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Election Countdown Continues; Obama Infomercial; Oil Down, Global Stock Markets Up; Berlin's Tempelhof Airport Closes
Aired October 30, 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: Their race for the White House. Their concerns for your house. Just five days to go now. We'll check out candidates' housing policies.
Plus put a mirror to our economy that shows a pretty unsightly face. How will the new report impact Wall Street and you?
It's Thursday, October 30th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
They are racing against the clock. Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain turning his full attention to the swing state of Ohio today. Big rally on tap for next hour. We will take you there, of course.
McCain running mate, Governor Sarah Palin, starts off in Missouri. She'll wind up in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Senator Obama on the go in delegate-rich Florida then he pays another visit to Virginia before rallying voters in Missouri. His running mate, Senator Joe Biden, already there. He moves on to Pennsylvania before the day is through.
Senator Obama getting ready for his first rally of the day in Sarasota, Florida. A new CNN/"TIME"/Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows him with a slim lead over McCain, 4 percentage points, in fact.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Sarasota this morning.
So, Suzanne, why so much attention on Florida this time around? Need we ask?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You barely -- you don't even need to ask. I mean, obviously, it is so important, Florida, as you know, and really the I-4 court of those 12 counties could make all of the difference. That is central Florida.
That is where Barack Obama is today. And I want to tell you about Sarasota, because this really kind of gives you a good picture of where the voters are. 45 percent of voters here in Sarasota, Republican, 33 percent Democrat.
But if you take a look at early voting, Democrats outnumber Republicans by about a thousand votes or so. This since the tally taken on Thursday. And the people here have not voted for a Democratic president since 1944. But if those numbers continue to go that way when it comes to early voting, this definitely could skew in Obama's favor. And that is why, Heidi, it is all about just getting people to come out and vote, vote early. And it's all about Barack Obama just simply showing up here, being here to try to rally those troops, to try to make that happen.
That is what they're trying to do today -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So what are the impressions about the infomercial that he aired last night? What are people saying about it now this morning?
MALVEAUX: It's really interesting, because a couple of things that really stand out that struck me -- one of the things, obviously, is the fact that there was no John McCain in anywhere of those 30 minutes, no visuals, no mention of him.
Barack Obama really taking a different type of tone going directly to the viewers, when he narrated those vignettes of folks who are struggling and what they were going through. He offered these solutions, the things that he says he would do as president, obviously, a very empathetic tone, a very different and kind of maybe the aggressiveness just here on the campaign trail between the two candidates.
I want you to take a quick listen to part of that infomercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that shift jobs overseas.
Help home owners who are making a good faith effort to pay mortgages by freezing foreclosures for 90 days and just like after 9/11, we'll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open.
None of that grows government. It grows the economy and keeps people on the job.
This is what we can do right now to restore fairness to the American economy and fulfill our commitments to the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Heidi, you see it there. The tone is really empathetic, reassuring, trying to counter the image that John McCain has presented of someone who is dangerous or distant or risky.
And also notable here is really they are trying to portray kind of a post-John McCain, post-election world, where it is Barack Obama who not only seems presidential but is presenting himself, as the president, this is what he would do -- Heidi?
COLLINS: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux for us in Sarasota this morning. All right, Suzanne, thank you.
So what are voters thinking right now in those crucial swing states? These new numbers out just about three hours ago. Again a CNN/"TIME"/Opinion Research Corporation Poll, it shoes John McCain maintaining lead in his home state of Arizona, 53-46 percent. Barack Obama holds a seven-point advantage in Nevada, 52-45 percent. And he leads in North Carolina, 52 to 46 percent.
The presidential race still neck and neck in Ohio where only four points separate the candidates. As you can see, Obama has a comfortable 12-point lead in the state of Pennsylvania.
Senator John McCain, fighting to turn the tide, begins today in Defiance, Ohio. He's focuses on getting his message out any way he can.
Here now, our Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): John McCain knows he can't compete with Barack Obama's blockbuster bank account that bought 30 minutes of primetime TV, but he can mock it.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His first address to the nation, an infomercial -- by the way, I will never delay the start of the World Series for an infomercial.
BASH: And McCain's advisers admit he can't match the enormous Florida crowds Obama will draw, so he didn't try. Instead small targeted events, a modest Miami rally with a message for the critical Cuban community.
MCCAIN: I'll sit down and talk with one of the Castro brothers. I'll sit down with him right after they empty the political prison, right after they have free elections.
BASH: A national security meeting in veteran-rich Tampa with a warning.
MCCAIN: The question is, whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and other grave threats in the world, and he has given you no reason to answer in the affirmative.
BASH: But McCain's big push for attention was suddenly bringing up a six-month-old article describing a 2003 dinner Obama attended with friend and Palestinian scholar Rashid Khalidi.
McCain says 1960s radical William Ayers was there. The "L.A. Times" has a tape of the dinner but says releasing it would violate a source agreement.
Calling Khalidi a PLO spokesman, McCain went on Miami radio to demand the tape be made public. MCCAIN: I guarantee you, if there was a tape with me and Sarah Palin and some neo Nazi or one of those, you think that that tape wouldn't be made public?
BASH: And in Ohio, Palin joined in, saying guests at that dinner were critical of Israel.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Among other things, Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism, instead of the victim. What we don't know -- what we don't know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he now professes to support.
BASH (on camera): Khalidi has denied he was ever a PLO spokesman. And back in May, Obama told a group of Jewish voters he knows Khalidi disagrees with some of Israeli's policies and the two are friends but he is not an adviser.
Now an Obama spokesman said that McCain is trying to manufacture a controversy. I asked a McCain aide why they're bringing this up now and he responded because Obama may be elected president in one week.
Dana Bash, CNN, Maumee, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Turning now to your money. International markets have surged overnight. Will Wall Street follow a little bit later on this hour? We hope so.
In Asia, though, markets in Hong Kong and Japan both soared, ending the day more than 9 percent higher.
Also positive news across Europe. Markets in Britain, France and Germany have been a bit higher this morning. The rallying markets are pushing up the price of oil from its 17-month low. Just yesterday prices jumped nearly $5 a barrel.
So where is Wall Street headed? There may be clues in new numbers released this morning. CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis is in New York this morning to tell us a little bit more about that.
All right, so we have GDP here to talk about at least, right?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. Gross Domestic Product, that's the broadest measure of the economy's health. And guess what, it's not too healthy.
Just as economists expected the number is negative, it's down. The economy is contracting by 3/10 of a percent. Economists, though, were a little bit more negative. They said it would contract by 0.5 percent. So as you can see, the economy contracting -- it's really confirming, I think, Heidi, what a lot of folks out there are simply feeling about the economy.
That they doesn't feel like it's growing, leading the way here, important number in this report from the government, consumer spending down 3 percent. And that's the biggest decline in 28 years. Really big number there.
Net exports grew. I know a lot of economists were watching that as well. Business investment down as well. And I want to tell you a little more about how the market may be thinking about this.
COLLINS: Yes.
WILLIS: You know yesterday the Federal Reserve cut rates by half a point, half a percentage point. You know we saw the economy in Asia and elsewhere rally overnight. Hong Kong, Taiwan, also cut their rates.
And today, you see the Dow, the NASDAQ, S&P futures all on a ride here, all looking like they're going to have a big gain. This could be a great day in the market, possibly, but I have to tell you, some of these futures aren't really predictive of what happens later in the day.
One other big piece of news for you here, Heidi. ExxonMobil, one of the world's biggest oil players...
COLLINS: Right.
WILLIS: They have set their third quarter profits. They say they're going to make $14.83 billion for the quarter. Very big...
COLLINS: $14.8 billion.
WILLIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Got it.
WILLIS: Very big number. Very big number. And, you know, it just contrasts sharply with what we're seeing in the GDP report here. The economy is a whole shrinking and, of course, we haven't seen a negative report on GDP since the fourth quarter of last year.
COLLINS: Yes.
WILLIS: You know we got propped up by all this money from the federal government but that doesn't seem to be continuing now.
COLLINS: No, it doesn't. All right, Gerri, we'll be watching all these numbers. Thanks so much, Gerri Willis...
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: ... for us out of New York this morning.
Well, some good news here, though. The drought over for the Phillies and the city of Philadelphia. Phillies finishing off the Tampa Bay Rays in the completion of Monday's suspended game.
It is only the second World Series title in Phillies' history. Their first since 1980. Celebrations still going on the streets as you might imagine. Thousands of fans cheering the city's first major championship in a quarter century.
Police say they did make some arrests in the aftermath but are not saying how many.
Rob Marciano standing by now. So, what do you think?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I -- you know, what better way to celebrate than have a chilis -- a Philly cheesesteak.
COLLINS: Yes, I thought you were bringing those in.
MARCIANO: Well, 9:00 in the morning, it's a little tough product to come by.
COLLINS: Well, come on. (INAUDIBLE)
MARCIANO: Maybe one of your little assistants. You don't have an assistant. What am I saying?
COLLINS: Yes, I got nothing. I got nothing.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: And if you're kind enough to stick around and have me back on the show, Heidi...
COLLINS: Of course.
MARCIANO: ... we've been working feverishly to crank out the Halloween graphics.
COLLINS: Oh I can't wait.
MARCIANO: A trick-or-treat forecast is upcoming. So stick around.
COLLINS: Excellent. What a tease, too. Very good.
Rob, we'll check back a little bit later on.
MARCIANO: OK.
COLLINS: Thanks.
MARCIANO: You bet.
COLLINS: They are fighting for the White House and keep you in your house. What the candidates want to do for troubled homeowners.
ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The nation's money crisis. Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their homes. But now some help may be on the way. Today the Treasury Department is expected to unveil a $50 billion rescue. It could help some 3 million struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. The money comes from the $700 million bailout plan that was passed earlier this month. Details of the mortgage rescue still being worked out.
So what's behind the housing crisis? Here are the numbers. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, more than 4 million homeowners are at least one month behind in their payments.
A half million have entered into foreclosure. Nearly 1/4 of homeowners owe more on their loans than their homes are actually worth.
And just minutes from now, a closer look at the mortgage rescue plan. Personal financial editor Gerri Willis has been looking at it. She's going to break it all down for us coming up at the bottom of the hour.
"Ten Issues in Ten Days." We are counting down to Election Day, with a look at the issues that matter the most to you. Today, we are talking about housing.
Senator Obama proposes a $10 billion foreclosure prevention fund. Senator McCain wants to spend 300 billion to buy bad mortgages from banks and homeowners.
Obama supports maintaining the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in guaranteeing mortgages. McCain supports government aid to prevent the collapse of Fannie and Freddie.
Obama supports -- allowed -- allowing troubled homeowners to refinance with loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. McCain backs a so-called home plan that converts bad mortgage loans into loans -- low-interest loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
Lots to think about there from both the candidates.
From putting a lid on loose nukes to tightening the borders to keep out terrorists, we will set our sights on homeland security for tomorrow. What will the candidates do to keep you safe?
The problems, the plans, "Ten Issues in Ten Days," only right here on CNN.
Straight party voting. Some voters say they've been thrown a curve. We're going to sort it all up for you in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: OK. So thousands of you have actually been calling the CNN voter hotline with concerns that your votes might not count.
Our Josh Levs is taking a closer look at these problems and joining me now with complaints about straight party voting.
What's the deal here, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this one's really interesting. Some states across the country allow voters to click one box and automatically vote for a whole list of either Democrats or Republicans. This is what a caller told our hotline.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I received an e-mail saying that if I voted straight Democratic, that the presidential vote would not count, because there's some kind of glitch in Pennsylvania in the -- from the machines, when you push straight Democratic.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LEVS: So we looked into this for Gwen. Now election officials in Pennsylvania said that they've actually gotten a lot of calls like that. And they say it's false. Your vote will count.
But, Heidi, other states have had issues involving straight party voting, too.
Let's look at this graphic here. In Santa Fe, County, New Mexico when they were testing their machines, choosing the straight party ticket did not log a vote for president. Officials tell us that (INAUDIBLE).
In North Carolina the presidential vote is separate and some voters don't realize that you have to click separately in that race.
In Oklahoma the ballot is broken into four categories, so you have to go do that straight party voting separately in each category. Election officials say it's been that way for year. So it can be confusing.
And in Missouri they actually dropped straight party voting all together. So the voting process there is taking a little longer.
Now, Heidi, what all this means in the end is it's a sign that voters have to careful and check that final screen listing your vote. We're told that, for example, in Texas some people did straight party voting and they went through the ballot anyway and clicked each race just to make sure it's what they wanted.
But what they were actually doing was mistakingly -- mistakenly, rather, deselecting all their earlier votes.
COLLINS: See...
LEVS: ... which is the exact opposite of what they wanted. You know, and apparently screens will mostly pop up and say hey, you're taking that one away. Is that really what you want to do? But again, voters need to be really careful -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So wait, any idea -- did that screen not come up?
LEVS: Well, apparently, we don't know in those particular cases that we've heard about from Texas but we are told by the manufacturer and election officials that that should happen. So that's how much we got on that thing so far.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes. Well, all right, so obviously, it might be a good idea, Josh, to remind people how to reach the CNN voter hotline.
LEVS: Yes. I mean more than 15,000 already. We want to keep hearing from you through the election and after. If you have any trouble at the polls, call us, voter hotline, you know, to help us track the problem.
We're going to report them in real time. It's 877-462-6608. We are, of course, keeping them honest all the way through the election and beyond, Heidi. We'll be here doing this for a while. Because who knows how much we'll hear next week, you know?
COLLINS: Hopefully it will be over on Tuesday, Tuesday night. Yes.
LEVS: Yes. But not questions about the problems. So that hotline will keep going.
COLLINS: That's true. That's true.
All right, Josh. Thanks so much for that.
LEVS: Thanks a lot.
COLLINS: Going beyond the presidential race to important issues at the state level now. Voters in 36 states have ballot issues to answer. We've been looking at some of those this week. It's our own top ten list, in fact.
We're down to number four. So look at this. A new adoption law in Arkansas, act number deals with unmarried adults. The measure says unmarried couples cannot adopt kids or become foster parents.
The group pushing the measure says they're fighting what they call a homosexual agenda. Arkansas voters approved the gay marriage ban four years ago.
Now to number three on our list, the controversial name change. In San Francisco, voters can choose to change the name of the area's Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
Not surprisingly, Proposition R was dreamed up by a couple of guys in a bar. So they got enough petition signatures to get it on the ballot.
We'll get to the top two tomorrow plus a recap of all 10 for you.
She had to clear her name before she could actually cast her ballot. A victim of identity theft finally gets to vote. We'll tell you all about that shortly.
Meanwhile, write this down. We have our first presidential results and the winner is George Strait. Country Music Television asked fans to choose which country star would make best president. George strait won 23 percent of the vote. Probably a man day. He's the choice of Red State and Gen X of voters.
Reba McEntire to blue state flag there with 22 percent. She's also leading with women and younger voters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Well, we're coming off another volatile day on Wall Street. Some people getting pretty used to that.
Dow showed a nearly 300-point gain late in the session. But 12 minutes later ended the day down 74 points.
Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange now with a preview of today's market action. I have so much fun talking to you now because we just have absolutely no idea what's going to happen.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean, who carries what happens, you know? The market is going to change 25 times before the closing bell.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: And yesterday, even by this month's extraordinary standards was just a breathtaking move, Heidi. I can't tell you, we thought we're going to have back-to-back rallies, you know, for once -- first time in a month.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: And then the Dow -- evaporates, 300 points gained to a loss of 74 points. It' was just astonishing.
Here's -- here's today's opening bell. Yesterday was all about the Fed, the Federal Reserve slashing its key rates, 1 percent overnight. Hong Kong, Taiwan followed suit.
Today we see evidence of why the central bank took that action for the second time this month. The first reading on third quarter GDP shows the U.S. economy, the biggest in the world, contracted at a pace of 0.3 percent as Americans cut back on spending by the biggest amount in 28 years.
GDP, of course, is the broadest measure of economic growth and today's report is the strongest sign yet that we're in a recession. But Wall Street was expecting worse. So stocks are rising today. Triple digit gains as the open. Imagine that?
Also helping, a report showing new jobless claims were unchanged last week. They are high, they're at a high level but they were unchanged. On the earnings front, also very high. ExxonMobil, posting record-breaking profits. The oil giant earned nearly $15 billion in three months. Exxon benefited from what else? Oil prices...
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... which reached record highs from last quarter, but guess what? Should be a different story this quarter for Exxon and lots of other oil companies because oil is trading right now under $68 a barrel.
Royal Dutch following suit with Exxon, Europe's largest oil company earned nearly $8.5 billion in the last quarter, an increase of more than 20 percent from the year before.
Checking the numbers, the Dow Industrials up 200 points.
COLLINS: I know. Well...
LISOVICZ: The NASDAQ is up 2.5 percent as well. Oil not doing much.
COLLINS: OK. Well, we'll keep the gizmo, as I like to call it, up right down there in the...
LISOVICZ: Keep the gizmo. Keep it on all of the time.
COLLINS: Lower right-hand side of the screen there for everybody who...
LISOVICZ: Tomorrow is Halloween. It feels like every day this month has...
COLLINS: Boy.
LISOVICZ: We've been celebrating that month -- that day.
COLLINS: Great point. So trick-or-treat for the moment looks pretty good.
LISOVICZ: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Susan. We'll check back later. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Homeowners in crisis. Teetering on the brink of foreclosure. Now new hope for millions of struggling Americans. A federal plan being unveiled today that could save their homes.
Details from CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Wills joining us once again from New York.
OK, Gerri, so a lot of people wondering what exactly is going to happen with this plan. $50 billion here.
WILLIS: Well, I wish I could say, you know, absolutely every detail, but we're only getting reports of it now. Fascinating details, this will be the fourth from the administration so far.
This is a plan to $500 billion -- a plan to save $500 billion in home loans. People in these mortgage loans that are toxic would get help. It will cover up to 3 million struggling homeowners. The cost is estimated at $50 billion according to reports we're seeing this morning.
How it would work? The specifics of this still really sort of up in the air. We're not really sure. It could be that interest rates could be frozen. It could be that some of the debt could actually be forgiving.
We're waiting to hear what that would be. This coming out of the FDIC. Sheila Bair, who's been an outspoken proponent of helping homeowners.
You know the big complain about what the administration has done today is that, you know, it's really gone to help financial institutions and not the homeowners who are struggling with some of these loans that have been very, very difficult to repay.
Let's take a look at what the government has provided so far to homeowners. This will be the fourth program. Hope Now was another program. Remember the Hope Now hotline?
COLLINS: I do remember.
WILLIS: And FHA Secure, another program that would have -- that's had 400,000 loan modifications?
Hope for homeowners just came out about two weeks ago. We don't even know how it's going to do yet. But that was the result of the legislation that Congress passed this summer. $300 billion to help homeowners there. We don't even know if it's working.
The problem with these plans has been that lenders have to sign on to them. They have to agree to be part of the solution. In a lot of cases, lenders have been reluctant to sign on because they are so unsure what home values are.
Of course, their business, as you know, in deep, deep trouble. This new program, it's hoped, would actually bring some stability to the housing market. Maybe put a floor under prices and give homeowners some real help, some real hope for the future -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Any idea, Gerri, when we may know whether or not some of these lenders are going to sign on?
WILLIS: Well, we're still waiting for all the details, Heidi. Sheila Bair has been saying in public forums that she wanted to introduce a new program to help people. The details here is that the money would actually come from the $700 billion bailout...
COLLINS: Right.
WILLIS: ... that's been talked about so much and would at least provide some of that money to homeowners. So much of it has already gone to banks. And we just had a report today, in fact, that some of the money that's being allocated for banks is actually going to be used to help shareholders to pay dividends and that will probably become a big part of the political discussion out there.
Of course, you know, seniors rely on those dividends for some of their retirement. But I know a lot of people concerned that institutions are getting too much of this money and not homeowners. This is an answer to that question.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis for us this morning.
Thank you, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Five days and they're all done. Today, the presidential candidates are racing through swing states. Senator Barack Obama holds one more rally in Florida before moving on to Virginia and Missouri. His Republican rival, Senator John McCain focusing on the northern part of Ohio. His first rally about half an hour away.
His running mate, Governor Sarah Palin, launches her day in Missouri then she will head off to Pennsylvania. Obama's vice presidential pick, Senator Joe Biden, also visits Pennsylvania after a morning rally in Missouri.
A first for the Obama campaign. Bill Clinton joins the Democratic presidential hopeful for a late-night rally in Florida. The campaign event followed Obama's 30-minute television commercial that aired last night on several networks.
Clinton passed the torch to the man who could be the nation's next Democratic president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: This is America's future. This is a future state. Barack Obama represents America's future and you've got to be there for him next Tuesday.
You know, I am very grateful to Florida. I worked hard to bring you back into the Democratic fold, and you came, and I thank you for that. It's time to come back again so we can take America forward.
Let me tell you, there's only two things you can do between now and Tuesday. First, you can vote and you can make sure everybody you know who is already supporting Senator Obama and Senator Biden votes, and understands they do not have an option to stay home, not if they care about their country and their future. You got to get our crowd there.
The other thing you can do is to find the people that are still teetering and wavering and tell them why they ought to be with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: The former president back on the trail for Obama again today. Clinton has two afternoon events in battleground Ohio.
Last night Barack Obama spent a bundle buying primetime infomercials on major television networks. Afterwards, our Larry King asked cash- strapped rival John McCain all about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Does that make it hard for you the amount of money being spent against you?
MCCAIN: Well, let me tell you...
KING: Frankly.
MCCAIN: Frankly what's disturbing about is, is that he signed a piece of paper back when he was a long-shot candidate and he signed it, said I won't -- I will take public financing for the presidential campaign if John McCain will. I mean that's a living document.
He didn't tell the American people the truth. Then twice he looked into the camera when he was in debate with Senator Clinton and said, I'll sit down and negotiate with John McCain before I decide on public financing.
Well, he didn't tell the American people the truth. He never had any -- I'm still waiting for the call. So -- and what's happened now is that there's hundreds of millions of dollars that are undocumented credit cards, and we don't know where they came from. We don't know who contributed.
And all my career, I've been trying to increase transparency, accountability and bring curbs to the flow of money.
You tell me the next time now, a presidential candidate will take public financing when Senator Obama has shown you can raise millions of dollars.
KING: So...
MCCAIN: And so we don't know who those donors are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: McCain told Larry King he enjoys his underdog status, but it is something he hopes to leave behind on election night.
Lines still long in Georgia with only today and tomorrow left to early vote. About 1.4 million Georgians have already cast pre-election day ballots. Overall nearly 10 million people have cast ballots in 31 early voting states.
It took her two different tries but Angela Brown finally exercised her right to vote. She had to clear her name first. The Georgia woman was turn away from her polling station last week when it turned out she had the same name and Social Security number of another woman.
That woman happened to be a convicted felon out on parole with a warrant out for her arrest. But after Angela Brown, the voter, was fingerprinted and authorities did some digging, the case was solved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE SAM DAVIS, ELECTION SUPERVISOR: Whoever this person is was in jail in 2007 and 2008. So we called our Angela Brown's employer, who said that -- who verified that she's -- missed hardly a day of work since 2001. So we obviously knew it's just a -- a case of stolen identity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have a smile on your face.
ANGELA BROWN, VOTER: Yes, because I can vote now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The other Angela Brown has not yet been found.
Well, consider it a lesson in democracy, a Florida school district helped thousands of high schoolers register to vote in this presidential election. And it's even rolling out school buses to get them to the polls.
CNN's Sean Callebs has the closer look now from Miami.
Good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
How about that? And these kids, they know the candidates. They know the issues and without question the Broward County School District is literally going the extra mile to make sure these kids can make it to the polls and perform their civic duty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice over): It's not a ride to school, rather a trip to the polls. A Broward County public school bus taking students to vote after the district helped registered the kids.
For some it's all about the issues.
SIOBHAN MOORE, STUDENT: The healthcare. I'm really excited about gay marriage. Of course I'm excited. I think everyone should have their own opinion of what they want to do in life.
CALLEBS: But for many of these 18-year-olds, the presidential race is the draw.
ADRIAN BRACERO, STUDENT: I feel as though we need to make a change in the country. And I feel as though that the -- some candidates have qualities that will help that. CALLEBS: Broward is taking registered seniors from all its high schools. These students are from McArthur High in Hollywood, a mostly minority cool.
Assistant principal Julie Biancardi helped register the teens and is pleased with their political knowledge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're talking about issues and facts, not emotional issues, and that's what, I think, I'm impressed with.
CALLEBS: Armed with a sample ballot, these students passed the hour and a half in line, like everyone else here, talking candidates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote for (INAUDIBLE) talk. He's -- his mom came here.
CALLEBS: It's an important swing state where candidates have always courted the elderly vote but the youth vote is important.
Broward County school board member Benjamin Williams says it's all fair and legal. And as far as he knows this is the only public school district in the country registering students and taking them to vote.
BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, BROWARD CO. SCHOOL BOARD: This is fantastic, when you can -- we can involve the young people in this voting process. We have registered over 3600 students that are involved in this.
CALLEBS: A little sticker and a sense of satisfaction is the payoff.
MOORE: Of course I'm proud of myself. I voted. I'm 18, I get to vote and have a choice. I feel like I have a choice in the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: And for those of you out there who may have a question to about using public money to take the school kids to vote, we checked with the Florida secretary of state's office, and they said they don't have a problem with it.
And Broward officials said they set aside money for a field trip. So that's where the funds are coming from and so far, Heidi, they say they have not heard a single, solitary complaint.
COLLINS: Yes, probably not. You know, I got to tell you, my second grader, who's only 7, doing a mock vote and mock election today, too. So they start learning it early, don't they?
CALLEBS: Exactly. Exactly.
COLLINS: All right, Sean Callebs, appreciate that. Thank you.
And a reminder to early voters, dot your I's, cross your T's, and above all, sign your name.
Just one example from the all-important battleground state of Florida, election officials in Jacksonville have rejected about 200 absentee ballots for not having signatures. Another 1300 there being examined because of questionable signatures.
On the bright side Florida voting officials in this election have made no mention of, yes, hanging chads.
Rob Marciano, hanging out in the weather center, joining us now, talk a little bit more -- you want to talk about Philly again?
MARCIANO: Let's talk Florida.
COLLINS: OK. Florida. Hey, we're there, yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: You're standing in the way of the graphic, there.
MARCIANO: You know -- I know, I should stop that.
COLLINS: I mean they are gorgeous.
MARCIANO: I think that -- that skull -- that thing was kind of bite me in the back of the head anyway, so that's never safe.
COLLINS: Yes. A little creepy.
All right, well, excellent. We'll check back a little bit later and get another look at those.
MARCIANO: Sounds good.
COLLINS: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Tempelhof's history. A home of the famed Candy Bombers. Remember? The German landmark closing down.
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COLLINS: In India, deadly precision. Nine explosions almost simultaneous, ripped through crowded areas. At least 57 people are dead, more than 250 wounded. It's not clear who launched the coordinated blast in India's volatile northeast. Dozens of northern separatist groups battle each other and the government across the region.
Damascus, Syria -- thousands of people angrily protests near the U.S. embassy. They are outraged by a deadly raid near the Iraqi border. Syria says eight civilians were killed in the U.S.-led mission.
Syria's government helped organize the protest and is demanding a formal apology from Washington. There has been no formal acknowledgment of the raid from Washington.
In Spain now, at least 19 people now injured in a car bombing at a university in Pamplona. The campus now shut down. There are fears of another possible bomb in the area about 400 students and staffs were in a nearby building at the time of the explosion. There is no claim of responsibility for that attack.
The final flight taking off today from Berlin's historic Tempelhof airport, closing the book on an important chapter in aviation and American history.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They call it the Candy Bomber. In 1948 and 1949 American and British pilots flew supplies into Berlin using planes like this one, as the Soviet Union blockaded the city.
(On camera): The Candy Bomber pilots were very brave. They were often harassed by Russian fighter planes and they tried to land in almost any weather.
(Voice over): They touched down at Tempelhof. Once Adolph Hitler's flagship airport, it became pretty much Berlin's only hub for food, fuel and medicine, a lifeline for a suffering population.
The numbers are staggering. In all the allies carried almost 2.5 million tons of supplies into the embargo city.
HELMUT TROTNOW, ALLIED MUSEUM: It was not about feeding people, but it was about the basic values of how we want to determine our life. Was it going to be the values of freedom and democracy? Or was it going to be the communist conviction?
PLEITGEN: In the end democracy prevailed and Tempelhof remains a symbol of German-American friendship.
Named the mother of all airports by one-star architect, Tempelhof's massive main building is one of the largest structures in the world. It was designed to represent Nazi Germany to visitors. Later, the U.S. Army installed a basketball court and even a firing range and hid an entire command center in the vast tunnels under the building.
TROTNOW: The success of the airlift made sure that the communist ideology lost its impetus, lost its trust, because people began to realize that democracies can defend their way of life.
PLEITGEN: Dozens of American and British airmen were killed supplying Berlin. Today the airport where they made history will itself become a piece of history.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Some quick facts now on Tempelhof. Orville Wright showed off an airplane there back in 1909. It actually became the world's first commercial airport in 1923.
The first post-World War II flights into Berlin from the U.S. were operated by American overseas airlines in 1946. The airline later merged with Pan Am. U.S. military forces moved out of Tempelhof in 1993.
This mom had to have a C-section so 16 little ones could come out. You heard it right? Giving birth to 16.
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COLLINS: Want to burn off that belly fat? Well, how about busting a move?
Here's CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a Tuesday evening at Joe's Movement Emporium and everyone at the center is, well, moving.
Joe's offers a little bit of fitness for everyone. The idea is to get everyone from kiddies to seniors up and on their feet.
Noel Powers is a hula hoop aficionado. Her class looks like fun but it's also a great way to exercise.
NOELLE POWERS, HULA HOOP INSTRUCTOR: If you're hooping around your waist, it's activating all kinds of core muscles like you would in yoga and Pilates and dancing in general.
FORTIN: Why is movement so important? Moving burns calories which burns fat. You don't have to be a runner or a cross-country cyclist to stay trim, especially as you get older.
DR. DAVID JOHNSON, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: You want to be a moderate exerciser. And what moderate means is that you're exercising up to the point where you can still carry on a conversation, but not much more than that.
FORTIN: In your 30s your muscles and bones are beginning to lose their mass. If you don't exercise, you can go from fit to flabby fast.
JOHNSON: What happens when we age we lose strength at a rate of about 15 percent per year over the age of 25.
FORTIN: Want to keep lean? Pump it up. Lightweight lifting can burn up to 200 calories an hour while keeping muscles taut and strengthening your joints.
Remember the hula hoop class? Give it a try. Moving muscles especially in the midsection can help the abs and burn unwanted pounds. Depending on how fast you hula, an hour of hoping can burn up to 500 calories.
Got a lot of stress? Kickboxing can keep you toned, ease your anxiety and burn up to 700 calories an hour. If you're in your 40s and 50s be good to your aging joints, think cha- cha. A good way to stay trim and add some zip to your exercise routine is to dance, rumba, ballroom, hip-hop. Dancing can burn up to 200 to 400 calories an hour. It can also help ward off arthritis which usually develops in our 40s.
JOHNSON: If you strengthen the joints or the muscles around the joint that has the arthritis, you're going to have less pain with arthritis. You need to keep your joints mobile and flexible.
FORTIN: Can't handle all the twists and turns? Think more fluid movement, try Tai Chi or Tai dancing. Less stress on the tendons.
JOHNSON: A younger tendon wouldn't have -- a younger would be much more pliable.
FORTIN: Like the tranquility of the water, rowing is good for the upper body. And vigorous rowing can burn up to 600 calories an hour. And doctors say swimming is probably the best fat burner for the older generation, burning up to 700 calories an hour with very little stress on the body.
Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The GOP ticket live in the NEWSROOM. We're bringing you John McCain and Sarah Palin rallies from two battleground states. Coming up shortly.
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COLLINS: OK. So here's our video of the day. Check this out. A proud mama and her 16 babies.
