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McCain's New Gambit; More States Leaning Obama; Interview with D.L. Hughley; Hispanics Mull Immigration Issues; Which Voting Machine is Better?
Aired October 30, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming at you right now: Rare footage, you will watch it uninterrupted, a showdown in Denmark.
A new CNN election poll is out. See what has changed.
A new attack on Obama from the McCain camp. Can they tie him to Rashid Khalidi? Who is Khalidi and what is McCain's connection?
How to hack into voting machines to rig an election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You pry out one of these chips with a screwdriver, and you push in your replacement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is it.
SANCHEZ: A report every American should see.
And another report every American should see. The law of unintended consequences, will our next president get it?
The newscast that connects to America, and not just on air, on Facebook, Twitter and more, what you say, what you want to know, right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I know a lot of you know what we are going to be talking about, because we have been getting your responses already. But there's something I have got to tell you about right at the top of this newscast. It has to do with something that is taking place in New Orleans as we speak.
There has been a construction accident there on one of the new bridges that they are putting over Lake Pontchartrain and as a result, we understand -- I am reading to you now from information sent over to us by the U.S. Coast Guard -- seven workers have fallen into the water in Lake Pontchartrain as a result of this consultant accident on the bridge. We're hoping to get some pictures from WDSU any moment now. And when we do, we are going to be sharing those with you. So, stand by. We will probably get those momentarily.
Meanwhile, with less than a week to go until the election, John McCain and Sarah Palin have launched a new attack against Barack Obama. And it is all about this man. You see him right there. His name is Rashid Khalidi. He is a relatively unknown professor at Columbia University. However, he is a Palestinian American, an Arab affairs specialist and often critical of Israel. He's also an acquaintance and former neighbor of Barack Obama.
The McCain camp is accusing "The Los Angeles Times" of suppressing a videotape that shows Obama and Khalidi at a banquet five years ago. Now, "The Times" used the tape, it says, for a story back in April -- that is when the story aired by the way or was published -- but promised the person who gave them the tape that they would not release it. So, they didn't. They have held true to their promise.
Now the McCain camp is inferring that that tape may show something revealing about Barack Obama. After all, they are accusing Rashid Khalidi of being a former spokesman for the PLO. That is the data we can give you up to now.
Here now is CNN's Tom Foreman. He's going to try and fact check what is being said by both sides. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The PLO has of course long been tied to past terrorist attacks against Israel. And McCain was raising questions in an interview with CNN's Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
MCCAIN: Frankly, I have been in a lot of political campaigns, a whole lot. I have never seen anything like this, where a major media outlet has information and a tape of some occasion. Maybe it means nothing. Maybe it is just a social event. I don't know. But why should they not release it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOREMAN: "The Los Angeles Times" says, look, we reported back in April that people at that banquet spoke against Israel, against American policy, and that Obama called for Palestinians and Israelis to find common ground.
Furthermore, the paper says it got the tape from a confidential source on the condition that it not be released to the public. The Obama campaign says Khalidi is not a political ally. They were both neighbors and professors at the University of Chicago. But Obama says he stands firmly with Israel and often disagreed with Khalidi about the Middle East.
Khalidi told "The Washington Times" in 2004, as a professor, he spoke to news reporters about the PLO, but never for the group.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: All right.
Before we do anything else, that was Tom Foreman's report.
Let's go ahead and get a comment that just came in moments ago. This is from people who expected that we would be covering this story. Robert, let's do it. This is over to the Twitter board if you can.
This is JDavid17. And he said: "Look, thanks for taking the Rashid Khalidi story seriously." We are. So, let's continue on it, if we possibly can.
Today we received a reaction from the Obama campaign. Here it is in full -- quote -- "This is just another recycled, manufactured controversy from the McCain campaign to distract voters' attention from John McCain's lockstep support for George Bush's economic policies. Barack Obama has been clear and consistent on his support for Israel and has been clear that Rashid Khalidi is not an adviser to him or his campaign and that he does not share Khalidi's views. Instead of giving lectures on media bias, John McCain should answer why, under his chairmanship, the International Republican Institute repeatedly funded an organization that Khalidi founded, the Center for Palestine Research and Studies, over the course of many years."
Again, that is a statement that we received from Barack Obama's campaign moments just ago before we went on the air.
Now, on that matter, our fact check team has concluded such finding did occur, as well as the funding on this, the money that was being exchanged, but we have also concluded that to suggest that John McCain and Khalidi had any type of relationship of any type is just flat-out false.
And we have also concluded that Obama and Khalidi strongly disagree on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, and to suggest that there is evidence of a continuing political relationship between these two, Obama and Khalidi, would also be flat-out false.
That is information we have for you now. We're going to be joined in just a little bit by a spokesperson, a national spokesperson, for the John McCain campaign. So, stand by. As soon as we get him, we're going to be talking to him.
But let's do this right now, because there is a journalistic issue in all of this.
Frank Sesno, as you probably know, is a media professor at George Washington University. He's also a CNN special correspondent. And he's on the line with us now. He's joined us by phone.
Frank, thanks so much for being with us.
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Pleasure. Pleasure. SANCHEZ: Let's start with this. Should "The Los Angeles Times" acquiesce? Should they turn over the tape, as John McCain seems to be asking?
SESNO: No, not if they gave a commitment that going into the relationship with their source that the tape was confidential, that the source was confidential, and that that was the only condition under which they could get access to that material.
The public is better served knowing about it, even if the tape can't be released, than seeing the tape, if the insistence of showing the tape would have had the source say, forget it, I'm not going to show it to you at all.
SANCHEZ: What happens to news organizations that make deals and then undo them or break their promises with sources?
SESNO: Well, it undoes the journalistic commitment, both a moral commitment and an editorial commitment, to your source.
And I will tell you this. John McCain and Barack Obama both have had conversations with journalists which they have insisted be on background, where their names are not used, but the quotes can be used. It is not to say and not to excuse however a too loose standard, where a news organization goes in and says, oh, well, just because you don't want it released, we're not going to release it.
What I think we would all like to know is how insistent was "The L.A. Times" going into this arrangement? How many times did they pound the table and say, look, we have to share this video?
That is the trust. That's the bond if you will that the public has with a news organization. But these deals are made in order to get information to the public.
SANCHEZ: Interesting. Well said.
Frank Sesno, we thank you for taking us through that important information.
By the way, we have got more information on a breaking story that we are following for you right now. We have got that video coming in. There's the situation now. That is that bridge that many of us who covered obviously Katrina became very familiar with going over from one side to the other.
They have been doing work on it for quite some time. Those are the divers. You see we are in tight on the divers now. As promised, this is from WDSU. Right behind them is the bridge. The information we have is that seven people have fallen into the water. They were all construction workers who have been working on this span of the bridge.
One of the workers, we understand, is still missing and could be down there in the water somewhere, at least last we checked. That's according to the U.S. Coast Guard. A witness to the accident says that a piece of building material fell during the installation. Not sure if that is what we are looking at there.
Here is what we're going to do. We're going to stay on top of this story. Every time that there is an update it, we will be bringing it to you and we will share that information with you as we move forward.
Meanwhile, back to this: Will the McCain campaign continue the latest attack? Spokesperson Michael Goldfarb has agreed to join me to answer that. We are somewhat surprised that he is, but delighted that he is going to be coming on to join us.
Also, can an election actually be rigged? Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You pry out one of these chips with a screwdriver, and you push in your replacement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So then you put in a new chip. And here is the question, and you are going to see it unfold and you're going to see it in this report by Miles O'Brien. What will that replacement chip do after you put it into the computer? What is it capable of doing?
This is something all Americans should see. It is coming up in just a little bit. Stay with us. It is going to get good.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
The big controversy has to do with whether there is an association or any relationship between Rashid Khalidi and Barack Obama. So some seem to surmise.
Here is a comment that is coming in. Robert, let's go to the Twitter board if we possibly can, before we do anything else.
Joy_tears has just written to us. And this is what Joy is saying. She says: "Are you on the tank for McCain, too, now? Reporting on this nonsense is just another distraction from the real issues."
So, obviously, there's a lot of people out there with a lot of opinions on both sides, as you might expect, many of them being critical of me, as often happens during a newscast.
So, let's do this now. Let's talk to Michael Goldfarb. He's a national spokesperson for the John McCain campaign and he's good enough to join us to answer some of the questions about this Khalidi issue that so many people have been talking about. Michael, thanks for being with us.
MICHAEL GOLDFARB, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN NATIONAL SPOKESMAN: Thanks for having me on.
SANCHEZ: Let's start with this. What is the International Republican Institute?
GOLDFARB: That is an organization that seeks to foster democracy around the world.
SANCHEZ: Did they under McCain's leadership and chairmanship actually fund Khalid's Center for Palestine? Remember, Center for Palestine, I understand, was founded by Rashid Khalidi, right?
GOLDFARB: It was founded by about 10 people. It was at the time the only organization that did polling in the West Bank and Gaza, an organization that was funded by the United States government, among a bunch of other institutions.
SANCHEZ: So, we have information that as much as 448,000, maybe a little more, a little less, take a few more, give more, dollars, thousand of dollars, $448,000 was given from that group, the International Republican Institute, chaired by John McCain, to that group that was co-founded by Khalid. Is that true?
GOLDFARB: Sure.
SANCHEZ: Well, how is that different than what Barack Obama did by being at a meeting with Khalid?
GOLDFARB: Well, look, here is what you're missing, Rick.
John McCain would not know Rashid Khalidi if the two were sitting across the bar from each other. John McCain, he chairs this institution, which fosters democracy around the world.
Barack Obama has a long, close relationship with Rashid Khalidi. That is fine. That has also been known for a very long time. Barack Obama has been open about this.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
GOLDFARB: He says the two of dinner companions. Their wives are friends. It's fine.
It is just another in a long line of unsavory associates Obama has in Chicago.
(CROSSTALK)
GOLDFARB: Wait a second.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
GOLDFARB: You are missing the point here, Rick. And the point here is that there is a tape of this event. And we would like to see the tape, because, look, we don't care about Rashid Khalidi. Again, he is just another unsavory Obama associate.
What we care about is all the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti- American rhetoric that was at this event. And we're curious to see how Barack Obama reacted to that.
SANCHEZ: But you know what I don't understand is, you have referred to him twice as unsavory. What is unsavory about being a Palestinian American and having a critical position on Israel?
GOLDFARB: Look, anybody who you have disagreement on with "The New York Times" saying one thing and him saying another about whether he was a spokesman for the PLO, in my book, that is unsavory.
SANCHEZ: Do you understand that "The L.A. Times" says, look, we are in a real quagmire here? We made an agreement when the person gave us this tape that we would not distribute it, that we should not reveal it, and, if we do that, then we lose our own credibility and we're not able to have any sources in the future?
GOLDFARB: Look, "The Los Angeles Times," like you, like any other journalist, I imagine, is in the business of informing the voting public.
Now, this is a tape that would be of interest to the public. Barack Obama, we know, has tolerated a lot of anti-Israel and anti- Semitic and anti-American rhetoric over the years in Chicago. Now, here is an opportunity to see on tape what his reaction to that was.
I think that is valuable to the American people. I think "The Los Angeles Times" knows that is useful information. They should make the tape public. All journalists should be in the business of making information public. That is what you do for a living, I understand.
SANCHEZ: Well, not really, not if the way you got the information was that you made a deal with someone and you promised them either, A, confidentiality of their identity or, B, confidentiality of certain information that they gave you.
But let's move on to something else, because you know this, right? A lot of people are going to look at this and they're going to say, they are just trying to smear Obama. They're trying to win Florida by making Jewish voters think that he is against Israel.
GOLDFARB: I mean, look, the guy hangs out with a bunch of people who are anti-Israel. The voters can decide about that. We want to see a tape.
A girl got up and read a poem comparing Jews to terrorists, comparing Israelis to al Qaeda. A girl got up and read a poem that was an incitement to violence, swore that there would never be another day of peace until the Jews left Palestine.
Barack Obama sat there. Did he nod along? Did he applaud at the end of this poem? These are the questions we would like the answers to. "The Los Angeles Times" has a tape of these events. We would like the tape to be made public. We feel these are reasonable requests.
SANCHEZ: Now, is -- I just need to parse this out as best I can from you, Michael. The fact that John McCain's organization gave $448,000 to this group that was founded by Mr. Khalidi, is there no reason for some to be critical of as well, just as some might be critical of Barack Obama for being at a meeting with -- some girl read a poem, for example?
GOLDFARB: Look, you are missing the point again, Rick.
The point is that Barack Obama has a long track record of being around anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric.
SANCHEZ: Can you name one other person besides Khalidi who he hangs around with who is anti-Semitic?
GOLDFARB: Yes, he pals around with William Ayers, who is...
(CROSSTALK)
GOLDFARB: ... domestic terrorist.
SANCHEZ: No, no, the question I asked you is, can you name one other person that he hangs around with who is anti-Semitic? Because that is what you said.
GOLDFARB: Look, we all know that there are people who Barack Obama has been in hot water.
SANCHEZ: Michael, I asked you to name one person, one.
GOLDFARB: Rick...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: You said he hangs around with people who are anti- Semitic. OK. We have got Khalidi on the table. Give me number two. Who is the other anti-Semitic person that he hangs with that we -- quote -- "all know about"?
GOLDFARB: Rick, we both now who number two is.
SANCHEZ: Who? Would you tell us?
GOLDFARB: No, Rick, I think we all know who we are talking about here.
SANCHEZ: Somebody who is anti-Semitic that he hangs around with?
GOLDFARB: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Well, say it.
GOLDFARB: I think we know who we are talking about, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. All right. Again, you charged that Khalidi is anti-Semitic. He would say that his policies on Israel differ from those of Barack Obama and many other people.
But, either way, I guess we will have to leave it at that.
Michael Goldfarb, thanks so much. We really do appreciate it. This is a good discussion. Really do appreciate you coming here to talk to us.
GOLDFARB: Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate it. All right.
When we come back, there is -- obviously, we will continue to follow up on this story. And there is a change in the electoral map. So, we are going to tell you what specifically has changed.
Stay with us. We will have that for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back to the world headquarters of CNN. I'm Rick Sanchez.
What are unintended consequences? What are the unintended consequences, for example, of the Bush administration? And how important is it for our next president to understand that to avoid similar mistakes? It is a very personal immigrant's perspective. That is ahead.
And this, it is amazing video, and, as we watch it, we asked probably what you ask. This clash, why? When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back.
Time for "Preston on Politics."
Mark Preston good enough to join us now to bring us up to date on what is going on.
And I guess I would be remiss if I didn't ask you for your reaction to what is going on with this Khalidi situation, that the interview I did moments ago with Michael Goldfarb.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know something? Let's just put it in pure political strategy right now, Rick. You are talking about 27 electoral votes in Florida. You're talking about the Jewish vote, and you're talking about an October surprise that the McCain campaign hopes opens up.
Basically, they have known about this tape since April, OK, since "The L.A. Times" had the story. But had they really pursued it in late spring and in the summer, it would have been diffused at this point. So, what they are hoping is to get their hands on the tape and they're hoping to see some kind of reaction from Barack Obama to some of these comments they are talking about that this gentleman had made that might turn voters off.
SANCHEZ: All right, the people who might be affected by this -- let's go ahead and go to the map, Robert, if we can -- the people who might be affected by this are the people that I grew up with in Miami, Florida, and in Hialeah, Florida, Jewish American voters. That is where they live right there. You're looking at it. And this is the latest poll. It has got Barack Obama up by four points, correct?
PRESTON: Four points, tossup state at this point, again, 27 electoral votes on the table.
And we saw Bill Clinton there last night, the first time that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have been on the campaign trail together, and, really, no surprise that they were together, no surprise that they were together after Barack Obama ran that 30-minute infomercial and then decided to do the last two minutes live. Where did he do it? He did it in Florida.
SANCHEZ: Let's go over to Nevada now, if we possibly can. And that is a bit of a surprise really. Take a look at Nevada. Now, this is a state that I bet you and others, Mark, didn't expect to be at this -- to be at these numbers at this point, right?
PRESTON: Well, this is again the fight for the West. We didn't know where the campaign was going, but really a lot comes down to two things. It comes down to money and it comes down to the voters that are in that state.
Hispanic voters are a very important population there, as well as union voters. And, look, CNN had this as a tossup state. We have switched it to a lean Obama state. Just in the past two weeks, Rick, Obama has spent $1.7 million on TV ads. John McCain and the RNC only spent about half that. It has shifted out of the McCain column.
SANCHEZ: I saw that this morning, that we had -- 6:00 a.m. this morning, CNN made that shift. I thought it was very newsworthy.
Let's go to Ohio now, back to map, Robert, if we can -- 50-42 is what I'm looking at here. This is pretty recent, right? What is this, yesterday?
PRESTON: This is a very, very, very tight race. Look, all the candidates are spending all their time in this, as well as their surrogates, 20 electoral votes on the table. This is how George Bush won the presidency in 2004 by the slimmest of margins. Right now, $4.1 million being spent by Barack Obama in the past two weeks on TV ads, about $3.3 million by the RNC and John McCain.
SANCHEZ: You know what is interesting, though, Mark? You look at the battleground situation. Go ahead and go to the picture here.
OK. Here I am at the battleground. This is CNN's battleground now. You can go there by the way at CNN.com. It is a lot of fun. My wife sometimes gets on me because I spend too much time on these maps, but look what happens when you go down here. The battleground situation looks very favorable for Barack Obama.
But then you go to our CNN national poll of polls and this is a timeline tracker, look at that. It is 49-44. This thing, if you look at it from a national perspective, this thing is pretty tight.
PRESTON: It is. And let me give you an explanation for that. I was speaking to our polling director, Keating Holland, today. He gave an excellent answer to that.
The reason being is the national polls are a poll of everyone nationally, every state nationally. The battleground states are getting inundated with campaign commercials, primarily from Barack Obama. So you are going to see a movement in Barack Obama's way because he is spending more money in those states. States such as California, Texas, maybe even New York, when someone gets the telephone call, they might be more apt to support John McCain.
SANCHEZ: That makes sense. Thanks for the perfect -- or for the good explanation there, Mark. We appreciate it.
PRESTON: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: As we move along here, we're going to showing something that is probably going to make some people -- well, it is going to be problematic.
We're going to actually show you somebody who can actually go into a voting machine and show how, by replacing one chip, you can put all new information in it, bad information.
Stay with us. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Sometimes reporters like myself just kind of get in the way of what is a story that can tell itself. This is the case in some clashes that occurred Wednesday night. This is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Take a look at this. It's amazing. It's a clash with squatters. Now, I'm going to shut up and let you watch this unfold.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's amazing. And still, they say, as you watch this -- it's almost like a movie, isn't it?
It's got like a beginning, a middle and an end. They say, though, it's still unresolved because they expect that they might have to go back there again after getting all those people out.
All right. Come back to me, Rog.
Let's do a quick MySpace check real quick. This is Shiloh -- Shiloh on Facebook. Sorry, I misspoke. She says: "Aren't we all acquainted with people that we disagree with? I'm sure we all know someone who is racist, discriminatory toward a group of people. It doesn't mean we feel the same way. That's, of course, reacting to the story we told you about at the beginning of this newscast.
All right, what is coming up?
What is the law of unintended consequences?
That's something we're going to be sharing with you.
And, also, Mr. Hughley is going to be coming by in just a little bit. We weren't going to have him on, but he really said he wanted to be a part of our show, so we're going to let him come and talk to us. He's coming up in just a little bit. D.L. coming at you.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We are receiving a lot of comments after that interview I did with Michael Goldfarb just a little while ago. Just to let you know, most of them, up to now, have been very complimentary. We thank you for taking notice. And if we get a chance, we'll try and share some of those with our general audience.
Meanwhile, something else to take note of today. It's called the law of unintended consequences. And understanding it is probably as important a skill as any U.S. president can possess and something that we, as Americans, should make sure whoever we pick gets it -- unintended consequences.
The idea comes to us from two people. One is a renowned intellectual, John Meacham of "Newsweek," who talks it this week on NPR. And Paco, the immigrant.
An unintended consequence is what happens when we, as a nation, try to do something that we think is right, with perhaps the best of intentions, but we fail to take into account how it might be seen or what the reaction might be from other perspectives. One word here -- Iraq.
Enough said?
John McCain knows the consequences of war firsthand -- perhaps more so than just about any other American. Barack Obama's life reflects a global perspective. Now to Paco. We mentioned him a little while ago. He's the typical immigrant, who loves the United States because of its impressively organized system, the opportunity that it offers and the big enchilada -- freedom. But Paco also knows that in his part of the world, Latin America, the U.S. has acted with the best of intentions but, arguably, it hasn't always worked for the people of those countries -- Chile, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and, yes, even Cuba.
Paco is my dad. He has only a fourth grade education. He's not as accomplished as a John McCain or as intellectual as a Barack Obama. But he does offer an immigrant's perspective that perhaps in this election, with only five days left, it may be wise for all of us to consider.
"D.L. Hughley Breaks the News" -- that's the name of the new show on CNN. He's joining us. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: How is a son not going to like it when somebody says something nice about their dad, right?
I guess like a dad would say that when somebody says something nice about their son.
Here's a tweet we get right now from Freakyfran. He says: "Rick, your dad was probably the smarter of the bunch. Just because he's uneducated, he's a wiser -- he's a much wiser than a college man."
Thanks, Freakyfran. I'll tell Paco that.
All right, let's do this. Let's go over to CNN en Espanol and talk to Glenda Umana to see what's going on -- Glenda, (INAUDIBLE)?
This is interesting. We really stopped talking, in the United States, in large measure, about the immigration controversy that was taking place here.
Is it still something that resonates with Hispanic voters in this country?
GLENDA UMANA, CNN EN ESPANOL: Rick, como estas there cuento?
Did you notice immigration was not a topic at all during the presidential debates?
What do you think?
SANCHEZ: I did.
UMANA: Well, this is still one of the major concerns for a lot of Hispanic voters. For example, in Virginia, Rick, one -- that is one of the undecided states, people who own small businesses have seen their incomes reduced.
SANCHEZ: Hmmm.
UMANA: Yes, a lot of their clients were illegal immigrants and left or were captured in raids. So that's -- it's affected their votes. It's affected them.
SANCHEZ: Yes. It's one of the places where -- it's one of the hot issues, as a matter of fact, not only there, but in parts of West Virginia, as well.
We thank you for following up on that.
Glenda Umana joining us from CNN...
UMANA: Chiao.
I like a lot what you said about Paco.
SANCHEZ: Oh, thanks.
UMANA: That was very interesting. Very nice.
SANCHEZ: Everybody loves Paco. Even Madela (ph). Right.
UMANA: Everybody. I want to meet him some time.
SANCHEZ: All right. You will.
UMANA: Bye.
SANCHEZ: Here's -- let's talk about this now. Let's talk about what happens when somebody decides that they can actually go into a computer and change it. By doing so, they change, also, results of an election. This is this report that I have been telling you about throughout this newscast.
It's filed by our own tech expert, Miles O'Brien.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: On election day in New York, it will be the end of an era. The big old voting machines -- John Adams meet Ruth Goldberg -- are on their way out.
JOHN O'GRADY, NEW YORK BOARD OF ELECTIONS: It's pretty cool to have 20,000 quantum machines.
O'BRIEN: Really?
O'GRADY: Yes. It's not -- it's not a lightweight machine.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): And here at the Board of Elections, they have a heavy heart.
(on camera): Do you know of any case of these things ever being tampered with?
O'GRADY: No. No.
O'BRIEN: Because it's impossible?
O'GRADY: It's impossible that I know of.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): But ever since this ugly scene eight years ago, politicos have spent billions of your money to throw out the old and bring in the new. Congress even created a new agency to give states suggestions on what to buy.
ROSEMARY RODRIGUEZ, ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION: We're hoping that the very design of the testing certification program is so robust that states will want to opt into the program because it will be the gold standard.
O'BRIEN: But eight years later, there is no national standard. And even if there was, states would not have to comply.
SUSAN GREENHALGH, VOTER ACTION: I think it's a huge mess.
O'BRIEN: Election crusader Susan Greenhalgh says the problem is computer voting systems in 17 states and D.C. that leave no paper trail.
GREENHALGH: Spending a lot of money on equipment without oversight, without a rigorous testing process, without assurity that the systems were actually going to perform better than what we had before, was a mistake.
O'BRIEN: How big a mistake?
Princeton computer science Professor Andrew Appel bought five surplus computerized voting machines like those used in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. And he easily hacked them. He removed a metal cover and found the memory chip.
ANDREW APPEL, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: You pry out one of these chips with a screwdriver and you push in your replacement.
O'BRIEN (on camera): That's it?
APPEL: That's it.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): He programmed the replacement to cheat in favor of one party by 10 percent forever -- without leaving a trace -- no paper backup.
APPEL: If you found that there were fraudulent computer chips in them, you wouldn't know what the vote totals should have been, right?
O'BRIEN (on camera): So you'd have to have another vote.
APPEL: And that doesn't happen, usually.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Appel says there has to be a voter-verified backup -- as in paper. That's why he is voting for optical scanners, which will be used in New York next year when they say goodbye to their trusty ballot behemoths.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SANCHEZ: Isn't that a story that you think just about every American should watch? As a matter of fact, we're getting tons of reaction on this report by Miles O'Brien.
Robert, let's go over to the Twitter board, if we can.
Paradiva says: "Exactly why there must be a paper trail. Any hacker can tweak a machine. A savvy high schooler could do it."
I wonder if that's true.
Let's go to one above it.
Let's take a look at that one, as well.
What is that one saying?
This is from Judie -- Judie, Judie, Judie says: "D.L., is he going to get his own Twitter, too?"
People want D.L. to Twitter.
So who's D.L.?
Well, let's see who D.L. is.
There he is -- D.L. Hughley, ladies and gentlemen.
D.L. HUGHLEY, HOST, "D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS": Hey.
SANCHEZ: Hey, what?
HUGHLEY: Hey, Rick.
How you doing, man?
SANCHEZ: How are you doing?
HUGHLEY: I'm wonderful. I don't know if I'm going to need to Twitter, though. That sounds...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: It's pretty easy.
HUGHLEY: That sounds like -- no, I'm all right.
Thank you.
SANCHEZ: What do you think of that?
You're going the interview the guy who was in Miles' report for your show Saturday, I understand.
HUGHLEY: Right.
SANCHEZ: What do you think when you watch that? HUGHLEY: I think that primarily that's probably part and parcel of the reason why we're all so cynical about this election process. You know, there are allegations being thrown around that some community activists are cheating and we have people's votes are getting lost. So I think there's a lot of cynicism associated with the electoral process. And I think that this only adds to it.
SANCHEZ: What do you -- you know, I watched the show last weekend. You looked good. You looked good. You did well, too, by the way.
HUGHLEY: Thank you. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Is it different?
I mean, you know, this is, after all, CNN, and you are, after all, a comedian.
Is it weird?
HUGHLEY: Well, I felt a lot like Obama in a different way. I'm the first one here.
(LAUGHTER)
HUGHLEY: So I've got to change hearts and minds. But, you know, I think, ultimately, late night shows are about a camera and a guy. You guys have got a lot of cameras. I'm the guy. We have a lot of fun doing it.
I think that, you know, one of the things I'd like to -- I think that we all, as a country, I'd like to see us get a better sense of irony and sense of satire, because everybody is so P.C. That everything has to be spelled out to the nth degree. And you have to tell people why you're doing it and what you're doing and what the laugh is all about.
So it's -- you know, it's a process. But I think that that's part of the reason I love doing what I do, because irony and satire still, you know, make me laugh the hardest.
SANCHEZ: Hey, tell Mitch Semmel (ph) that I said hi, OK?
HUGHLEY: I will. I will.
SANCHEZ: Tell him he owes me one, by the way.
HUGHLEY: I will.
SANCHEZ: Hey, you know what?
It's great to have you on board, man.
HUGHLEY: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: I'm glad you came over and you visited with us. Let's do this more often. Let's do it once a week or so before your show.
HUGHLEY: Thank you.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: All right. D.L. Hughley. There he is -- live and in the flesh. And you'll see him Saturday night in the slot I used to have, 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Hold up those ratings, man.
HUGHLEY: I will. Don't worry.
Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, D.L.
We appreciate it.
All right, from D.L., we're going to be showing you something as interesting and probably funny as he can be. I'm not sure if she intends to be that funny.
Have you seen Cloris Leachman lately doing this?
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It seems like it's a national sensation. We'll be showing you the video and the reaction -- oh boy, and a little bit of "The Daily Show." We'll have it for you. Stay there.
Oh, look at this tweet. Let's go to this tweet on the way out. I think it might be a good one to look at.
Let's cut to the tweet and take it to a break.
What's that say: "An African-American and a Cuban-American on the same time might be too much truth for TV. Tell D.L. I said what's up?"
Thank you, Crow.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back.
OK, I get it I get it.
Let's go over here.
This is Facebook.
Listen to what Sam says to me, old Sammy Flowers: "What's with all the attention on Twitter? Read some Facebook comments, Rick."
OK, look, I'm reading one. I'm reading yours.
Let's go to Crystal. She's also watching: "What up with tweet? You can't go to Facebook?"
All right. I got the lingo down too, huh?
Look, I'm reading stuff on Facebook. I'll keep trying to try to get to MySpace and Facebook. I tend to have a little bit of a favoritism toward tweet because they're easy to get to and they're pithy. But we'll share the wealth, as they say.
Let's talk about The Fix.
Let's talk about Cloris Leachman. She has become all but an American sensation. People all over the country have been talking about what they've been watching when they tune into "Dancing With The Stars."
And so do people who have shows and talk about things that are funny, like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "CHOCOLATE NEWS," COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's a man who spent five-and-a-half years in a Hanoi prison. He survived that crisis and he came out a stronger man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're saying that McCain's prison experience qualifies him to be president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Well, under that logic, then one third of all black men in this country, are fit to run this (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) right now.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matter of fact, the Oval Office should have more black portraits in it than Kim Kardashian's bedroom.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART," COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
JON STEWART, HOST: The polls have you up, but then they keep talking about this Bradley Effect, this idea that white voters, when they go to the polls, they'll tell pollsters they're going to vote for an African-American, but they won't actually do it.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, they've been saying that for a while, but we're still here. So I don't know. I don't think white voters have gotten this memo about the Bradley Effect.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Are you concerned, in some respects...
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: You know, and I don't -- I don't even know how to bring this up. Obviously, your mother is from Kansas. She's a white woman. Your father African.
Are you concerned that you may go into the voting booth and...
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: I won't know what to do.
STEWART: Your white half will all of a sudden decide...
OBAMA: Right. I mean...
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: I can't do this.
OBAMA: Yes, yes, it's a problem.
STEWART: What is it?
OBAMA: I said it's a problem.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN," COURTESY WORLDWIDE PANTS INC.)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: But we met her and she -- and my brother Stephen is a right-winger.
Let's call a spade a spade here. And he -- and she -- the first thing she said to me, she walks up to me and she goes, I've been talking to your brother Stephen and we've been chatting...
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: ...and trying to figure out how to knock some sense into you.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE VIEW," COURTESY ABC)
(VIDEO CLIP)
SHERRI SHEPHERD, CO-HOST: You're such an inspiration.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, don't. Don't do it. Don't.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go, Cloris.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because he takes you by the foot and throws you around the floor, doesn't mean you can do it. I can't do it. You're right to stay in bed and be old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Here's another guy who can ChaCha with the best of them.
Wolf Blitzer joining us now from New York to bring us up to date on what he's going to be talking about -- take it away, Mr. Blitzer.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, ""THE SITUATION ROOM"": Thanks very much, Rick.
Lots coming up at the top of the hour.
Bill Clinton saying Barack Obama -- and I'm quoting now -- "should be our president." So the last Democrat in the White House is not letting a day pass without fighting for Barack Obama. Last night, they campaigned together for the first time. Today, the former president hits two more states. You're going to be hearing, in "THE SITUATION ROOM," live from Bill Clinton.
And their votes are in -- we're talking about ballots cast by millions of early voters.
Can we predict where this race is headed from this surge of early votes in some of these critical states?
All that, Rick, and a lot more coming up here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
SANCHEZ: All right, Wolf. I love it.
Thanks, man.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" is the best.
There's something I watched today. It was a report that kind of brought almost a little misty eyed. It made me a little sad to watch it. I think it's probably going to do the same for you when you see this unintended consequence, for lack of a better term.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We talked about unintended consequences a little while ago and the story of my dad.
Now unintended consequences in something as simple as an image -- a picture. A picture of a little boy trying to hold onto his dad.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, COURTESY WPRI, TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS)
JARROD HOLBROOKE, WPRI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Taunton town farewell to 187 soldiers heading to Iraq. It will be a year before these soldiers see their families again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Worried. Scared.
HOLBROOKE: For children, it's difficult. They don't quite understand why their moms or dads are leaving. It's Thomas Riddick's second deployment overseas. His three children are taking it hard. In fact, little Morgan here wouldn't let go of his father's leg throughout the hour-long ceremony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my daughter, she's seven. So she's the only one that really understands that he's leaving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not wanting to -- I'm not wanting to leave the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
HOLBROOKE: No child here has it tougher than 13-month-old McKenzie. Her father Shane Dudley was killed in combat just a few months ago. Shane's family wanted to be here today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's kind of tough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It brings back a lot of stuff, you know?
Shane's outfit just came back Friday. So, we're not angry. The situation was a bad situation overall. But Shane was a patriot. And he did this -- but he did what he did because he wanted to do it, you know, the same as these soldiers right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You honor us by your example and by your sacrifice. And God bless you all.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SANCHEZ: The goodness of America.
All right, Jarrod Holbrooke is the reporter from WPRI who filed that report. And we want to thank him for that.
Let's go over to Susan Lisovicz now -- Susan, how's the market doing?
LISOVICZ: The market's well, Rick.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Funny how something about the market -- it's always about expectations, up or down.
Wolf Blitzer -- raise your expectations, because this is going to be a good show.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" right now.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Rick.
