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Countdown to Election Day; Military Wives as Surrogates
Aired October 19, 2010 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JORGE E. CANO-MARENO, CO-FOUNDER/PUBLISHER, URBAN LATINO MAGAZINE: ... I think now is a great time. I think that there's a challenge out to Hollywood that scripts, regardless of who the characters could be, should give Latina actresses a chance to play those roles, and not only that, but see that Latinas come in all colors, like Zoe Saldana, who is a black Latina can play black, can play Latina characters and can play just great characters. And she happened to be a co-star in the biggest film ever, which was "Avatar." So I think that, you know, Hollywood should feel comfortable that we buy a lot of tickets, that we have a lot of great talent, and we actually come out to the movies and support the films.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Jorge Cano-Mareno, thank you so much for your time today.
CANO-MARENO: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
Top of the hour. We're talking about the politics of anger and the power of change. Congress bracing for what could be its biggest upheaval in years. Two weeks from today, Americans take part in the crucial midterm elections, and the control of Washington hanging in the balance.
Some campaign workers are hoping to tip the scales with something as innocent as a cell phone camera. Believe it or not, they quietly follow a rival candidate and wait to pounce a political blunder. A five-second clip can erase months of campaigning. CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash takes a closer look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Moore, in this election, would you support Nancy Pelosi for speaker?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's not a reporter asking the question. It's someone with Kansas House candidate Stephanie Moore's opponent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you support Nancy Pelosi for speaker?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Dakota. He follows me and asks me that question.
BASH: Dakota is what's known as a tracker, an opposing campaign's aide or supporter who follows candidates to events, looking for gotcha moments to turn into 30-second ads. Here's an ad in New Hampshire where Democrat Carol Shea-Porter is caught making what Republicans think is a politically unpopular admission.
CAROL SHEA-PORTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE: I think I have a 90 percent rating with the president. 93 percent with the House. All along, I have said, you know, this is what I believe.
BASH: It's an exploding trend in political ads this year, using candidates' own words against them, often with video captured by trackers.
EVAN TRACY, CAMPAIGN MEDIA ANALYSIS GROUP: It's that candid camera, gotcha moment. Any time you can get your opponent on film saying something that is not popular with voters and you can put that in your ad and feed it out 30 seconds at a time, it's a much more effective way to run a negative ad.
BASH: Remember Republican Senator George Allen's 2006 infamous macaca moment?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This fellow over here, with the yellow shirt, macaca or whatever his name is, he's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere.
BASH: A tracker shot that, and what appeared to be a racial slur by Allen helped sink his campaign. Now, four years later, flip cams, cell phones and advances in technology make this brand of negative campaigning much easier.
TRACY: This is the macaca moment on steroids this election.
BASH: And it's a bipartisan phenomenon. Colorado voters see it from both Senate candidates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you pro-life? And I'll answer the next question. I don't believe in the exceptions of rape or incest.
ANNOUNCER: Ken Buck, he's too extreme for Colorado.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reckless spending becomes a habit. Bennet voted for Obama's failed stimulus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted for it, and I'm glad I did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Dana now joining me live from New York. So who exactly are these people behind the camera. Who do they work for, and are they getting paid, Dana?
BASH: Some are, and some aren't. Really it depends on the campaign but I got to tell you, Kyra, talking to campaigns across the country and the strategists who had run them and are in touch with them on a national level, they say pretty much every campaign, Democrat or Republican, has somebody like this, tracking the candidate's opponent.
To answer your question, there are some who are paid by opposition research firms that the campaign has hired and some are just supporters, or volunteers who kind of walk around and do this. And the point here is that there is so much clutter and there's so much information that is you know, that is hitting voters right now, what these candidates and campaigns believe is that if they want to have a negative ad against their opponent, it is much more powerful to not have a narrator say something, but to capture the candidate saying something or their opponent saying something in their own words. That is the money ad from the perspective of these campaigns.
PHILLIPS: So if everyone has these types of trackers, you would think that candidates would always be on guard.
BASH: You would, wouldn't you? But look, I mean, we're all human, even politicians, and you know, they're out there, and many of them are tired. It's not just somebody like you saw at the beginning of a piece, walking with them with a camera in their face or a cell phone in their face. Many times it's just a candidate at a town hall and innocently, perhaps, answering a voter's question, and if that answer doesn't necessarily go on message it can instantly be used against them.
PHILLIPS: We will keep following every angle of this as it gets more nasty and shadier in some ways.
Dana, thanks.
Vice president Joe Biden is in San Francisco for a closed fund- raiser for Senator Barbara Boxer. From there he heads over to Vancouver, Washington for Patty Murray. He ends the night in Reno, Nevada.
Former President Bill Clinton begins three days of appearances in Florida. Firs stop, Tampa, where he is campaigning for gubernatorial candidate, Kendrick Meek. And the man who wants to be the next speaker of the House, minority leader John Boehner is in South Georgia for a campaign event with veterans.
Nearly two years ago, young voters helped sweep Barack Obama into the White House. They were energized, organized and mobilized. Today, well, they are largely standing on the sidelines. T.J. Holmes traveling the southeast with the CNN Election Express, joining us now in South Carolina. So T.J., what are the young voters telling you?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: You just summed it up there about standing on the sidelines. Listen to these two guys. Let them sum up for you just what they're thinking as we go into the midterm and I'll tell you more about what I'm doing here in Aiken. But I want you to listen to this two very telling and hopefully Washington is listening as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on camera): How closely are you guys following these midterm elections
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not too closely.
HOLMES: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You work 60 hours a week. There's not really a lot of time left for anything else. You know, I mean, it's all business here.
EDIN KENNY, COLUMBIA RESIDENT: here's this whole problem of voting in America where not enough people go out to vote but at the same time there are a lot of people going out to vote and they don't even know what they are voting for. So you know, where does the real problem lie there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the worst thing is to have an opinion on politics and not really know what's going on. So it's probably this classic story of young people that don't really know what's going on in politics. Alvin Green, all of the way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You hear them there, and they sum it up and explain it well. Young people don't really know what they're voting for this time around. Some people go in uneducated when they vote. Adults do that. Young people do that. Don't just put it on the young folks. The last time around, young folks could see this hope and change and this historic figure in Barack Obama.
Well, he is not on the ballot right now. That's the difficulty. That young man was talking to me from Columbia, South Carolina, up the road from where I am now. I made my way down to Aiken, South Carolina. This is a community of about 25,000 or 30,000. This is a community that has been able to stay below the unemployment rate nationally.
The reason they have been able to survive in such a way is because, yes, it's a small community, but they have a formula for success that works here. There's a history here of nuclear materials, if you can believe that. After World War II, this site, there was a site here, the Savannah river site that was used to make a lot of the materials that were used for nuclear weapons. About one-third of those materials came out of this area. Of course, those materials aren't still being made, but the site is still here and still employs thousands.
You also have of all things, Kyra, an equestrian industry here. Who knew? But that is been able to maintain itself and maintain people here. Retirement community, a lot of people continue to come down here to enjoy their time off. That works, and, quite frankly, other people tell me, you got just true blood southerners down here. so they have a formula that specifically works for them, Kyra, here in Aiken. It doesn't work for everybody but they found something that works here. And they've been able to make it through tough times OK or at least a little better than most.
PHILLIPS: T.J. Holmes on the campaign trail. We'll keep following you as the bus moves. Thanks, T.J..
As you know, the election bus is on the road. T.J. will be there in the next stop tomorrow in Macon, Georgia. We're going to follow the Election Express every day in the CNN NEWSROOM and bring you what voters are saying from each stop.
Is it a labor of love or money? More and more military wives serving as surrogate mothers for cold, hard cash. We're going to tell you why in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Military wives as surrogates, few out of pocket expenses, and nine months later, it's a pretty big payday that taxpayers like you actually helped bank rolled. CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been looking into this for us. And it's an interesting trend, a lot more of these military wives are doing it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting because, you know, getting by on the salary in the military is really tough. Often the salaries are relatively low, so some wives are saying, you know what, this is not a bad idea. It's a way to make income, and sometimes doubling the family income by becoming a surrogate. And help out an infertile couple at the same time.
Now there are no hard numbers as to how many military wives are becoming surrogates, but we spoke with someone who runs a surrogacy agency called Reproductive Possibilities. It's in New Jersey, and she said about five to 10 percent of her surrogate moms come from the military and she said she thinks it's higher at other agencies. She's not even near a military base and still five to 10 percent of her moms are military.
PHILLIPS: And what kind of military wives are becoming surrogates?
COHEN: Well, this agency said they have a requirement that they want the mom to already have two children. There's two reasons for that. One reason is they want them to know that haven't they want to know she's capable of carrying and delivering a baby. If you have got two, you have your proof there.
The other reason is that they don't want the mom to say, "oh, you know what, I want to keep this baby. If you already have two of your own, it decreases the chances. So we spoke with a woman named Darcy Swartz, who was a surrogate, a military wife. Her husband is in the Army. He is a master sergeant. And when she was 40 years old, she carried a surrogate, and she said that, you know, it brought in some money. She said she got the idea from the show "Army Wives," brought in money and also she said it was a wonderful thing to see the look on the parents faces that couldn't have a baby on their own and she gave them their baby. It wasn't her eggs, and it wasn't the other husband's sperm. So she was not genetically connected to the baby at all. PHILLIPS: How much did she get paid?
COHEN: We said that we heard that surrogates were getting paid about $20,000, and she said, "Yes, I was in that ballpark." Really, it's probably more like 20,000 to 35,000. You get paid more if you have been a surrogate before and you've proven yourself and you also get more if you're carrying twins. And a lot of these women, probably about half of them, end up carrying twins.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. Who pays for the pregnant woman's medical care?
COHEN: This gets sticky because Tricare has been paying for it. That's the military insurance, because well, the military wife is one of their customers and she's and she's delivering and they paid for it. But we spoke to Tricare and they basically said we would like to get out of the business of paying for surrogate's prenatal and delivery care. They want the other parent's insurance to start paying for it. so Tricare said we are going to try to hit them up for the money.
But you know what, that's going to be a hard thing to do. Because if a woman walks in and she is pregnant, you assume it's her baby, right? Unless she comes out and days I'm a surrogate. You assume it's her baby and you pay for the care as her insurance company.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's interesting in these tough economic times. Military, a lot of men and women don't make a lot of money and they have to go to different extremes to make money.
That's right. They say they do what they have to do, but they say, plus it makes them feel good that they are giving this gift of life.
PHILLIPS: A beautiful gift.
COHEN: It is a beautiful gift.
PHILLIPS: That's true. Thanks, Elizabeth.
Well, shoplifting, you might not do it, or know anyone else who does it but the old five-finger discount could be costing you hundreds of dollars every year. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a big coat you're wearing. Lots of pocket room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See you. I'm sure I'll bump into you.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Yes, the old "Five-Fingered Discounts," as shown in the movie "Empire Records." It's funny on the big screen but in real life, it's pretty darn expensive. And don't think shoplifting doesn't affect you, it could be costing you actually hundreds of dollars a year. CNN's Josh Levs here to explain just in time for the holiday shopping.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just to make everybody feel great, right? We are talking about some whopping figures here. There is this thing that comes out every year called the Global Retail Theft Barometer and it's from this agency in England that follows this, the Center for Retail Research.
Look at this here, $39 billion - this is just in the United States. This is the cost to U.S. retailers of theft and also of employee errors along the way. So nearly $40 billion, it's costing to the retailers every year, and that cost trickles down. We wind up paying more because of it. Look at this, every family on average is paying $423 extra in your bills at all of these retail stores because of this theft that's going on and these goods that are disappearing.
Now I will tell you this, figures substantially higher in the U.S. than it is globally. Retail theft is damaging the economy all around and we're talking about all steps of the supply chain. So the shoplifting, there's a also employee crimes, various steps along the way before those good actually get to the store.
In fact, here in the U.S. and North America in, general, retailers are different from the rest of the world in saying that here employee theft is a bigger than shoplifting is. Retailers are losing 1.5 percent of all their sales.
But I also tell you there's a little bit of good news in here. Losses are down, they actually dropped about seven percent since the previous year. That's probably because retailers are pumping al this money now into protecting those goods. They have increased spending to protect their goods by about 12 percent. So what we're seeing here is that there's a lot of efforts going on and Kyra, it seemed they are paying off but still a huge problem in this country.
PHILLIPS: All right. So what are they stealing specifically?
LEVS: Let's take a look at this. Some of the most stolen items are they include cosmetics and perfumes. These things makes sense. They're relatively small, some people stem them in their pockets, get out.
Take a look at this, there's also there's a lot of theft of auto parts. And again, we're talking the whole supply chain. Some might be retailers, some might be before they get to the stores themselves and employees. So auto parts and building materials, those are disappearing at a faster rate. Also among the most stolen things in this country, fashion, especially in this country we're told name brand fashion. Anything that's an actual recognized name disappears pretty quickly as well as accessories, going pretty fast.
I posted the whole link for you on Facebook and Twitter. Josh Levs, CNN, take a look there. And what it does is that it shows you from our folks at CNN Money, how this is trickling down to your wallet. So Kyra, it's good to see that there's some improvement in the effort against shoplifting et cetera. But still we got a long way to go when our economy is paying $40 billion a year.
PHILLIPS: Yes. A lot of cash. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: You got it.
PHILLIPS: Talking top stories now. Bank of America restarting foreclosures in 23 states. It reviewed more than 100,000 cases after complaints that documents were not being properly vetted.
Former Jetblue flight attendant Steven Slater due in court this hour. How can you forget him? You remember the outburst to the passengers and then he cruise down the emergency slide. Well, Slater has been working out a plea bargain, apparently.
Police don't plan to charge the former NFL star Junior Seau for driving his car off a cliff. It happened hours after he had been arrested on domestic violence charges. Police say neither drugs or alcohol were involved in that driving incident.
Now take a look at something that some folks thought was cool but that others thought was a really bad idea. It's United Airlines 747 flying really low in San Francisco as part of a Blue Angels Air Show. Take a look as it buzzes the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Now some people found it thrilling to be so close to the roar of a huge jet. Others thought it was too reminiscent of 9/11 and so others didn't like the thought that a commercial plane was involved in a military air show.
So have you ever traced your family ancestry? Well, there can be some real big surprises for those that do. At least that's what our Stephanie Elam found out. She's going to explain right after the break.
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PHILLIPS: Tracing your family history can lead to some pretty big surprises. Our Stephanie Elam found out firsthand when she decided to learn more about her ancestors. Steph, tell us about this and what gave you the idea?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I've always been interested, Kyra. I can remember as a little kid tracing pictures of my great grandfather, trying to like hold on to these records. It has always intrigued me, so maybe now that I'm a mom, maybe that's it. I wanted to find out a little bit more. I wondered if I took three different DNA tests, would they tell me three different things. After all, I knew there was a lot of stuff that had gone in to make me, me.
Well, the results that I found out were kind of surprising. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (voice-over): I'm going on a journey to find my roots by taking DNA tests from three different companies, African ancestry.com, 23 and me and ancestry.com.
The question is, will these tests give me the same results.
JOANNA MOUNTAIN, SENIOR RESEARCH DIR, 23 AND ME: Each of us have surprises hidden in this.
ELAM: First up, my mom's DNA, which each company traced back to Africa. African ancestry told me I have some of the same DNA as the (INAUDIBLE) people in Guinea-Bissau today. On my dad's side, the results were in sync but unexpected.
What this is showing is R1B, which is a line of very, very successful European men. The relatives there that we know of is John Adams.
ELAM: John Adams?
(Voice-over): But mountain put that into some perspective.
MOUNTAIN: It's the most common line in western Europe.
ELAM: Oh, but here's my dad. So why are his results so European?
MOUNTAIN: Many African-Americans have at least one paternal line that traces back to Europe because of the relationships between, probably, between slaveholders and slaves.
ELAM: So while perhaps shocking, history helped me understand the results, but the lack of a family history is often a reason why blacks trace their roots.
GINA PAIGE, CO-FOUNDER, AFRICAN ANCESTRY: We're the only group in this country that can't point to a country of origin. The only one. And so that's why DNA testing for ancestry has particular importance for us historically and psychologically.
ELAM: Ancestry.com's John Pereira points out there is more to every one's story than just DNA.
JOHN PEREIRA, ANCESTRY.COM: You really need to look not just the DNA whether you get that at ancestry.com or some other DNA service but you really need to look at all the family history.
ELAM: Genealogist Anastasia Tyler did reveal some history about my dad's father Roland, his father, John, and his father, Creed.
ANASTASIA TYLER, GENEALOGIST, ANCESTRY.COM: You have such strong people in your family tree. You look at Creed and John, who go from not being able to read to owning land, you know, born into slavery and becoming landowners, always improving themselves. It's quite a legacy that you have.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: It was pretty amazing to go on this journey and for anyone who's interested, I definitely suggest doing it. But when you take a look at all of the things that they told me here, especially about my mom's side, Kyra, the way they pretty much broke it down is that if you have some - it's called a (INAUDIBLE) test.
If you have African ancestry, that's what African ancestry.com is testing for. If you have some, they will be probably be able to pinpoint it. They're looking at modern day. So this DNA that I found relates to Guinea-Bissau, the Jola people there. What 23 and Me and ancestry.com was giving me my deep ancestral roots into Africa. All of it very fascinating. All of them pretty much in sync but each give me a kind of a different view point on the data that they called for me. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You got some prestige in that family line.
ELAM: Whatever. That's the thing. At first, you go, John Adams, but really when you think about the fact like half of Europe is walking around, western Europe is walking around, actually half of England is walking around with the same ARB-DNA, not so presidential around here, not really, no.
But what is great is to see that, you know, like my great grandfather being born into slavery, 18 years old when the civil war ends and then learning to read, learning to write, owning property, finding out that all these elders owned property is something, that gives it a well-roundedness that you can't really put a price tag on, you know.
PHILLIPS: Yes. What a fabulous story, Steph. That was great.
Thanks so much.
ELAM: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
This Thursday night, CNN's Soledad O'Brien examines how some are fighting the financial crisis from the pulpit. "Almighty Debt, a Black in America Special," Thursday night 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)\
PHILLIPS: Politics of anger, and the power of change. Congress bracing for what could be its biggest upheaval in years. Two weeks from today, Americans take part in the crucial midterm elections, and the control of Washington hanging in the balance.
President Obama is not on any ballot this election season, nor is the economy, but both issues are driving voters to the polls and to opposite sides of the political divide. Case in point, last night's gubernatorial debate in West Virginia. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RAESE, (R), WEST VIRGINA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: When you have laws like Obama-care, for instance, that will destroy our health care system. When I see a situation like cap and trade, which is so bad for West Virginia, and when I see things like card check -- when you look at T.A.R.P., when you look at the stimulus program that has failed America, these are programs that we need to change in this country.
GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRIGINA: I'm not here blaming President Obama. We need to fix it. The bottom line was that we had all of the states that were falling through, except West Virginia. The stimulus package was passed. We have been criticized -- I have been criticized for not spending the stimulus quick enough. We shored up because we knew it would come to an end. We did not support the second round of stimulus, and do not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: In the shadow of President Obama continues to loom. This time, over the governor's race in New York. The Republican nominee grabbed hold of voter anger early on and won the backing of the Tea Party movement. Carl Paladino has since stumbled in the polls but has remained on message by expressing the disgust and disconnect shared by a lot of voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARL PALADINO (R), NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not you're career Albany politician. I'm a builder from western New York. My critics, they want to say I'm angry.
No, I'm passionate about saving New York. Our government doesn't need a tweaking. It needs a major overhaul now.
ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We have to have zero tolerance for any waste, fraud, abuse of public integrity or public corruption violation, period. Enforce the laws. That's what I have been doing as the attorney general on both sides of the aisle. Democrats and Republicans. If you break the law, you will go to jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: With much of the voter anger aimed at the president and his party, Democrats are turning to long-time loyalists like union members, many of them standing firm in their support of the GOP's top target in the house.
CNN congressional corresopndent Brianna Keilar is in Pittsburgh. So, Brianna, what are the union members doing to get out the vote?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, they're very busy. They are operating phone banks. They are literally going door to door, knocking on doors, urging them to vote. Even telling them, remember, this is your polling location. And if you need a ride on November 2nd, we will take you to your polling location. Democrats hope this important part of their base can deliver for them on election day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): The warmest of receptions for House speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Pittsburgh to rally women union members.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We're not going back. And we're not going back, and we're going to win because the women of steel, the women of steel are going to help us lead the way in our country to that great victory.
KEILAR: Her appearance at the United Steelworkers Women of Steel conference is a unique site. These days, you are more likely to Speaker Pelosi here --
ANNOUNCER: Nancy Pelosi, an astounding 96 percent of the time --
KEILAR: -- in Republican political ads than on the campaign trail. For many moderate Democrats, she and President Obama are a liability, but these union women are fiercely loyal.
(on camera): These are friendlies that she's talking to. You're friendly!
TONYA DEVORE-FOREMAN, UNITED STEELWORKERS MEMBER: She's done a lot of good things for us! She rangeled health care. She did it with grace and with tact.
KEILAR: Because a lot of people are looking at the economy, and they are deciding that the Obama administration hasn't delivered on it. You see it differently?
MARY JANE HOLLAND, UNITED STEELWORKERS MEMBER: Yes, I do, because I believe that they have delivered. They have delivered some things. Are we going to achieve everything we want, in, what 18 months that he's been in office? No, we're not going to. We know it's a slow process.
KEILAR (voice-over): That's the kind of understanding Democrats need.
(on camera): Women are an important part of the Democratic base, and the reason that Democrats count on them so much is they trend toward Democratic candidates, whereas looking at men, especially ahead of these they tend to support Republican candidates.
And there's a big enthusiasm gap right now. If you look at the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 38 percent of likely male voters say they are extremely enthusiastic about voting in these midterm elections. Compare that to just 23 percent of likely female voters who say they're extremely enthusiastic.
(voice-over): Closing that gap won't be easy as union members tasked with getting women out to vote know all too well. (on camera): Can they make the difference?
DEVORE-FOREMAN: Well, in 2000, 22 million single women didn't vote. Had those 22 million single women gone out and voted, obviously, I think they could have impacted the election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And, Kyra, as we said, Speaker Pelosi has not made a lot of campaign stops like the one she made here in Pittsburgh, but her office insists she has been contributing big time for Democrats. How? through money, raising money for them. They told us in this election cycle, she's raised over $57 million for incumbent Democrats as wells as candidates, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Brianna Keilar in Pittsburgh. Brianna, thanks.
Behavior more becoming of cavemen happening on the campus of an Ivy League university. The school that gave us both Bushes, William Howard Taft and Dr. Spock. Can't think they'd be proud of this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Yale University. Five presidents have gone there, actors, scholars, leaders. Its global reputation speaks for itself, which makes this fraternity pledge ritual on the campus all the more shocking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUDIENCE CHANTING: No means yes! Yes means (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! No means yes! Yes means (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: No means yes, and you can look on line if you want to know the bleeped word because I'm not saying it.
And get this, that chant was one of the more G-rated ones. The pledges of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity were shouting this stuff in an area of campus where freshman women live. Imagine being an 18- year-old young woman in a new place and hearing that from your room at night. Imagine your daughter hearing that, hearing a gang of young men moving around in the dark chanting about rape in an area that's supposed to be a safe home away from home. Not exactly cream of the crop Ivy League behavior, is it?
It's morally irresponsible, it's gross, it's creepy and not funny at all, even though these guys must have thought it was. In this day and age, it's caveman behavior. To the national fraternity's credit, though, it has told the Yale chapter to stop all pledge activities for now, and the school has already held a campus forum to talk about Yale's sexual climate.
A couple of years ago, pledges from another frat went to the women's center and held up a sign that said "We love Yale sluts." And there was little punishment. The editor of Yale's feminist magazine said it best. Quote, "Please join us in asking that this time around, Yale take action on behalf of its female students. Yale's women have endured enough in this vein. It must cease now."
Well, Yale College's dean did post a response to our story on our blog. And in that shell, Mary Miller says Yale doesn't censor free speech but it does call for an environment of civility and respect. She adds that "at least 150 students, largely from the women's center and the DKE fraternity met to begin a dialogue that hopefully leads to mutual respect. And what is important to recognize is that the fraternity accepted responsibility opening a new level of discourse on the issue of sexual harassment. This is definitely an opportunity to seize." End quote.
We asked for your thoughts on this story. Here's what you had to say.
Eddie says, "I don't believe the punishment fit the crime. There should be re-education for every member of that fraternity as well as the pledges so this does not happen again. I also suggest that the chapter pay a fine for disturbing the peace and hazing."
Jan says, "The punishment fits the crime but does not restore balance or educate the young man regarding the degree of offense. At the very least, the boys should be educated regarding sex, power and gender. Education, isn't that Yale's business?"
Colleen says, "If these pledges were spewing racist speech or comments against those of different sexual orientation, you can bet that Yale would be doing more about this. That fraternity would be shut down instantly. Why don't women get the same consideration?"
Remember, we always want to hear from you. Just log onto CNN.com/kyra. Share your comments. I sure appreciate you weighing in on this.
Checking top stories. Let's start with breaking news. Former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. As part of the deal, he'll plead guilty to a felony charge and he must enter a mental health program. Slater, you'll remember, allegedly cursed out passengers then left the plane on the emergency chute.
Eleven people have died as a result of flooding rains from a super typhoon in the Philippines. That storm, now over the South China Sea and threatens to dump more rain in Vietnam and parts of China.
Later this week, the Obama administration announcing an additional $2 billion in an AIDS package for Pakistan. The new cash infusion is meant to upgrade Pakistan's ability to fight terrorists.
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PHILLIPS: This just in, coming to us regarding the Pentagon. Apparently there was an unknown shooter that fired upon the Pentagon earlier this morning. The bullets did hit the billing - the building, rather.
Two bullet holes were found. Apparently, a witness heard about five shots being fired. Happened about 4:50 a.m. this morning. Right now, we're told that nobody was hurt. The windows, bulletproof, of course, did not shatter. But there will be a press conference about 11:30 Eastern time from the Pentagon. We''ll follow it for you.
All right. Investigators are closely watching the end of the quarter earnings report. Bank of America reporting a third-quarter loss of more than $7 billion. Goldman Sachs reporting a 40 percent drop in profits, but still managing to beat the lowered estimates.
CNN chief business correspondent Ali Velshi joining us with that and all kinds of stuff going on.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I -- I know you and other people -- don't change the channel. Don't change the channel because we're talking about earnings.
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VELSHI: I know this is what people do. What are earnings? Why do I care about earnings? They are the report card. It's your kid coming home from school and telling you how they did in the last three months. Except your kid -- I'm not joking these days, your kid are America's banks.
Bank of America comes out - get this - a loss, a loss of $7.3 billion. They would have made money but for the fact they are down $10.4 billion. Why? This is what they say, because of a one-time charge as a result of new limits on debit card fees that are part of this Dodd/Frank act. So, they lost -- what does that tell you if a bank loses $10.4 billion because they can't charge you? Because they have limits on credit card fees? That means they were charging you a lot of money on credit card fees. You can just file that wherever you want.
Goldman Sachs, I think you've probably heard of that company, too. They came in with $1.9 billion profit on $8.9 billion revenue. The revenue is all the money they took in. The $1.9 billion is what they're left with after all of their expenses. They cite challenging market conditions. Poor Goldman Sachs.
Now, here's a company doing something right. I'm tired of being down on companies. One company is announcing thousands of new jobs created. Let me tell you about that. This is Intel Corporation. Everybody knows Intel.
Intel is creating several thousands of jobs by revamping a number of existing factories in a couple of states. Those will be temporary jobs, 18 to 24 months in construction, but they may be 800 to 1,000 jobs that end up lasting, high-tech jobs.
I'm joined by the CEO of Intel, Paul Otellini. Paul, thank you for joining us.
PAUL OTELLINI, CEO, INTEL: You're welcome, Ali.
VELSHI: Listen, this a big deal. In fact, such a big deal as a result of this announcement, had you a telephone conversation with the president of the United States. What did you two talk about?
OTELLINI: I don't think I had a conversation with the president this time. Two years ago when we made a similar announcement, he called. He hasn't called this morning.
VELSHI: Oh, he hasn't called you yet, but he likes -- you told him you liked what he was doing in terms of things that were creating jobs in the United States, and that's what you are doing now.
But you told one of my colleagues sometime ago that it cost you a lot more money to build a factory in the United States, a manufacturing facility in the United States and to maintain it than it would overseas, and three-quarters of your company's revenues are from overseas. So, why choose to build it in the United States?
OTELLINI: Well, about three-fourths of our factories are in the United States. So, we're not -- this is not new for us. We are building this generation of factories, at least these factories in the U.S. There's a brand new factory in Oregon and then retooling four other factories in Oregon and Arizona for a total of about $68 billion.
So, it's a very significant investment. It does cost a bit more to work -- build one of these factories from scratch in the U.S. It's not labor costs, as one might think. It has to do with the kinds of grants other countries would give you, tax credits and those kinds of things. What I have been calling on the administration is to is to consider doing those kinds of things for anyone who wants to invest in the U.S., whether it's a foreign or domestic company to create an incentive to put jobs here, to retool manufacturing in this country.
VELSHI: All right. You are not up to the level that you were in in terms of employment at your height, but you are bringing some employees back. When do we get back to that sort of employment? Because we know large companies like yours in America collective are sitting on some capital, and many companies, unlike yours are not deploying that. They're not building factories. They're not employing more people.
What has to happen to get them to do that in order to bring employment back up or bring unemployment back down? That's something I think a lot of our viewers are concerned about.
OTELLINI: Well, first of all, let me just -- our story is different than others. We actually did a restructuring the company in '06 through '08 before the recession. And we did that because we wanted to change the direction of where the company was going.
So, I don't think we have any plans to get back to those peak levels. We've exited a number of businesses to get to the levels where we're at today. We're very comfortable with the current levels in terms of being able to build factories and manufacture product for our customers.
In terms of the broader question for other folks, I think that is a combination of the economic climate and their view of the regulatory environment or capital environment to deploy assets. And right now I see us out of the worst in terms of the recession. I see very slow growth in the U.S. over the next year or two but positive, and on the on the other hand I see a regulatory environment that still is very difficult to build factories, to get permits. The taxes are not competitive compared to the global scale.
So, when you weigh all those, you will see people keeping their powder dry for a while until those get resolved. Companies like Intel have to make these investments because technology moves on.
VELSHI: Paul Otellini. We've just lost our line with him. But he finished the sentence, so it actually was perfect timing.
PHILLIPS: Perfect timing. That's what happens when you don't listen to -
VELSHI: Efficient guy, right? He said what he it to say, and time was up.
PHILLIPS: Time is money.
VELSHI: So, Intel hiring a whole lot of new people. A good sign. We've talked about this. There is money on the sidelines in corporate America. It's not being deployed. That's a good sign of money starting to be deployed. If can he see more of that, we might put a dent in this unemployment rate.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Ali Velshi.
You can catch, Ali, of course, one to three, Eastern time. We're back in a moment.
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PHILLIPS: We're down to just two weeks before the big midterm elections. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser following the latest news from the trail. What you got, Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I got brand-new stuff for you Kyra. Hot off the presses.
Check this out. CNN Poll of Polls. We call this the generic battle, the battle for Congress. We have been updating this; we have getting the most recent poll numbers from national surveys. Check out these numbers. Forty-eight percent of people in our CNN Poll of Polls said they would vote for the generic Republican candidate in their congressional district; 41 percent saying they would back the generic Democrat.
This is the standard question. CNN asked it, so did the other polling organizations. That seven-point advantage for the Republicans, that's up one point. It was a six-point advantage in our last poll. The polls last Friday.
Let's talk about former president Bill Clinton, also brand new on the CNN Political Ticker this morning. Former president today in Florida kicking off three days of campaigning. He was out West yesterday. He is the go-to guy for Democrats.
But is he more effective than his successor, Barack Obama when it comes to energizing and getting Democrats to vote? A very new poll out this morning by Gallup suggests that 53 percent of Democrats say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that was supported and backed and teamed up with by former President Clinton. That's five points higher than Barack Obama. And Clinton also has an advantage over Barack Obama in that poll among independent voters. So, maybe more people saying yes, we believe in Bill Clinton more than Barack Obama. Just a suggestion.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, what can you tell us about this CNN exclusive on the California governor's battle?
STEINHASUER: Yes, this is great stuff from our Jessica Yellin, our national political correspondent.
And get this. Jessica is in Ohio today. She's working on a story there. But she got the scoop in California. It's a brand-new ad out this morning by Jerry Brown. You know, the former governor running for the old seat again. He is going up against Meg Whitman.
Check this out. Reggie (INAUDIBLE) our cameraman, zoom right in here. Here's the story from Jessica, up this morning. Brown's campaign has a new ad out in which they take his opponent, Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO, and they basically compare Whitman to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the current Republican governor of California, who is very unpopular. Polls suggest that less than a quarter of Californians like and support Arnold Schwarzenegger - the job that he is doing. So, Brown trying to tie Whitman, a businessman - a businesswoman - to Schwarzenegger, who touted himself as a businessman.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, Paul, thanks so much. Next political update in about an hour. And a reminder, if you are not near the tube, get all your political news from our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.
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PHILLIPS: We're calling it the Brooklyn Space Program because it sounds a lot more official than The Backyard Science Experiment. But that's what Luke Guisebuller (ph) and his 7-year-old son Max did, launching an iPod into a weather balloon, letting it go up and up and up and away. Check out those pictures! The camera actually rolled throughout the trip, which reached roughly 90 thousand feet. Now, the balloon ultimately burst and then hurdled the phone back to earth. But hey, the GPS app worked, too. So father and son actually found their phone only 30 miles from the launch site.
Now, Tony, when you and I experimented, it was like throwing eggs over --
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Yes. Right.
PHILLIPS: You know. Remember that, with the little parachute? That's how far as we got.
HARRIS: But that was just me being a juvenile delinquent. That's what that was. So this is a legitimate balloon boy story.
PHILLIPS: Right. He wasn't in the balloon.
HARRIS: Yes. So it's father and son working on something good. OK.
PHILLIPS: We'll take it.
HARRIS: Yes. Have a great day, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You too.
HARRIS: It's me, the juvenile delinquent.
