem in two West Virginia counties. State and local officials tell us these were isolated cases, that each time poll workers fixed the problem, and the correct vote was cast.
The machines, manufactured by a company called ES&S, will be used in several states this year and were among those that had problems in Ohio in 2004. Company officials tell us they've inspected the machines in West Virginia, and nobody has cast an inaccurate vote. In Ripley, West Virginia, we weren't allowed to film the actual machines that had problems but Jackson County clerk Jeff Waybright took us through the process with an identical machine and zeroed in on what he thinks happened.
JEFF WAYBRIGHT, CLERK, JACKSON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA: I touched on Barack Obama, what they thought they were touching, but their finger possibly rolled up. Now, if I roll my finger down, you can see, that it looks like my finger is definitely on Barack Obama's box.
TODD: We asked Waybright about insinuations in local news reports of political manipulation, since he and the neighboring county clerk are Republican and, in most cases, Democratic votes clicked to a GOP candidate.
WAYBRIGHT: If I was going to, you know, try to manipulate the machine, I wouldn't know how to do it to begin with.
TODD: The West Virginia secretary of state's office told us it thinks the problems could have stemmed from the machines not being calibrated properly when they were being set up. That means essentially that the electronic boxes weren't aligned right.
(on camera) Jeff Waybright disputes that, saying all of his machines here in Jackson County were calibrated perfectly. He believes most of these problems were due to voter error.
Brian Todd, CNN, Ripley, West Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now I mentioned our hotline. Call us if you run into any problems at the polls. Here's the number again. It's 877-462- 6608. We're going to give it to you again later in the hour. We'll try and keep up with those calls.
Also ahead, we're going to check on the voting here in Georgia and next door in Florida. Sean Callebs and Fredricka Whitfield join me live at the half hour.
Well, the economy, issue No. 1 for you, and me and for leaders all over the world. The White House has now set a date for a global summit to be hosted by President Bush and aimed at confronting the worldwide financial crisis. The leaders of the G-20 group of countries will meet on November 15, 11 days after the presidential election.
The White House says it's too early to say if the president-elect will attend. And this is the first in what's expected to be a series of meetings.
Now, those leaders have a tough job ahead, especially when it comes to winning you over. We have a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll that shows the $700 billion U.S. bailout growing less popular with Americans as time goes on. Forty percent favor it now; 56 percent oppose it. Forty-six percent favored it in a poll earlier this month.
Now the poll also shows that 58 percent favor government assistance to homeowners who can't pay their mortgages. But the same number think it's a bad idea for the government to buy stock in struggling companies.
It's apparently a hoax, but the feds are taking it very seriously. They're looking into more than 30 threatening letters sent to banks and federal regulatory offices in eight states and Washington, D.C. The FBI says the letters had a powdery substance and, quote, a threatening communication about the current banking crisis.
Early tests show that the powder is not toxic, but people are still on edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things are going to happen around here, as the world gets worse every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It'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)
PHILLIPS: A law enforcement source tells CNN that most of the letters were sent to branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank. Two other sources say all the letters were postmarked in Amarillo, Texas.
Now on Wall Street, stocks are continuing to sell off as fears over a global economic slowdown and the health of the banking sector come back into play.
Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with more on the day's tumble thus far.
Hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
Well, you know, we had that terrific 400-point rally on Monday. And ever since, stocks have been on a downhill course. It was one trader said this afternoon, you know, the patient had a heart attack. He walked four blocks and now, he's dizzy.
The point is, you know, we still have a lot of major concerns here. That was nice, that rally on Monday. A lot of major concerns. Less about the credit market this week. We do see easing there, but a lot about the depth and duration of this downturn that the economy is in. Not only the U.S. economy, the world's biggest, but the world in general.
And we are getting a lot of corporate earnings that speak to that. Let's talk about financials.
Wachovia Bank. A year ago reported a $2 billion profit; $24 billion loss in the last, most recent quarter. It will likely be Wachovia's last earnings statement before it's taken over by wells Fargo. Wachovia shares are down 3 percent.
And the Dow is down about 3 percent, as well. Right now off 325 points below, at 8,800. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, is down 39 points.
But we've got to talk about some other companies, like Yahoo! shares, for instance, are up 5 percent. Not particularly good news. Yahoo!'s laying off 10 percent of its workforce in order to cut costs. We'll be hearing more of those announcements, I'm afraid, in the weeks and months to come.
Also, Merck in the pharmaceutical space, announcing 10 percent layoff, as well.
The silver lining here, oil prices. Just declining at a breathtaking speed, Kyra. Right now down more than $5. Under $67 a barrel. This year, not that long ago, they were really smart people saying oil was going to go to $200 a barrel this year. Now, below $67 a barrel.
We've got better than expected, more -- better than expected inventory report this morning, and evidence that the contracting economy means less demand for oil. And I think people are just, you know, cutting back. They're changing their lifestyle for all sorts of reasons, Kyra. But that's sort of a stimulus check in and of itself. It costs less these days when you do go to the gas station, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That is the good news. Gas is less. Susan, thanks.
She admits she made a big mistake. But could it cost Congresswoman Michele Bachmann her seat? We'll have a live report on the fallout of Bachmann's anti-American comments about Barack Obama.
It's called Proposition K, and proposition is the operative word. San Franciscans to decide if the world's oldest profession should be legal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: North Carolina Republican congressman is backing off his recent comment that, quote, "liberals hate real Americans." Robin Hayes first denied making the remarks at a recent John McCain rally, and yesterday, he admitted that he's been quoted accurately but that his words, quote, "came out completely wrong."
Hayes says that he was trying to draw a distinction between liberal and conservative philosophies, not question anyone's patriotism.
Now Congressman Hayes isn't the only Republican trying to downplay some recent remarks about Democrats. A Minnesota House member is also trying to explain remarks that appear to question Barack Obama's patriotism.
Here's CNN's Carol Costello.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is spinning -- herself. Last week on MSNBC, she appeared to question Barack Obama's patriotism.
BACHMANN: I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views.
COSTELLO: Three days later in a "Washington Times" online interview. she denied it.
BACHMANN: It is not true. I did not say that. I didn't question Barack Obama's patriotism.
COSTELLO: Last week Bachmann also addressed whether members of Congress were anti-American.
BACHMANN: The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?
COSTELLO: On Monday, she backed off that, too, telling the "Washington Times" she wasn't pushing for an investigation.
BACHMANN: That's an out and out bald-faced lie. I did not say that.
COSTELLO: But her denials have pushed congressional Democrats into overdrive. Bachmann is running for re-election in Minnesota and, thanks to her allegedly anti-liberal comments, Democrats are now flush with cash. They've launched TV ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michele Bachmann may stand alone, but she doesn't stand for you.
COSTELLO: Bachmann's Democratic opponent trailing, by just a few points, is cash happy, too. He's raised $810,000 since Bachmann's comments hit the airwaves.
Political observers are a little surprised by the Democratic backlash. It's not like Bachmann hasn't angered them before. In 2007, she raised eyebrows for reaching out and, touching President Bush after his State of the Union.
BACHMANN: I've been hot.
COSTELLO: And then there was this "hot for God" sermon.
BACHMANN: But when you are hot for Jesus Christ, there is nothing that is like that life. COSTELLO: That spawned an online anti-Bachmann movement. But nothing has roused Minnesota Democrats like Bachmann's alleged charges of liberal anti-Americanism, and some observers say it could lead to her ouster.
DANIEL LIBIT, POLITICO.COM: It's raised her profile to quite a degree, but this was the wrong time to sort of swing for the fences.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And in a statement to CNN Bachmann said, in part, "The congresswoman never called for some House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt, and she never called all liberals anti-America -- anti-American, rather. She says her comments were taken out of context. She was asking legitimate questions about Barack Obama's relationship with '60s radical Bill Ayers and his former pastor, Reverend Wright -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Carol, do you really think that Bachmann could lose her seat over this?
COSTELLO: Well, some observers say she could, because she's given Democrats something to talk about and, you know, she's also given them a way to make money. The Democratic Congressional Committee says it will spend $1 million plastering Minnesota with anti-Bachmann ads.
PHILLIPS: You're always giving someone something to talk about. So thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, it may have seemed like it, but this wasn't a "Saturday Night Live" skit. An antiwar protester attempted, yes, to handcuff and arrest Karl Rove for treason.
Happened yesterday as the former senior aide to President Bush was taking part in a panel discussion in San Francisco. The anti-war group Code Pink says the woman was one of five members protesting the Iraq war during Rove's appearance. There were no arrests, by the way.
Lots of potential kindling here. Unfortunately, the wildfire burning a path through a state forest in southern New Jersey. We'll have more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A big wildfire is burning on both coasts today. You're looking at pictures from Fontana, California, and Hammonton, New Jersey. Fire crews working thousands of miles apart here, but their challenges are the same. Some really gusty winds are pushing both of these blazes. And right now, the Jersey fire has burned at least 1,000 acres, the California fire more than 100. And for the moment, there aren't any homes directly in the line of these fires.
Well, they could really use some rain to help fight those flames, but it's the middle of the country that's pretty stormy. Some places even looking at blizzard conditions, Chad?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The big story, I guess: it's already snowing on some parts of the U.S. Here comes winter, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We like that. We skiers, right?
MYERS: Yes, right.
PHILLIPS: We're ready. We are all set. Chad, thanks.
MYERS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Well, if she'd worn a pink ribbon, pin or bracelet to raise breast cancer awareness, she would have been fine. But this teen let her hair do all the talking, and now it's all tangled up in the school rule book.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's take you live to Richmond, Virginia. Barack Obama just stepping up to the mike for a rally.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
OBAMA: It's good to be back in Virginia. There's just something that I like about Virginia. It must be the people.
It is good to be back in Virginia. And in just 13 days, we can finally bring the change we need to Washington.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, that's the good news. But we're going to have to work. We're going to have to struggle. We're going to have to fight every single one of those 13 days to move this country in a new direction.
Now, I'm hopeful about the outcome. We were thrilled this weekend when a great American statesman, General Colin Powell, joined our cause.
(APPLAUSE)
But we can't let up, and we won't let up. Because one thing we know is that change never comes without a fight. The final days of the campaign, the say anything, do anything politics too often takes over. You know, we've seen it before. We're seeing it again right now -- the ugly phone calls, the misleading mail and TV ads, the careless, outrageous comments. All aimed at dividing us, all aimed at keeping us from working together, all aimed at stopping change. You know what we need right now is not misleading charges, we don't need divisive attacks. What we need is honest leadership. What we need is real change. What we need are policy ideas to move this country forward, and that's why I'm running for president of the United States of America. (APPLAUSE)
Now -- now more than ever this campaign has to be about solving problems, the problems facing the American people. Because this a moment of great uncertainty for America. The economic crisis we face is the worst since the Great Depression. Businesses large and small are finding it impossible to get loans, which means they can't buy new equipment or hire new workers or even make payroll for the workers they have. We've lost more than 750,000 jobs this year. Wages are lower than they've been in a decade. At the same time, the cost of everything from healthcare to college have never been higher. It's harder to save. It's harder to retire. It's harder to make the mortgage or fill up your gas tank, or even keep electricity on at the end of the month.
Now, at this rate the question isn't just, how -- whether you're better off than were you four years ago. The question is, are you better off than you were four weeks ago?
(APPLAUSE)
So I know these are difficult times, and I know folks are worried, but I believe we can steer ourselves out of this crisis because I believe in you. I believe in the American people. We are the United States of America. We're a nation that's faced down war and depression, great challenges and great threats. And in each and every moment we have risen to meet these challenges, not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as Americans, with resolve, with confidence --
(APPLAUSE)
-- with that fundamental belief that here in America, our destiny is not written for us, it's written by us. We decide. That's who we are. That's the country we need to be right now. But Virginia it's going to take a new direction, it's going take new leadership, it's going to take a real change in the policies and politics of Washington. That's what this election is all about.
Now, John McCain's doing his best to change the subject. Now, he wants to distract attention from the economy. Senator McCain's campaign actually said a couple weeks ago, they were going to launch a series of attacks on my character, because, and I quote, "if we keep on talking about the economy, we're going to lose." Now, that's a promise that my opponent has kept. He's been on the attack...
PHILLIPS: Barack Obama live in Richmond, Virginia. If want to continue to watch this live, you can go to CNN.com/live. Meanwhile, we'll monitor it for you.
Meanwhile, democracy in action -- OK, democracy in slow motion. Long lines for early voting in Florida and Georgia. Election Day well under way as every state offers earlier absentee voting leading up to November 4th. Today is actually our last chance to cast -- that day, rather, is actually our last chance to cast ballots.
Now, in the first two days of early voting in Florida more than 150,000 voters had their say. Now keep in mind, no ballots will actually be counted in Florida, or anywhere else, until election night. But this is day three and CNN's Sean Callebs is in the south Florida city of Plantation.
Sean, any new problems?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, really no problems, per se. But if you look down this line, this is what people are having to cope with all throughout Florida. And I don't mean my guy jumping in front of the camera, what I mean is people are having to wait a decent amount of time to get in and cast their ballots.
These folks, you've been here -- what -- about an hour, hour and a half?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: An hour and a half.
CALLEBS: About an hour and a half. So that's what we're seeing.
Now, here's the reason. One, on Election Day, November 4th, there will be 300 polling stations open here in Broward County. The early voting, there are only 17 precincts. So that's -- what -- about 5 percent are opened. So these people could be from anywhere within Broward County, say --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plantation --
CALLEBS: -- Plantation, Fort Lauderdale. And they're going to be voting for different candidates. So what we have to do, when people go inside, they have to have paper ballots printed out. There are only two printers in each of the 17 precincts open. And we've talked to some of the folks.
We chatted with you. Any frustration about waiting this long in line? Do you think people across the country look and say, oh, boy, long lines, here is Florida again, another 2000?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I'm a patriotic citizen and I want to vote and I'm here to vote, so I don't care how long I have to wait.
CALLEBS: What about you, sir? How long have you been waiting? Has this been worth it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For an hour.
CALLEBS: One hour. And you'll wait very patiently?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CALLEBS: And what we're hearing from folks is, you know what? The sun isn't out today, it's not painfully hot today, so people are waiting. They're talking, getting through this, going to cast their ballot.
And they expect it's actually going to get worse, Kyra, before Election Day. So this is as good as it's going to get, according to Florida election officials -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking it with you.
Sean Callebs, thank you so much.
Now the lines are long for early voters this hour in parts of Georgia as well. Early voting is popular here, and almost 15 percent of the state voters have already cast their ballots.
Fredricka Whitfield is standing by for us outside the Gwinnett County elections office just north of Atlanta.
How's it over there, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, or hear from you, Kyra.
We're about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta here in Gwinnett County. And if you had only, say, a one-hour lunch break and expected to actually get here, cast your ballot and get back to the office, forget it. You're going to need about two hours because it's going to take you about two hours just to stand in line to get to this point. These folks here that you're seeing right now, they have already waited in line about an hour.
But let me give you an idea of how long this line is. Take a look right over here. See that tree -- way back there? That's the end of the line. Two hours from that point, get to an hour to this point, and then you finally get your way inside.
Folks are doing this because they want to take advantage of a first-time only for Georgia marker, which means that anyone who wants to vote can vote early. Whereas in the past, you usually had to have an excuse, et cetera. This year, it's something different. And already 700,000 people have taken advantage of this early voting.
Let's find out exactly why some of the folks are standing in line here.
Two hours in all. Is that a big deal for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really. It's worth it.
WHITFIELD: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes because we need a change. So it's just better to be here.
WHITFIELD: You expect the lines would have been much longer come Election Day if you didn't take advantage of this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes. Sure. It's going to be way longer. I remember four years ago, it was way out there so I decided to come in early.
WHITFIELD: All right, very good. All right. Well what were your impressions, sir, when you came out here and saw this long line through the parking lot? Surprise?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes I'm surprised, but I was going to do it tomorrow, but I went ahead and did it today.
WHITFIELD: And you feel good about that? You're half way, you're at the half way point now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes I'm going to go ahead and wait it out.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very good.
All right. And already some of the polling station workers have come out. They've given folks an idea exactly what to do once they get inside. They're touch screens, and they're out here in line with clip boards. See this young lady is picking up the clip boards. Folks are filling out their forms to prove their eligibility of registration.
Let's talk to some more folks here about why exactly you decided to come out early and vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to be busy on Election Day. So I decided to go ahead and get it done early.
WHITFIELD: Is this your first time voting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.
WHITFIELD: Yes, you look kind of young. All right, so how does it feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a normal day.
WHITFIELD: All right, you'll feel better once you actually cast your ballot.
All right, Kyra, so there's a taste of why folks have come out in huge numbers, standing in line to vote early, take advantage of this for at least another week.
PHILLIPS: Are you going to take advantage of this? Are you going to vote? Did you vote?
WHITFIELD: Well, I don't -- I will. I don't live in Gwinnett County. I live in Dekalb County, and I will be taking advantage of it. And I understand that it's about a two-hour wait no matter what county you're in in Georgia. So, hurry up and wait.
PHILLIPS: All right. Yes exactly. Story of our lives.
Fred, thanks.
Well John McCain sat down for an extended interview with our Wolf Blitzer today. You can see their conversation on "THE SITUATION ROOM" starting at 4:00 Eastern. And one of the things that they talk about -- Colin Powell's decision to endorse Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Colin Powell was pretty biting in his criticism. He said you were a little unsure of how to deal with the economic crisis, you seem to have, he said, a different approach every day. He sensed you didn't have a complete grasp of the economic crisis the American people are going through right now.
I wonder if you'd like to respond to Secretary Powell?
MCCAIN: I respect General Powell, but I respectfully disagree. I especially disagree when he said -- the comments he made about Governor Palin, the most popular governor in America. The governor knows energy issues, $40 billion dollar pipeline, reformer, took on the governor of her own party -- and I hope that sometime General Powell will take the time out of his busy schedule to meet with her. I know she'd be pleased to meet with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: You can watch Wolf's complete interview with John McCain later today in "THE SITUATION ROOM," 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Which candidate has the right prescription for American's ailing healthcare system? Senators Obama and McCain are giving doctors a look at the details of their plans. Medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has been checking out all the details.
So let's go ahead and start with the basics of both plans. I have a lot of people that even ask me about these plans, and sometimes I have a hard time explaining the difference between the two.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is extremely complicated. There is no question.
But both senators tried to make it clear in this week's "Journal of the American Medical Association." They wrote the articles themselves, under their names, about what their plans would be.
Here's what Senator McCain plans -- a $2,500 tax refund for individuals, $5,000 for families, for health insurance related expenses. Also, insurance would follow you from job to job under Senator McCain's plan. And also, he would have a plan for people with pre-existing conditions who often have trouble finding insurance.
Now let's look at Senator Obama's plan. His plan is a little bit different and puts a little more of the onus on employers. First of all, he would require coverage for all children by expanding many of the federal programs and other programs that are already out there. He would also require employers to make meaningful, his word, contributions to their employees health insurance, because not all employers do make contributions, or he would require those employers to contribute a percentage of the payroll to a national plan so that those employees would be part of a national plan.
So those are the bullet points. You could write a Phd thesis on this, on either plan. But those are the big highlights.
PHILLIPS: I'm sure doctors all across the country have their idea of what should be involved in these plans and how it should be laid out, what needs to be done.
COHEN: Right. They do, and they have, in an editorial in the "Journal of the American Medical Association." They say doctors should have more authority and we should set up a commission.
PHILLIPS: All right. There you go.
Thank you.
COHEN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: End of story, bottom line.
COHEN: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Well thousands of you sent us names of your heroes, people who help the homeless, start literacy programs, or help disaster victims. Now, a blue ribbon panel has narrowed the list of heroes for 2008 down to 10 honorees. And here on CNN NEWSROOM I'm going to introduce you to each one of them. Here they are.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES EARL JONES, NARRATOR: The 2008 CNN Hero Honorees. They all dared to make a difference.
TAD AGOGLIA, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I put together a crew that stays on the road 12 months out of the year to respond to disasters all over America free of charge.
MARIE DA SILVA, CNN HERO NOMINEE: My mission is to educate AIDS orphans in Malawi.
YOHANNES GEBREGEORGIS, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I'm bringing literacy to the children of Ethiopia.
ANNE MAHLUM, CNN HERO NOMINEE: We use running to help the homeless move forward.
DAVID PUCKETT, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I bring artificial limbs and orthopedic braces for those in need to Mexico.
LIZ MCCARTNEY, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I'm helping families rebuild in St. Bernard Parrish.
CAROLYN LECROY, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I started the (INAUDIBLE) project so that incarcerated parents can keep in touch with their kids.
PHYMEAN NOUN, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I recruit children from this dump to attend school at my organization.
MARIA RUIZ, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I crossed the border to help people in (INAUDIBLE).
VIOLA VAUGHN, CNN HERO NOMINEE: I came to Senegal from Detroit, Michigan. I started a girls' education and self-sufficiency program.
JONES: Your vote will help one become the CNN hero of the year. Vote now -- CNN.com/heroes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, like many Americans, CNN hero Liz McCartney was horrified when she saw the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, she was so touched by the situation that she and her boyfriend packed everything up and they moved from Washington, D.C. to help out those in Louisiana. CNN hero, Liz McCartney, and her boyfriend, Zack Rosenburg, joining me now live from New Orleans. Together they founded the St. Bernard Project. We're going to talk about it.
Great to see you both.
MCCARTNEY: Thanks for having us on the show, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well --
ZACK ROSENBURG, CO-FOUNDER, ST. BERNARD PROJECT: Thanks so much.
PHILLIPS: It's great to have you.
Liz, let's just start with you. You were watching the news, you were seeing all these images. What was it that you saw specifically where you thought, OK, I have to do something and change my life here for others?
MCCARTNEY: Well I came down about six months after the storm with Zack my mom to come down and volunteer for a little while. And when I came down here I was totally unprepared for both what I saw and the people that I met. I met good, hard-working Americans who owned their homes, who paid taxes and before the storm who had essentially done everything right, who, for the first time in their lives, were homeless, were waiting in line for food and who really needed a hand up.
PHILLIPS: Why did you care, Liz?
MCCARTNEY: You know, it's -- I met a lot of people who reminded me of my parents, my grandparents, my friends' parents. People, like I said, who for the first time in their lives really needed some help. And I figured I could either go home and move on with my life and be a part of the problem, or I could move back down here with Zack and be a part of the solution.
PHILLIPS: So Zack, when she came to you and told you her idea, did you think she was crazy and lost her mind? Or you were like, OK, let's go? ROSENBURG: Oh, well, you know, it's clearly the right thing to do. I think Liz was convinced that our place in this world is to help others and be useful and solve problems. So we both thought it was the right thing to do right off the bat.
PHILLIPS: And Liz, you mentioned that this, when were you there, it reminded you a lot of your parents. I know your mom is your hero.
What is it about her that you've admired so much your whole life that's sort of given you this heart for giving to others?
MCCARTNEY: My mom is a great person. She's warm and she's very generous. And I think there are a couple of things that I learned from my mom that we certainly apply here in St. Bernard in the New Orleans area when we're building homes.
The first is that sometimes the right thing isn't always the most popular thing. My mom for many years was nurse mid-wife and fought for women's health and access to good heathcare. And the second thing is that you want to treat your clients like you'd want your family members to be treated. And that's another lesson that I learned from her that we certainly apply every day out here.
PHILLIPS: Now a lot of people think you have to have a lot of money to give a lot of money. So Zack, how were you guys able to figure out how to afford to do this? Did you cash everything in? Sell everything? How did you do it?
ROSENBURG: Kyra, I wish we had something to cash in. We didn't.
You know, you figure out real quick what is important. And what we saw is, you know, things that we needed to live our life after we were in St. Bernard for a month volunteering. We realized that that's luxuries that's all superfluous to what's really important.
So we trimmed back some expenses. I commuted the first year back and forth from D.C., so I kept a fair amount of my law practice. But it's tough to you know, focus on the luxuries for yourselves when there are good hard-working people in need. It wasn't a tough decision really at all for us.
PHILLIPS: Wow. That's pretty amazing. We're looking at the before and after --
ROSENBURG: You could do it, too, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Hey, believe me -- I hear -- you know, I'm very lucky. I feel like I have a lot of power to do things in this position. And believe me, charity, I am about that and love to give. And meeting guys like you and couples like you are tremendously inspiring. I mean, I was even thinking about the two of you as a couple.
I mean, Liz and Zack, both chime in on this, the fact that you are giving together, you're doing this as a couple. Has it just completely strengthened your relationship? MCCARTNEY: Yes, it's probably one of the best and most challenging things that we've ever done. It is really a joy to get to work with Zack everyday. He's really talented, he's a visionary . He works really hard, he's a great role model. And in many ways, you know, he's really my -- in addition to my mom -- my other hero. So I feel really lucky.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now Zack, your turn. Tell me what's so amazing about that beautiful woman sitting next to you.
ROSENBURG: Is this an hour-long show, or two-hour long show?
PHILLIPS: Oh, good answer. Well, wait a minute. Let me see how I can interpret that?
ROSENBURG: No, -- exactly the right way. I think that we don't have the time to list the many ways. But it'd awesome, you know?
Partnership is about being a partner and we're able to get this done both as partners together. But kind of there are other hero and Liz, I know, keeps talking about this. The real heroes that we think, we think are the residents of St. Bernard, the leaders of St. Bernard who are voting for people over property.
You know, people in St. Bernard could have lived in other parts of the country. But they're choosing to come back because of very important American values. They place value in the family and being near their family. And we are really glad that the St. Bernard project is able to reinforce those very important family values in America.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's get the plug for stbernardproject.org. That's your web site. Once again, stbernardproject.org. You can give money, you can support what Liz and Zack are doing. You are both our CNN Heroes.
Thanks so much for sharing your time with me, guys.
MCCARTNEY: Thanks, Kyra.
ROSENBURG: Well, thank you. And we hope you can join us down there sometime. You'll love our clients.
PHILLIPS: You know what? I'm going to be there in a couple of weeks. So, I'm going to look you up. You can guarantee that.
MCCARTNEY: That will be terrific. Come on down.
ROSENBURG: Sounds good.
PHILLIPS: OK. See you guys soon.
MCCARTNEY: Thank you.
ROSENBURG: Thanks, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Well, don't forget to vote for your favorite hero at CNN.com/heroes. There are some pretty amazing choices. And here on the CNN NEWSROOM, we're going to profile each one of them live, until the big night. Anderson Cooper will announce the winner at an all- star tribute right here on CNN, Thanksgiving night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 4 billion. That's an estimate of how many trees are cut down year for paper products. Gentleman, put down your chain saws. Because the Plastic Logic eReader is almost here.
RICHARD ARCHULETA, CEO, PLASTIC LOGIC: The device is kind of very thin, very light. It is about the size and weight of a pad of paper.
PLEITGEN: Due out next year the eReader says so long to all of those piles of paper.
ARCHULETA: It works by taking anything that you would normally print out or read on paper, like a newspaper or magazine, and transfers them from either computer or wirelessly to the device so that you can read them.
PLEITGEN: At a one of a kind production facility in Dresdon, Germany, Nanotech is saving mother nature. Where an environmentally friendly process create the new e-paper's unique, flexible plastic design. And with the swipe of the thumb, Plastic Logic hopes to usher in a green reading revolution.
ARCHULETA: No more cutting down trees, mass production of paper. No big printing presses. And of course, no big trucks distributing the paper.
PLEITGEN: An estimated 1.7 billion people read one of these everyday. Plastic Logic has its way, selling a few e-readers might just save a few of these.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
