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Following Candidates on Final Day

Aired November 03, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Blitzing the country this final day of the long presidential campaign. Senator John McCain eying seven states in 17 hours. You just heard from him in Florida. And now he'll move onto Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada, and finally home, Arizona. His running mate Governor Sarah Palin also rallying voters this morning from Ohio she goes to Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, and Nevada. Senator Barack Obama tries to close the deal with voters in the battlegrounds of Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. His vice presidential pick, Senator Joe Biden getting ready to speak in Ohio. And then it's off to Missouri and Pennsylvania.
On the road with them as they have been for months. CNN correspondents Ed Henry, who is following John McCain and Suzanne Malveaux with Barack Obama. He's getting ready to speak in Jacksonville, Florida, Suzanne. You're in a battleground state of course, traditionally that is republican. So what is Obama's strategy going to be there today on this very last chance?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This very enthusiastic audience is getting instructions about how to vote. Obviously, we're in Jacksonville, Florida. What is really significant about this is the fact that everybody remembers the voting debacle back in 2000 there were nearly 26,000 ballots that essentially were thrown out, they were improperly punched. Those hanging Chads. Everybody remembers that.

And there really is a sense here that people want to be a part of the process. So what you're hearing from Barack Obama and his campaign is that it is essentially very important that people come out to vote tomorrow. There are a lot of folks here, if you take a look at the audience, a lot of military members, a lot of African- Americans. There was as many as 40 percent of some of those in those communities, African-American communities, whose ballots were tossed out back in 2000. So they really feel very motivated. Barack Obama obviously going to try to tap into that today, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Suzanne, I wonder how confident the Obama campaign is of a victory tomorrow. I know they've been kind of warning about being, you know, too over confident.

MALVEAUX: You know, for the first time we heard Barack Obama yesterday tell his supporters. He said, look, you know, there are a lot of smiles in the audience. We're feeling really strong, really good. He said, you know, we may just be able to win this election. But there are a lot of people who are saying, yes, who are excited, but who are also really very nervous, very anxious about the whole thing. That perhaps something will go wrong. That is why the Obama campaign is really not letting up here, they're not letting up anywhere. Because they believe that these races are so tight in the states that it could make a difference just the voter turnout alone. So that is what they're focusing on, trying not to take anything for granted, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Understood. Suzanne Malveaux, appreciate that. On now to Tampa where John McCain is firing up his supporters there. Hey, Ed Henry, only six more rallies to go.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. We thought we would get some sleep today. I don't think so, Heidi. What's interesting, one barometer though for John McCain that might not be good. You just heard that large crowd with Suzanne and elsewhere in Florida. Just behind me this rally in Tampa wrapped up. There are only about 1100 people here. Locals here were noting that back in 2004 President Bush also had a similar rally right before election day here before the Raymond James Football Stadium where the buccaneers play. They were about 15,000 people. So that's one barometer that suggests here in the final day that John McCain is not drawing a big crowd from his faithful.

On the other hand, a good sign for John McCain, the latest CNN poll of polls coming out this morning. It shows it's tightened in Florida. Down to just a two-point lead for Barack Obama. Very good news for John McCain. It confirmed what his aides have been saying about the gap closing in some of these battleground states. But the real challenge for Senator McCain is that he really needs to run the tables in these red states that President Bush carried in 2004, very little room for error. Has to win here in Florida, Virginia, North Carolina. You've heard the story before. And then, of course, just to catch up to Obama, he very likely needs to carry Pennsylvania and turn that blue state red. So, very little room for error for John McCain. But he's trying to fight right through the end, Heidi.

COLLINS: So Ed, I understand that McCain will continue campaigning on election day itself. Could give him the edge that he might need?

HENRY: Sure. You know, I mean, he is actually going to be wrapping up this long day today with a midnight rally in his home state of Arizona. That was just supposed to be a homecoming, and now it could sort of be a get out the vote rally. Because as you know, even the polls in Arizona, his home state, have been closing in the last few days. And then tomorrow he's going to two more battleground states. Normally the candidates will stay back at home, relax in the hotel there, watch the returns. He's going to Colorado and New Mexico, a sign that Barack Obama's charge in the mountain west has really woken up the McCain camp. They realize they need to defend their turf there. So he's going to be fighting this right till the end. And a sign that John McCain at least believes that this will go down to the wire and not be a blowout. And he thinks he still has a chance here, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Ed Henry in Tampa, Florida. For now he's on the go with the candidates. That's for sure. Appreciate it, Ed, thank you. HENRY: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: Counting down to the presidential election. Ten issues in ten days. We're breaking down the candidates' positions on some of today's biggest challenges. We're taking on the important topics. And ahead we will focus on ballot issues.

Take a look at this. First snow of the season. A little more than a dusting in some places in Oregon's Mt. Hood. But it's getting people and the dogs in the mood for more. One ski resort manager expects a cold snap in the first part of this month. Could get their season off to a flying start. Rob Marciano standing by now. I forget, are you a skier or snowboarder?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: I can snowboard but my ego doesn't allow it.

COLLINS: We'll get some i-reporters on that.

MARCIANO: You see that shot of Mt Hood? That was Timberland Lodge where they filmed "The Shining."

COLLINS: "The Shining." Yes. part of it there and parts of it in Glacier National Park.

MARCIANO: Spooky.

COLLINS: Nice work. All right. Heidi Collins calling out. All right. Check this out. We have some wind across the central part of the country. High pressure in the east. But there's a little bit of a low causing some rain across parts of the Carolinas. And some of this will be heavy, especially along the coastline. And because of that, well, that's going to be a problem in this battleground state. Let's go to Raleigh where we have a tower cam, I believe, showing a little bit of rain drops on the lens. The foliage turning closer to Appalachia. Low country a little bit more wet than the high country.

WRAL, thanks for the shot there. Temperatures in the 50s. Now you'll get up to the 60s before today is done. But the showers will hang around tomorrow. All right, rain heading into Ohio a little bit today. But this is a front heading with pretty strong high pressure. So it should kind of fizzle apart.

I don't think it's going to be a big deal come tomorrow. Daytime highs today will be in the 60s and 70s across the east coast. 80 degrees in Dallas. Definitely, on the cool side out west where temperatures there will be dropping as the cold front comes on. So we have rain over the weekend all the way down to southern California. Today, it's San Jose to Sacramento, San Francisco, all the way up to Salem and Seattle. And valid rains and higher elevation snow will be the call for tomorrow.

So west of the continental divide it will be kind of nasty. East of there will be OK. Although it will be windy east of the front range. And then this rainfall expected across parts of the Carolinas and it will be cloudy and cool. Check out some of these interesting stats. A study was done by Brad Gomez, at the time at the University of Georgia. Now he's at FSU. And he decided to look back at 14 presidential elections in the past and match them up with what happened with the weather. What he found was that one inch of rain reduces voter turnout overall by a little bit less than a percentage point. But rainfall of that amount will drop democratic voter turnout by 2.5 percent.

COLLINS: Huh.

MARCIANO: And you think back to Florida, Heidi, back in 2000. You know, if we had that percentage point of democrats going out and voting for Al Gore in Florida where it rained in the panhandle, it may have been a different outcome. So weather does play a role. Younger voters are less likely to vote. Older voters get out there rain or shine.

COLLINS: Exactly. Absolutely.

MARCIANO: You know. They are adamant. And we should take that advice and go out with them.

COLLINS: They're a hearty folk. Rob Marciano, thank you for the interesting factoids (ph). I like that.

We're watching Wall Street now. Where are your investments headed today? A live look at the big board shows - OK, we're up 40 cents. Up, down, who knows. Hey, as we've been saying it for many, many weeks now. The market has been open for 40 minutes. Who knows where it will be by the time the trading day is through? Been all over the map for a long time. We're watching very closely all of that volatility. In fact, around the world on the eve of the U.S. election investors offer their own vote of confidence. In Asia, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong close up 2.7 percent. Australia's market also ended up up more than five percent. In Europe, markets in Britain, Germany and France in mostly positive territory this morning. So we'll be watching all around the world.

New poll numbers also out today. What they suggest about the polls that count coming up tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Countdown to the election. Ten issues, ten days. Today we turn the page to ballot issues.

Selling sex in the city. Voters in San Francisco will decide on a measure that would let hookers off the hook. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez takes a look at a proposition on prostitution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In San Francisco, the city by the bay where the sex trade is underground and sex workers live in the shadows. The oldest profession may soon become effectively decriminalized. With new protections for prostitutes. It's called Proposition K. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prop K calls on the police to enforce the laws against violence, coercion, rape and other areas against sex workers.

GUTIERREZ: "Layla" is a sex worker. She describes herself as an escort who works in the peep show club.

LAYLA, SEX WORKER: If Proposition K passes we'll be able to go to the police if we are harmed by a customer.

GUTIERREZ: "Layla" says once she was assaulted by a client, but found it difficult to pursue a complaint. She suspects workers are afraid to go to police because they might get arrested themselves or won't be taken seriously. She says Proposition K would decriminalize sex workers and allow police to go after real criminals, which would save the city more than $11 million. That's how much it costs to investigate and prosecute prostitution cases.

KAMALA HARRIS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's a mistake to think that prostitution is a victimless crime. Quite the contrary.

GUTIERREZ: San Francisco district attorney Kamala Harris is against Prop K because it will open the flood gates to sex tourism, more prostitution, drugs and crime. Especially in poorer neighborhoods.

HARRIS: It is not just simply what's happening between consenting adults in the privacy of their home. It's what's happening on the street corner that's plaguing the neighborhood, and attracting more crimes that is threatening the safety of the neighborhood.

GUTIERREZ: If passed, Prop K would put an end to the investigation, arrest and prosecution of prostitutes. Harris says that would have a terrible impact on human trafficking cases.

HARRIS: Proposition K would cut off our ability to begin those investigations into what is really the modern day slave trade in this country, human trafficking.

LAYLA: We absolutely want to see human traffickers prosecuted. This law actually calls for increased prosecution of violent crimes against sex workers. Whatever they're doing right now by arresting a lot of sex workers to find the big fish, it isn't working. San Francisco has not made one trafficking prosecution in the last two years.

GUTIERREZ: Layla says if prostitution is decriminalized sex workers could become allies to the police. But opponents say Prop K gives free reign to pimps and johns and sends the wrong message to the world. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: We also want to hear from you. If you run into problems at the polls you can call the CNN voter hotline just help us track the problems. We'll report the problem in realtime. The number is there. 1-877-462-6608. We are keeping them honest all the way through the election and beyond.

Finding out what voters think. New numbers out this morning. Here to break them down is CNN's political deputy director Paul Steinhauser. He is in our New York bureau this morning. Paul, what are the new numbers telling us?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Heidi, it's out last national poll. Isn't it, the last one before the election. No more, we're done. Interesting stuff. Take a look at these brand new numbers as you mentioned out this morning. It's about change. We asked voters who do you think can better bring about change and who has the right experience. Look at this McCain by far, people think he is more serious. 77 percent say he's got the right experience to be president. Only 50 percent say Barack Obama. We also asked about change. And you know what, more people think Obama is the presidential candidate who can better bring about change a lot more than John McCain. What's more important, change or experience? Maybe change because if you look at the overall polls, Barack Obama leads those polls. And maybe change is more important than experience to voters right now.

COLLINS: Yes. we shall see. If you throw the vice presidential candidate in the mix though, how does that change the vote?

STEINHAUSER: This is really interesting because Sarah Palin's unfavorable numbers are a bit rising in our polls. Take a look at this number. This really throws it. She may be hurting rather than helping John McCain. When we asked, with the VP, that's Obama and Biden and Palin and McCain, Obama has got a seven point lead, 53 to 46. But if you get the running mates our there, no Sarah Palin on the ticket, it tightens up to four points. And if it's a close election, Sarah Palin may be hurting her boss a little bit, John McCain. Interesting numbers.

COLLINS: Yes. Very interesting. What about the new poll of polls out on the two key battleground states.

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Two very key battleground states. Let's start with Pennsylvania. John McCain is heading back there today. This will be the 10th time in the last 15 days that either him or Sarah Palin will be there. Take a look at these numbers in Pennsylvania. Our latest poll of polls, which is an average of the latest state surveys in the keystone state has Barack Obama ahead by eight points. That's down a little bit from 12 points about two weeks ago. It's tightening up a little bit but he still has an eight-point lead. Six percent unsure.

Down to Virginia, Barack Obama is going to end his day in Virginia. He's got a big rally there tonight. And Still ahead by about five points with five percent undecided. Virginia, Heidi, hasn't voted for a democratic candidate in the presidential election since 1964. Barack Obama wants to change that. He's working hard.

COLLINS: CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. Paul thank you.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

COLLINS: Can Barack Obama, we'll he has John McCain down the ropes. Can he deliver the knockout blow? The bell rings, the final round is under way.

A candidate like me?

A mixed race family with a clear view of this election's lessons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Democrat Joe Biden live this hour in Missouri. Just a few minutes from now he's due to take the stage there in Lee's summit. We'll take him live when he begins to speak.

Children from mixed marriages learning a real life lesson from this election. CNN's Jill Dougherty reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are truly grateful

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Manee and Bill Kane and their three children live in Virginia. Just 41 years ago they would have been breaking the law. In Virginia it was illegal to marry someone of another race. Now 10-year-old Gabriel sees a man from a mixed marriage running for president.

GABRIEL: I think he's really cool because he looks like me. If he's elected I feel I could be elected president, too.

DOUGHERTY: They have something else in common, too. His mother is from Kenya, just like Barack Obama's father. And his parents, like Barack and Michelle Obama went to Harvard Law School. But all those things in common aren't that important to 13-year-old Veronica.

VERONICA: I don't really relate to him solely on the fact that he's like black, half black-half white like me. I'm very impressed with everything that he does, you know. He's a very smart person, and you hear him speak and you get really inspired.

DOUGHERTY: Her sister Cynthia explains it this way.

CYNTHIA: I kind of think of his race as a side note. Like, he's a great person, and he's also African-American. If I didn't like his policies but he was African-American, then I wouldn't like him you know because I wouldn't like him as a person, so the race is important, but not as important as what he's going to do.

MANEE KAINE: You know, I thought at the time, I decided to tell my children a long time ago that it's hard for you to imagine what this means because for me it's such a huge thing, and I mean in a way it's a testament to how fortunate they are that it's not as huge a deal in many ways for them as it is for me. But I'm telling them can you imagine that this person who has a parent who is from Kenya, who is African-American, you know, who has this very strange background is able to aspire to the highest office in this land, and will probably get there, and for me, that's just such an enormous thing.

DOUGHERTY: Bill Kaine says this election is a lesson for Veronica, Cynthia, and Gabriel.

BILL KAINE: Well, I think it's a concrete example of how it is that, you know, they have basically limitless opportunity.

DOUGHTERY: Proof, he says, that his children live in a country that is rapidly and profoundly changing. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A new study linked teen pregnancy to racy TV shows. Researchers from a conservative think tank followed the viewing habits of 2,000 boys and girls ages 12 to 17. Among the groups of teens who said they regularly watch TV shows with lots of sexual content, researchers say pregnancies were two times more common when compared to the group that didn't. The study is published in this month's "Journal Pediatrics."

Making his case in Missouri, Joe Biden about to speak to voters. We're going to bring it to you live.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: One day before the presidential election, candidates are on their last lap and sprinting towards the finish line. They are focusing on battleground states and the undecided voters who could hold the key. Here's a sampling of their closing arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Let me see a show of hands. We got a pretty big crowd here. How many people made less than $250,000 a year? Raise your hands. That, by the way, includes 98 percent of small businesses and 99.9 percent of plumbers. Folks, no matter what John McCain may claim, here are the facts. If you make under $250,000 a year, you will not see taxes increase by a single time. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax. Not your capital gains tax. No tax will go up because you need a break. That's what I'm going to provide when I'm president of the United States of America.

MCCAIN: My friends, we're going to cut taxes for working families. We'll cut business taxes to help create jobs and keep American businesses in America. Senator Obama's massive new tax increases will kill jobs, make a bad economy worst. I'm not going to let that happen. There's one day left. There's one day left until we take America in a new direction, my friends. And we need your help. We need your help. And we will win. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbors to the polls. I need your vote. We need to bring real change to Washington and we have to fight for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Today Senator John McCain will hit seven swing states in 17 hours. Rival Democrat and fellow senator Barack Obama travels to the swing states of Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. Both will break with tradition and campaign tomorrow on Election Day.

Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, he is expected to speak any moment now in Missouri. We have a live picture there. He is going to take the stage in Lee's Summit and CNN crews are there, of course. We'll join Biden's speech live when it gets underway.

Biden's running mate, Barack Obama, trying to close a deal now with a knockout punch. So far he's been unable to land that decisive blow. Does that trigger alarms on the last day of the close race? CNN's Jim Acosta has been watching that story. He joins us now from our New York bureau.

Good morning to you, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. You're right. Barack Obama seems to be on the verge of victory, but he's had trouble closing the deal before, which is why he's reminding voters, John McCain is still standing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Barack Obama's message, it's closing time.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I need you to make the case. I need you to close the deal. Because the time for change is coming. And you know it. And we have a righteous wind at our backs.

ACOSTA: Obama has seen races tighten before. In the primaries he built a commanding lead only to stumble in the last nomination contests. Prompting Hillary Clinton to ask then ...

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why can't he close the deal?

ACOSTA: But even Clinton's most passionate supporters say it's different this time.

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: He's just a much better candidate today than he was in April. I have tried to panic, but I can't. Believe me, I've tried everything I can to not go to sleep at night. But it doesn't seem to work. I go to sleep.

ACOSTA: Which may explain the sign of confidence. This Obama fundraising message offers donors a chance to win a ticket to history. Choice seats at his election night celebration. That's presumptuous say McCain campaign strategists who see their own path to victory.

RICK DAVIS, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I would say the Southwest and Colorado are really moving in the McCain column.

We are still very competitive and expect to win Florida, but I think the most important state to watch right now is Pennsylvania.

ACOSTA: Both sides are laying it on the line. The GOP's new robocall features a dated speech from Senator Clinton.

CLINTON: In the White House there's no time for speeches and on the job training.

ACOSTA: Obama's new ad includes a rarely seen Dick Cheney.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT: I'm delighted to support John McCain. And I'm pleased he's chosen a running mate with executive talent, toughness and common sense.

ACOSTA: These last minute appeals aimed at undecided voters who could make a difference.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: One thing we know about the undecided voters, they're almost all white. There are very few African Americans who are undecided. Well, overall, white voters tend to favor John McCain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (on camera): And no Democrat since Jimmy Carter has gotten more than 50.1 percent of the vote. You have to go back to 1964 to find the last Democratic presidential landslide. So Barack Obama is doing more than just running against John McCain, Heidi. He's running against history.

COLLINS: It's been a long and winding road to say the least.

ACOSTA: Yes it has!

COLLINS: Jim Acosta, thank you.

ACOSTA: You bet.

COLLINS: We also want to hear from you if you run into problems at the polls. You can call the CNN voter hotline. Help us track the problems and we'll report the problems in real time. Call 1-877-462- 6608. We are keeping them honest all the way through the election and beyond.

Rob Marciano standing by at the Election Center or Weather Center? Which would you prefer?

MARCIANO: Well, I prefer Weather Center. But you know ...

COLLINS: It's a combo.

MARCIANO: It is a combo. And we have the red white and blue going here. Which you won't see here. You'll see other colors which we use a lot of on the weather maps. A lot of suns indicating dry weather across a good chunk of the country. And not just today but through tomorrow as well. So I think most of the action will be on the West Coast, or at least western third of the country and across the Carolinas as well.

So this is one spot which could be a determining factor in North Carolina especially. Not only for the presidential campaign, but for other more state run races are going to be interesting for sure. All right, so rain today from Wilmington to Myrtle Beach back to Charleston. Then rotating back all the way up through Raleigh, maybe even stretching towards Washington, DC.

And then we've got a front here that's pushing across Lake Erie. It will fall apart somewhat today as it runs into pretty dry air, pretty strong high pressure. So this front is not going to mean much come tomorrow. But right now looks like thunderstorms almost. I wonder if there's some lightning strikes in there just in the western parts of Erie. Do we have a Cleveland live shot?

All right, there it is.

COLLINS: Wow, it's like magic.

MARCIANO: WEWS. It's magic when it actually comes up. It doesn't always do that. Some clouds there in Cleveland. Showers and maybe a thunderstorm today. But I think for tomorrow in that battleground state you're looking all right.

Temps today will be a little bit warmer than they have been, that's for sure, 60 in DC, 72 degrees in Chicago, 77 in Kansas City. So we're starting to pump up the heat across the plains. It will be windy in the states during the day tomorrow. It will also pump up heat and humidity. And I think we'll probably see a decent amount of severe weather come Wednesday and Thursday. We'll talk more of that after we figure out who is going to be the next president.

COLLINS: Yeah.

MARCIANO: Seattle, Eugene, Sacramento, San Jose. Some heavier rain in spots here along the I-5 corridor. This will usher in some cooler air. This will bring in some mountain snow. It's already brought in wind across parts of the Wasatch of Utah and rain all the way down in through Southern California over the weekend. So that's what we'll see, I think, continue tomorrow as this storm winds itself up. Notice the eastern third of the country looks all right with the exception of the Carolina coastline especially. We'll see a little bit rain fall tomorrow. Either way, if you haven't already voted, do your civic duty and get out there.

COLLINS: Yeah. Bring an umbrella if you need to.

MARCIANO: No big deal. You're not going to melt.

COLLINS: True, I don't think so. Your makeup might get a little messed up, though.

MARCIANO: I never go out without makeup. You know that.

COLLINS: OK, Rob, thank you. While the candidates try to energize their supporters, energy continues to be a major issue on the campaign trail. The latest, a debate over cap and trade. So what is that? Well, CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our energy fix from New York.

Hi there, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey, good morning, Heidi. Throughout the weekend and again this morning Governor Sarah Palin brought up an interview that Barack Obama gave in January to a San Francisco newspaper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R) AK: He said that sure if the industry wants to build new coal-filed powered power plants then they can go ahead and try, he says. But they can do it only in a way that will bankrupt the coal industry, and he's comfortable letting that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Palin says the Obama interview quote, "just surfaced." But the "San Francisco Chronicle" says the interview has been available on its Web site since January. Now, coal is a source of most of the electricity in our country. Obama has said he supports what's called clean-coal technology. McCain has said he also supports it. He says on his Web site he'd spend $2 billion annually to advance the technology.

Obama says he would create a public/private partnership but he doesn't specify a dollar amount for that. So both Obama and McCain also support what is called cap and trade. And that's a big question here. That's a system to prevent global warming. How it works is it has companies either buy permits that allows them to emit carbon. And carbon of course is by-product of burning coal. The companies can by those, they can sell those, or they can trade them on the open market. The government would issue fewer and fewer credits, making it more and more expensive to pollute. That could force companies to pay fines or to innovate. Heidi, people remember back to the '90s. Same kind of process that was used to eliminate acid rain.

Heidi?

COLLINS: So they can support clean coal and both support cap and trade then?

HARLOW: Yeah, and that's why a lot of people are wondering what Sarah Palin meant when she said that. There are differences, though. We want to point those out, especially when it comes to cap and trade. That's what Palin was referring to. On his Web site Obama says his cap and trade policy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. McCain says it will reduce the emissions by 66 percent by the year 2050. Obama says his cap and trade program will be economy wide. McCain says he will exempt small businesses from that. So McCain's plan, like Obama's would limit large energy companies' ability to emit gases. The difference here, Heidi, is the degree to which it would do that. Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. We appreciate that, Poppy Harlow, thank you.

Time now to check the nation's gas gauge. AAA reporting gas prices slide yet again for the 47th consecutive day. The national average, just over $2.41 a gallon. That is a drop of more than two cents. This is the lowest national average now since March of '07. That's 20 months ago. We're watching the numbers as well.

So does Wall Street's end of the month bounce mean we've seen the bottom? The signs we're looking for in the markets. Just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Wall Street's closed the book on its worst month in 21 years. The stock market lost $2.5 trillion in value in the month of October.

Will November be any better? Let's go to Susan Lisovicz in the New York Stock Exchange. We're just moving right to November.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Heidi?

The Stock Traders' Almanac says November is the best month of the year for the S&P 500 and the third best of the year for the Dow Industrials. Let's hope the stock traders' almanac is right. Because it certainly called it in October, which has been known in history for having some very rough periods.

It's also known as a bear killer. So yeah, while the month was one of the worst in decades, the last five trading days of October was the best in 34 years. If you can believe that. We got our first two consecutive back to back gains. Despite lousy news on the economy. And that is consistent with recoveries from bear markets we saw in 1974 and 1982. But Heidi, the main event on Wall Street today is the main event across the country. We're on the eve of a very important election. Ahead of that, we're not doing a whole heck of lot at the beginning of this trading week, trading day, trading month.

The Dow is down four points. The NASDAQ is up five. Oil is down a buck, under $67 a barrel.

Heidi?

COLLINS: Kind of eh, for today. But that's all right. You know, there are people that probably wonder, the bounce at the end of the month, does it mean we may have seen the bottom here?

LISOVICZ: Yeah, there are actually a lot of people who said we may have hit a bottom. One of the reasons why, Heidi, is that we are well above the intraday lows that we saw on October 10th. That memorable Friday October 10. The Dow right now is trading 9325. 7880 was the low that we saw that day. I mean it was really a little scary. Also that the market reacted positively to some very bad news last week. We got some very weak news on consumer spending and confidence.

And that is something that would be consistent with a recovering bear market. This week we get a lot of stuff, though. We get factory orders, retail sales, auto sales. And the big Kahuna and that is the jobs report for the month of October. Not expected to be good at all. Just remember one thing. The reason why sometimes you see a big disconnect, bad news, market rallies, or vice versa is the stock market is a leading indicator, it is projecting forward, six, nine months down the road. Jobs, for instance, a lagging indicator. That's the last thing the company typically wants to do is cut.

Unfortunately we're seeing that on an increasing basis.

COLLINS: Unfortunately for sure. Susan, we'll check with you later on. Thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

COLLINS: We've all heard about the CEOs who rake in tens of millions of dollars while their companies struggle to survive. Here now a company exec who leads by example. When times got tough he slashed his salary and eliminated his perks.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the story from Tokyo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After his morning on the city bus, Haruka Mishimatsu heads to the office and gets busy at his desk with the rest of his Japan Airlines coworkers. At lunch he lines up in the cafeteria and hopes lunch doesn't get too cold as he waits to pay. Not exactly the glamorous life you would expect from the CEO of one of the world's top 10 international airlines. "Is it so strange," asks Mishimatsu ...

HARUKA MISHIMATSU, JAL PRESIDENT AND CEO: I don't think so, it's so strange (ph).

LAH: Perhaps that's why when JAL slashed jobs and asked older employees to retire early, Mishimatsu cut every single one of his corporate perks. And then for three years running slashed his own pay. In 2007 he made $90,000 U.S. dollars. Less than what his pilots earned.

"The employees who took early retirement are the same generation and age with me. I thought I should share the pay with them, so I changed my salary."

(on camera): Mishimatsu shrugs it off, saying it's not a big deal. But that certainly stands in contrast to this, CEOs in the United States being grilled by Congress over perceived corporate excesses, ballooning salaries and bonuses. (voice-over): When we mentioned to Mishimatsu that the top paid U.S. CEOS make tens of millions, in some cases nearly $200 million a year, and yes, that's in dollars.

Can you imagine making that much?

MISHIMATSU: No.

LAH: In Japan, says Mishimatsu, there's less of a pay gap between the top and the bottom.

"We in Japan learned during the bubble economy that businesses who pursue money first fail. The business world has lost sight of this basic tenet of business ethics."

Mishimatsu says his airline has a long difficult recovery ahead. As far as his pay, he's dug into his savings like the rest of us.

"The air-conditioning broke and the water heater and the car. My wife is still telling me this is all your fault."

But relating to what his employees and his passengers are feeling and living in the global slowdown might be the ticket to his airline's own survival.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Making his case in Missouri. Joe Biden about to speak to voters and Barack Obama set to reach out to his supporters in Florida. That'll be coming your way next hour. We're going to have both events for you live right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Lots of live events will be coming your way today on the last day of campaigning. We are looking most forward to right now, we've got Senator Joe Biden, he is going to be talking to voters in Missouri. Then also Barack Obama will reach his supporters in Florida. Next hour we're going to have both events for you coming up live.

We are also still amazed by the pictures, incredibly long early voting lines. This is the scene at one of the polling stations in North Carolina this weekend. Election officials extended voting hours to help accommodate everyone.

In Atlanta this weekend, hundreds of people singing and marching through downtown. It was part of the million march to vote campaign put on by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Organizers say the goal is to encourage all voters to hit the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN "KHAO" CATES, HIP HOP PRODUCER: And motivate the people to go on the 4th. Because this is new for them, it's a thing where we want to keep that momentum going. For whoever you vote for. You need to get out there and vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: After seeing some impressive lines, we want to make sure we hear from you. If you run into problems at the polls you can always call the CNN voter hotline, help us track the problems, and we'll report the trouble in real time. The number is down at the bottom of your screen. 1-877-462-6608. We are keeping them honest all the way through the election and beyond.

Also want to remind you once again, two live events that we are waiting to see. We've got Senator Joe Biden in Lee's Summit, Missouri who will be coming your way shortly.

And then also Senator Barack Obama in Jacksonville, Florida, getting ready the talk to crowds there. We'll bring it to you in just a moment. Quick break here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)202 220 9310

COLLINS: Making his case in Missouri, Joe Biden about to speak to voters. You see his rally there. Barack Obama set to reach out to his supporters in Florida. That will come your way next hour. We'll have both events for you live.

The last laugh of the presidential race. John McCain, Barack Obama and the running mates racing the clock and running up the miles. Noticeably absent, President Bush and his silence speaks volumes about his standings. CNN's Kathleen Koch explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The final weekend of campaign '88 wild popular Ronald Reagan did a marathon campaign swing for his vice president.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT: I'm here today on behalf of a great candidate for the presidency of the United States.

KEN DUBERSTEIN, REAGAN CHIEF OF STAFF: We went to battleground states. Not safe Republican states. We went to Illinois, we went to Ohio, we went to Ohio, we went to Missouri, we went to all the -- Pennsylvania.

KOCH: Even Bill Clinton stained by scandals did a short sprint through New York and Arkansas for Al Gore in 2000.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: We have to keep the prosperity going, not put it at risk.

KOCH: But George Bush this weekend dropped out of sight, spending the Friday through Sunday at Camp David.

No campaigning at all? DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That's right.

KOCH: Can you tell me the reason why? Why is he not out there?

PERINO: President is focused on the activities we have here. Especially getting this economy back in order. We canceled a lot of our fund-raisers. He's going to focus on being with Mrs. Bush and others this weekend at Camp David.

KOCH: But Perino couldn't list any fund-raisers that had been canceled lately. And not only have the four McCain fundraisers the president attended been closed to cameras, President Bush has not appeared with any individual candidate at an open campaign event since August of 2007.

STEPHEN HESS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: These are all politicians who are running for office. They all read the polls. They all have their finger wet and up to the sea where the breeze is blowing. You can be sure that if George W. Bush was more popular, he would be out there.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT: Join us in casting your ballots for John McCain and Sarah Palin.

KOCH: Vice President Dick Cheney was out this weekend. Laura Bush campaigned Thursday and will again today.

Ronald Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein, who is voting for Barack Obama, says it must be tough for George Bush, who was there for Reagan's farewell campaign swing to know he'll never get one of his own.

DUBERSTEIN: There me be some sadness today or tomorrow because he's like a good thoroughbred who wants to be out there running. But sometimes you have to stay in the stable.

KOCH (on camera): It looks like a rained in President Bush will be staying in the stable a few more days.

No public events on his schedule Monday or Tuesday. He's already voted by absentee ballot. So the White House says Mr. Bush will stay home and watch the returns come in Tuesday night with family and friends. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Join me again tomorrow morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. For now CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.