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Countdown to Election Day; 253 Dead from Cholera in Haiti; Shelby North Carolina Celebrates Livermush; New Hampshire Newspaper Refuses to Run Marriage Announcement for Same-Sex Couple; American Swimmer Dies During Marathon Swim Race; Spain's Siesta Fiesta

Aired October 25, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys.

And good morning, everyone. 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. I'm Kyra Phillips and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're going to get right to it. Here's what we're talking about this morning.

It's East Texas and a terrifying new video sweeping through the neighborhood. The 125-mile-an-hour winds destroyed at least five homes, four people with minor injuries.

And a somber homecoming for a world class swimmer who died over the weekend. Twenty-six-year-old Fran Crippen died during the last leg of the Marathon Swimming World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. They blame fatigue but investigation is searching for more precise cause of death. There are concerns the warm weather and high air temps contributed to his death.

And the largest newspaper in New Hampshire is refusing to publish a wedding announcement for a gay couple. New Hampshire union leader says it believes that marriage should only be between a man and woman.

But here's the twist. The state legalized same-sex marriage in January. The couple contacted gay rights groups and are considering their options.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just got on right here and just said, you know, Lord, be with us.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: His faith saw him through that storm. And today it faces a new test. His home is one of the five destroyed by a powerful tornado that swept through Rice, Texas. Home video here capturing the sound and the fury.

That storm system sweeping eastward as well. A large part of the southeast bracing for severe weather.

CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is watching it all for us. And we could hear the thunderstorms or hear the sounds from the newsroom.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. I mean the building here at CNN center was just reverberating from the sound of that thunders. And it's still going to come on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WOLF: So another day of rough weather. Let's send it back to Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks so much, Reynolds.

And we're down to just eight days until election that could change the balance of power in Congress. All 435 House seats and 37 Senate seats on the ballot. Democrats scrambling to hold on to their control in Congress so candidates are going all the way to the top for help.

President, Mrs. Obama and Vice President Biden hitting a dozen states in the final weeks.

Suzanne Malveaux, joining us from the light -- or White House, rather. The light house as well.

Suzanne, what's the strategy behind these final campaign stops?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're all packing our bags here. Obviously, the president, the vice president, the first lady, everybody is just going to fan out across the country.

This is critical. It's a critical time and it's a critical midterm election. It is going to impact every single one of us here, what happens in just a few days. About a week or so.

The strategy here is to try to convince voters that are very necessary for the Obama administration, their base, that is black voters, that is women, it is also young voters. So a quick stop in Rhode Island for fundraising, but then he heads off later in the week. He heads to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania very important state here. It leans Democratic. A Senate race very important there. That is because neither one of the candidates are incumbents so it'll be interesting to see how voter anger as well as frustration and unemployment plays out.

Then the president is going to head over to Illinois, his home state, Chicago. There is an open Senate seat. It's his old Senate seat. And privately White House advisers say look, you know, symbolically this means something to us here because it'll be embarrassing if the Republicans were able to get bragging rights and say hey, you know, we got your old seat there, so he's clearly going to make a stop there.

And then on to Ohio. That will be the third trip that he -- the third stop he'll be making, rather. There's a very important governor's race. There are also House seats that are up for grabs. Very, very hotly contested. And that's where you find unemployment. Big unemployment numbers. Kyra, at least half the counties in that state have unemployment more than 11 percent or so, that's above the national average. So they want to see how that's going to play out. That's a critical place to be.

But all of these places are going to be hit hard. They are going to be hit hard in the next couple of days because this matters to every single one of us. If you like the president's policies, as they say, you're going to want to keep the Democrats in control. If you don't like them and you want to see them reversed or repealed you want to see the Republicans win.

We will know the answer to that question in a little more than a week -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right. Suzanne Malveaux, at the White House. Thanks, Suzanne.

And if you missed our Candy Crowley on "STATE OF THE UNION" Sunday morning we're going to show you now how the two trailing candidates ganged up on the front-runner in the Florida Senate debate.

Democratic Kendrick Meek and independent Charlie Crist tried to show Republican Mark Rubio as too rigidly and conservative. Crist also hit Rubio on personal finances and Rubio hit back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: Any time we get into the issues the governor wants to turn it into something else because he's wrong on the issues. So the bottom line --

(CROSSTALK)

RUBIO: Let me say on the ideologue part.

CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: Why won't you release your RPOF credit card and clear this up?

RUBIO: On the ideologue issue, as of today I have now been --

CRIST: And why is there a federal investigation into your reporting income?

RUBIO: This is just one litany of falsehood after another.

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, STATE OF THE UNION: Well, why don't you -- maybe he would let you -- why don't you -- can you answer this question?

(CROSSTALK)

CRIST: Across the state of Florida for the past year.

KENDRICK MEEK (D), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: Why not release the full IRS records, the full credit card statements from what you charge? RUBIO: These questions have been answered now since February. My tax returns are public. I've gone well beyond the point of disclosure. The bottom line is, people want to focus on these issues because they're wrong on the important issues. This country has a $13.5 debt.

(CROSSTALK)

CRIST: He doesn't want to release them because he doesn't believe in transparency. I created the Office of Open Government in the Governor's Office for the first time in the history of our country.

RUBIO: I've never had a heck of --

(CROSSTALK)

CRIST: He won't release --

RUBIO: I've always had them in the audience.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Hey, did you understand any of that? Because I don't think I did.

CNN will have live coverage of another big Florida debate, this one for governor. The race is considered one of the closest in the nation. Our John King moderates that showdown tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

You know for years our reporters have been telling you that Iran has been funneling cash and weapons to the terrorists in Iraq. Well, now a surprising revelation, from Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He actually admits that Iran has been funneling cash to the Afghan government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: This is transparent and this is something that I have also discussed with even when we were at Camp David with President Bush. This is nothing hidden. We are grateful for the Iranian help in this regard. The United States is doing the same thing. They're providing cash to some of our offices.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But according to "The New York Times" it followed up on this story saying that those payouts account for millions of dollars. So what's in it for the Iranians? Karzai says Iran has, quote, "asked for good relations in return and for lots of other things in return," unquote.

The worst may be over. That's the word from Haiti as it's been suffering through an outbreak of cholera. More than 250 people have died, more than 3,000 have gotten sick. The fast-moving illness first showed up in the countryside. Health workers have been trying to keep the deadly water-borne illnesses out of the crowded capital where thousands of January's earthquake victims are living in tents and tarps.

CNN's Paula Newton was at St. Nicholas Hospital in the infected area of St. Marc's.

So, Paula, what's the risk to the capital of Port-au-Prince that this could spread there?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the risk is there. I mean five people from this area are now in Port-au- Prince. They had traveled to that area and became sick. Having said that, there are no signs that cholera has of yet spread to Port-au- Prince.

But, Kyra, considering what's happened here at the hospital that I am at where you had this hospital overwhelmed, people coming who were violently ill and then unfortunately 253 already dying, the good news here, Kyra, is that the death rate is coming down. The challenge, you know, that faces this country is how now that cholera is here after 50 years of being absent, how do they deal with it, how do they get the sanitary conditions up in terms of washing hands, clean water, using clean water sources.

That is the challenge ahead and they're going to continue to follow through to make sure that that cholera does not spread to the capital.

Kyra, we still have more than a million people living out in the open in Port-au-Prince and things there in terms of diseases can spread very quickly.

PHILLIPS: So what's the next big challenge in fighting this outbreak you think, Paula?

NEWTON: The next big challenge is, you know, Kyra, when we're speaking to people about their water source, OK, here in this community or even in Port-au-Prince they are told don't use that water source, it's contaminated.

And people would say, well, what do you want me to use? I need water. And that is going to be the challenge going forward for this country.

Cholera in a certain measure may be here to stay for quite some time. And what they want to avoid is what is happening and hopefully stopped here, having the violently ill people coming and then just die within a 24-hour to 48-hour period without getting any help whatsoever.

The health groups are mobilized across the country. The CDC, Centers for Disease Control, is here trying to figure what was the cause of that cholera. They're going to work on it.

It's so sad, though, Kyra, I have to tell you, there's been very little change in the earthquake zones here and for the lives of these people since that deadly earthquake struck in January.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep following it. That's for sure.

Paula, thanks so much. And actor and activist Sean Penn has been helping Haitians since January's earthquake. Hear what he's saying about Haiti's cholera outbreak. CNN's Anderson Cooper talks with Penn tonight on "AC 360" 10:00 Eastern.

We've got a story that's a real talker and we need your input. A newspaper will not run a gay couple's wedding announcement in a state where same-sex marriage is legal.

I want to know if you think the paper can do whatever it wants, end of story, or if the editorial slant has no place in the social section.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A junked house, a house of junk and a taste of depression all part of our trip across the country. First let's take a look at the little house that took on the Pacific Ocean and lost.

A storm pounded parts of the Pacific Northwest with such heavy wind and waves the beach cabin just couldn't take it anymore. It washed away into beach and -- Washaway Beach, Washington. Believe it or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN GRANT, HOME WASHED AWAY: We only bought the property back in '84. We had to sign a piece of paper saying we knew it was going to erode. We had about a mile from the water. So, you know, no idea how long it was going to take but we knew eventually, you know, one day it would come our way.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And so since they knew it was going to happen eventually they moved everything out beforehand.

Well, it seems absurd to say hey, my pile of trash is up to code. That's what the owner of the Cathedral of Junk is actually saying. This is one of those landmarks that keeps Austin, Texas, weird.

That's a compliment, by the way.

This place is so crammed with odds and ends -- mostly odds -- that the city was afraid visitors could get hurt by falling debris. The owner has removed 30 tons of stuff to get back in the city's good graces.

And the great depression lives on in Shelby, North Carolina. At least a taste of it. Folks there celebrating livermush over the weekend.

It's a pork-based product with corn meal filler. Think Spam before Spam was cool. This was something cheap that folks in the Piedmont area, North Carolina could eat during the hard times of the 1930s.

All right, now, here's a talker of a story. I'm going to want your input on this as well. It's about New Hampshire's big newspaper refusing to run a gay couple's marriage announcement. Now keep in mind, this is a state where same-sex marriage is legal. The paper's editors say, "Hey, we're not anti-gay." However, they also made it very clear that a marriage should be between a man and woman. Double standard or just being direct? Watch this story from Josh McElveen of WMUR. Then I want you to weigh in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH MCELVEEN, WMUR-TV C CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The day same-sex marriage became legal in New Hampshire, it was proud one for Manchester native Greg Gould.

GREG GOULD, WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT REFUSED: It sort of highlighted all of the values we had when we grew up. Individual thinking, independence.

MCELVEEN (voice-over): So, despite now living in New York, Greg and his soon-to-be husband, Aurelio, set a wedding date, even hiring a wedding planner to help out.

GOULD: There's still a lot of nerve-racking challenges that any couple faces when they get married.

MCELVEEN (voice-over): But one challenge they didn't expect came from the state's largest newspapers. Told by "The Union Leader" that since it was a same-sex marriage, the paper would not print the announcement.

GOULD: I was really disappointed because "The Union Leader" is a big voice in the state of New Hampshire, and they seem to be so out of touch.

MCELVEEN (voice-over): Greg even took his complaint to the publisher of the paper but to no avail. On Friday, "The Union Leader" releases a statement, saying, quote, "This newspaper has never published wedding or engagement announcements for homosexual couples. It would be hypocritical of us to do so, given our belief that marriage is and needs to remain a social and civil structure between men and women."

It its statement, "The Union Leader" says it is not anti-gay, and since it is a privately owned paper, it's important to note that it has the right to print or not print whatever it wants. Not that Greg or Aurelio see that as an adequate response.

GOULD: To specifically exclude same-sex couples in wedding announcements seems particularly vindictive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. So, tell me if the paper was being vindictive, as Greg Gould just said, or if it justifiably is trying to keep its message and actions consistent. Several things to consider here. First of all, yes, the paper is a private business and doesn't have to run a same-sex wedding announcement if it doesn't want to.

At the same time, this is a state where same-sex marriage is legal. A wedding announcement is just that, a fact that reflects that the lives of people in the state acknowledging that an event happened. It's not tantamount to an endorsement any more than running a story about manmade global warming is akin to agreeing with it, or running a negative story about a Republican is the equivalent of endorsing a Democrat.

So, what do you think? Does it seem like the editorial page is creeping into parts of the paper where opinions don't belong? Here's an idea. How about running the announcement, then at the same edition, run an editorial explaining why you think these guys are wrong for being a married couple. Weigh in, blog me. Here's the question. Is "The Union Ledger" out of touch, or is it taking a stand against gay marriage in New Hampshire? Share your comments at cnn.com/kyra.

An American swimmer, at the top of his sport and within reach of the Olympics, dies during a long distance race. A look beyond Fran Crippen's death and discuss the life that his friends are honoring today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You may never have heard his name, but Fran Crippen was on a mission to change that. The 26-year-old American was considered a star in open water swimming and appeared on track to make the Olympics.

But that dream died on Saturday. His body was found during the last leg of the Marathon Swimming World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Doctors say that he died of severe fatigue from the six- mile race. An investigation will also try to determine if high air and water temps may have contributed to his death.

Crippen has hit hard -- This has definitely hit hard in the sport and in suburban Philadelphia where he grew up in a family of competitive swimmers. Last night, CNN's Don Lemon spoke with his former coach, who says that Crippen's athletic gifts were nothing compared to the quality of person that he was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD SHOULBERG, COACH OF FRAN CRIPPEN (via telephone): He not only was a world class athlete, national champion numerous times, he got in the pool with GA and helped the little kids as a volunteer coach. They loved him. We all love him. We're all going to miss him immensely.

He's been a great friend. The last two years, he -- we had a cup of coffee after every morning practice, and we chatted about local sports teams and -- just a great guy. The open water community is small, close-knit, and the swimming community is larger and equally close-knit, and we're all in shock, dismay, saddened.

DON LEMMON, CNN ANCHOR: I can only imagine, 26 years old, really in the prime of his life.

SHOULBERG: Yes.

LEMON: Do we know what was -- what happened, coach?

SHOULBERG: No. We do not know. Whatever it says on the internet, is guessing. Nothing has been concluded, and we're hoping his body will be brought home within the next 48 to 72 hours. There is a stream of swimmers from all over the world coming here and spending time with the family on the deck of Germantown Academy. Very, very sad.

LEMON: So, coach, listen. We've been hearing things that maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was a heart attack. As you said, we don't know until the investigation is complete. But knowing --

SHOULBERG: That's correct.

LEMON: You've known this young man for virtually his entire life.

SHOULBERG: Yes.

LEMON: Did he ever complain about anything?

SHOULBERG: No.

LEMON: Did he have any health issues?

SHOULBERG: Not at all. None, absolutely none at all, to my knowledge. He was fit as a fiddle.

LEMON: I want to ask you this real quickly, because usually it's just for lap swimming, the water's always kind of cool. Eighty-seven degrees, that's pretty warm. Do you think that may have contributed to this?

SHOULBERG: I hope not but I -- I worried more about the content of salt in the water. Because the higher the content of salt, the quicker the athlete becomes hydrated. That's the thing that's ringing a bell in the back of my mind. But I'm not a physiologist, I'm a swim coach.

LEMON: Yes, so you don't know. Listen --

SHOULBERG: I don't know.

LEMON: From the little bitty boy, as they say, itty bitty boy to 26 years old, what are you going to remember most about him?

SHOULBERG: Pardon me?

LEMON: What are you going to remember most about him?

SHOULBERG: I love him. I'm just -- going to remember that. That I love him.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Here's another measure of how loved Fran Crippen was. When word got out that he had not yet finished the race, the swimmers who had just emerged from the water immediately headed back into the surf to search for him. Deep sea divers found him two hours later near the final buoy of the race.

PHILLIPS: Someone is floating the idea that President Obama might actually benefit from losing the House to the GOP. Pretty interesting. We're going to take a closer look at that in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's 9:30 now and here are some of the stories that we're talking about this morning.

Chandra Levy's death remained a national mystery for months. Now the man accused of killing the Washington intern goes on trial in the nation's capital. He's accused of killing Levy in May of 2001, when she was jogging in Washington's Rock Creek Park.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a tornado. We are in the tornado. We are in the tornado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Pretty frightening moments in Texas. This tornado was shot by Eric Meyers in Navarro County, Texas, about 50 miles south of Dallas. The twister was so powerful that it knocked train cars off their tracks. Despite the fury, only four people were hurt.

And sleepy siesta snoozers competing in Spain's first siesta championship. Why? Well, they're hope to bring attention to a tradition that is just slowly disappearing. Nappers won points and cash for snoring, odd sleeping positions and coolest pajamas.

Only eight days until the hugely important midterm elections, and it's getting catty out there. Check out this ad from gay conservatives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: If you thought house wives were dysfunctional wait until you meet the real Democrats of Washington, D.C. They're catty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table.

ANNOUNCER: They're arrogant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am at the -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, do me a favor, could you say senator instead of ma'am. It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title.

ANNOUNCER: And they're in charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American people voted for change.

ANNOUNCER: Under Democrats, reality bites.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Of course these elections will be more like "Survivor," or "The Biggest Loser," rather than real housewives. Right now a poll from Politico actually suggests that Democrats could get voted off the island next week. Among Independent voters, 51 percent leaning to casting their ballots for the GOP. Thirty-nine percent say they'll vote Democrat.

John Roberts actually talked about that this morning on our "AMERICAN MORNING." So on our AM Extra, we're talking about how we know how crucial the Independents are.

So what's the take away from the poll?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Yes, if you want to get elected you've got to attract some Independent voters. And for the Republicans to have such a margin, eight days out really is an indication that the Democrats are in some difficulty.

Not only are Independents breaking in favor of Republicans in that poll, it was a Politico/George Washington University Battleground poll that nearly two thirds of them don't like health care, have less faith in government, and don't think that the stimulus package is working for them.

I asked Hilary Rosen and Ed Rollins how they thought that was going to play out next Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't believe that people are going to throw a vote away. I think people want change. And I think they see the Republican Party in this election as the party of change. We'll see that a week from tomorrow. I think in this particular case, Independents have decided the election in 2006 gave you a majority, in 2008 gave the president a 53 percent margin. I think in this particular case, it gives us the House of Representatives.

ROBERTS: However, recent and early voting shows that the Democrats have less of an enthusiasm gap than was first thought. How do you think that will play out?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, Independents have never historically had very big turnouts in midterm elections. They do make the case almost every time in a presidential election. I think that what we're seeing on early voting is that Democrats are coming out, that the base is home. So we'll see. You know, I think some of these Independents voted for change, a lot of their dissatisfaction is that they haven't seen enough of it. That doesn't mean that they're aligned with where the Tea Party wants to take the Republicans in the House. I think this is much fuzzier than -

(CROSSTALK)

ROLLINS: If you're describing - you're describing three words that are the factors in this race. The president, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi, and Obamacare. I think those three issues are driving a vote to our side significantly. And I think the president, who's been out there with a very shrill tone, has had an impact on, he didn't change what Washington's about. If anything, he made it worse. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So will the president actually benefit from losing the Senate or the House to Republicans?

ROBERTS: Well, there's one train of thought that says if the president does lose one or both Houses, that he's up against a Republican Congress or at least a half, that he will look better in 2012 because he'll be fighting against an opposition. But then there's another school of thought that says no, you're better off to have control of Congress.

Does it help him out if everything is not the Democrats' fault in the next two years? Perhaps it does. But there are just as many people who would say no, it's better to have full legislating power and the ability to push forward your agenda so that you have your record to run on in 2012.

We'll see how it shapes up, Kyra, and we don't have too much longer to wait.

PHILLIPS: About a week away. Thanks, John.

Remember that candidate for New York governor? His rent is too damn high party? Grabbed all of our attention, didn't it? Well, guess what? We knew what was going to happen next. "Saturday Night Live."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Amid the nastiness of the election campaign there's also been a lot of humor even if it wasn't intended to be funny. You'll remember Jimmy McMillan's mantra from last week's New York governor's debate, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY MCMILLAN, CANDIDATE FOR NEW YORK GOVERNOR: It's a simple message, which I say all the time. Someone say, I'm a one-issue candidate. But it all boils down to one thing: rent. It's too damn high. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. So you had to expect "Saturday Night Live" was going to jump in on this.

(VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

PHILLIPS: Definitely -- well it's going to be a wild ride for the next eight days, that's for sure, until we get to the midterm elections.

I guess, Paul, we should have expected "SNL" was going to jump on Jimmy.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, Kyra, you give me a hard act to follow. How could I top that? I got nothing like that.

PHILLIPS: Give us something that's too damn high.

STEINHAUSER: I'll give you brand new stuff on the CNN Political Ticker. It might not be as funny.

Let's talk about the vice president Joe Biden. He's going to be in New Hampshire this afternoon, campaigning for a Democratic candidate up there. Big deal, right? He does it all the time. Why does this one matter? Because the White House is touting this as the 100th campaign event for the vice president this midterm election season. I'm going to ask Reggie Selba (ph) to zoom in right here. That story is brand new on the CNN political ticker. We talk a lot about Barack Obama, the president, we talk about the former president Bill Clinton. Joe Biden's probably the busiest man on the campaign trail for the Democrats.

Kyra, let's about the strategy in this last week before the election. And talk about California. And the NRSC, the National Republican Senate Campaign, I confirmed this morning. They are pumping another $3 million out there to help Carly Fiorina. She is the Republican nominee going after Senator Barbara Boxer, the three-term Democrat. It's part of the strategy. That brings it up to $8 million, the National Republicans have spent on ads alone in California in these closing weeks. It's all about strategy, Kyra, with eight days to go.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, any news about the Tea Party today?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. That Tea Party Express keeps rolling along. They are doing that cross country tour. Well, the chairwoman of the Tea Party Express, Amy Kremner, giving a big endorsement today to Tom Tancredo. He is the third-party candidate in Colorado. He's running for governor. He's part of the American Constitution Party. We all remember Tancredo.

A former Congressman who's very outspoken on illegal immigration. She is endorsing him today. It's interesting. It's a three-way race there. And the Republican nominee, a guy called Dan Maes is falling farther and farther behind. New polls suggest that Tancredo is only 10 points behind the Democratic nominee. That is a wild race out there. Her endorsement may make a difference.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Paul, thanks.

We're going to have your next political update in about an hour. And a reminder, for the latest political news just go to our web site CNN Politics.com.

All right. There's two billion searches on Google every day. How much information is Google keeping about you? Google chair and CEO Eric Schmidt talked about that in an exclusive interview on CNN's "PARKER/SPITZER."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SCHMIDT, CEO, GOOGLE: We don't read your Gmail and we don't know what prescription you had. What we do know is we keep the searches that do you for roughly a year, year and a half and then we forget them.

KATHLEEN PARKER, CO-HOST, "PARKER/SPITZER: You say that but I mean, can somebody come to you and say, we need some information on Kathleen Parker?

SCHMIDT: Under a federal court order properly delivered to us, we might be forced to do that. But otherwise, no.

PARKER: Does that happen very often?

SCHMIDT: Very rarely. If it's not formally delivered then we'll fight it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, check out CNN's newest primetime program "PARKER/SPITZER" tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

The siesta fiesta is in the books but it's not all fun and games. In fact, some are actually losing sleep over Spain's growing national crisis.

And flashback to this day. Can you guess how many years ago? It's called the greatest advancement for the American homemaker since the discovery of fire. A time-saving kitchen appliance that we just can't live without. Roll that beautiful beam footage, (INAUDIBLE).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now the most incredible microwave oven. It'll defrost, simmer, bake. It has a removable browning element. There's a temperature probe. Cooks a complete meal for four in less than an hour. It makes a cook's life easy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Can't forget how we get this (INAUDIBLE) in the oven door. Classic comedy. So would you believe 55 years ago today, Tappan introduced the first microwave oven for consumers. Needless to say it's had some serious staying power.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, with Halloween days away it's just the season to make horror movie mogul George Romero very proud. Around the world, there are growing reports of ghoulish flesh hungry creatures on the march. That's right, it's zombie time. Here are just of the sites from Mexico City's Reforma Avenue where legions of undead stumbled and staggered Saturday for the annual event.

Well, $1,400 to just catch a few Z's. For people who quietly honestly want to put you to sleep. That's what the winner of Spain's first annual Siesta Fiesta brought home when everybody woke up. Who is he? Let's just say he's really qualified.

CNN's Al Goodman, live, with more on this snoozer of a story. I should have known this is exactly what you were going to do, Al. But I know you better than that. You never sleep on the job. But you do appreciate a good siesta.

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Kyra, I just was trying to catch up a little siesta, it's after Spanish lunch hour here. Now, this siesta competition was very serious. We went over there. I must say that I was not an official contestant. I hope that CNN management does understand that.

But there was a doctor on hand. Hundreds of contestants at this shopping center, they put a little pulse meter around your chest so that the judge who sat on a high chair overlooking these couches lots of people are looking on could tell whether you were faking it or not. And the winner was an immigrant, a man from Ecuador, in Spain, an unemployed security guard who slept for 17 minutes out of the maximum 20 that you could, and he snored very loudly. He got a lot of extra points for that. So he gets the $1,400 to spend at the shopping center -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now Al on a serious note, have you -- I lived in Spain, I worked in Spain, that was -- you know, you had your siesta in the middle of the day. People were healthier, they were more relaxed. I mean, there is no argument that this is good for your health. I mean, they don't want to see it go away.

GOODMAN: And that's precisely why this group of mainly young people who've joined into an association called the "Friends of Siesta" persuaded this shopping center to hold this event. Now the siesta has been under threat for a long time because Spain's life- style has really changed. It's not the old Spain where everything shuts down for two or three hours in the middle of the day, especially not in the big cities.

And that shopping center is a perfect example of that. Stores are open, so people may still get a couple of hours for lunch but they don't have time to go home in the big cities, so what do they do, they go out shopping, they might go back to work early. And so this is why these people are trying to get the message across, let's not be too much like the rest of Europe, work, work, work, work -- let's try to preserve that Spanish tradition, the siesta -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Agreed. Al thanks. And thanks for staying awake for us.

Here's what we're working on for the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, beginning with meteorologist, Reynolds Wolf in the Severe Weather Center -- Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Strong tornadoes ripped through parts of the Lone Star State just yesterday and now severe weather is closing in on the southeast. Coming up, we'll bring you the very latest.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. A young American swimmer dies in a race in the United Arab Emirates. What caused his death? I'll have more on that at the top of the hour.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. Google StreetView -- apparently it's seeing too much. I'll explain that's coming up in the next hour -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks guys.

And now we're going to take a look at the intersection of political culture and pop culture. You might have seen candidates using TV shows like "Real Housewives" and "Glee" to help push their message. Could the days of mudslinging be coming to an end?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I had faith and I had hope and thankfully the Padres choked even then, it may have been the rally thong --

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TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh.

PHILLIPS: Come on.

HARRIS: They've got a rally thong? Is that what it was? Is that what he held up Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Wait a minute, I'm -- I'm looking at the old video of Steve Perry and it's taking me back to high school, brother.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

PHILLIPS: Look at this back and forth. Then again, I don't think we had thongs back in that day. HARRIS: I'll take your word for it, all right?

PHILLIPS: Sure you wouldn't know.

HARRIS: I was wearing the tidy whities back in the day. Is that too much information? For one day?

PHILLIPS: Oh yes.

HARRIS: Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Hi, Tony. It's nice to see you.

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: I'm glad I can't see the tidy whities.

HARRIS: Well, now --

PHILLIPS: All right, boy, World Series.

HARRIS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: A lot of money in this game for not a lot of action.

HARRIS: Well, yes, but how about this? The -- the teams with two of the biggest payrolls in all of baseball, the Yankees out, right -- and the Philadelphia Phillies out, and so we get these teams, the San Francisco Giants. The Giants haven't been to the World Series since, what, 1954 when they beat the Cleveland Indians, when they were the New York Giants playing their games in the polo grounds in New York. And you get the Texas Rangers.

PHILLIPS: Do you remember that, 1954?

HARRIS: Thank you, Kyra.

I remember the catch but only the Willy Mays great catch against the (INAUDIBLE). That's the Yankees going out. How about this?

You have a team -- there are Yankee haters all over the country, right? One of the papers after the Yankees lost, "ding dong the witch is dead". "Ding dong, the witch is dead. The evil empire has come up short once again."

PHILLIPS: Are you sure they're not just angry that A-Rod makes $33 million and they're out.

HARRIS: $33 million -- that's a team with a payroll of somewhere around $210 million. The team that makes it to the World Series, the Rangers has a payroll of $55 million. Don't you love that underdog story? Put on your hard hat and play the game, right. Pampered millionaires and they lose.

PHILLIPS: We could feed a lot of hungry people with that, I'll tell you. HARRIS: We really could.

PHILLIPS: All right. What do you think of this hockey fan playing a video game? This is one player so play. Apparently this video's gone viral.

HARRIS: Viral. So we're playing a video game, and what happens is I want to win this game, right, but one of your players is gumming up my results. Your player, right? So I get ticked off and what do I do?

I send a note to the team, the actual hockey team, in this case, the Dallas Stars, and I'm complaining. You know what, I would have beat Kyra in my video game if only your player, this Burris guy had played better.

You want to hear some sound from this story?

PHILLIPS: Let's listen.

HARRIS: All right. Let's listen.

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ADAM BURISH, DALLAS STARS: Alex, hey, what's up? Sorry I ruined your game. You know what though, when your guys are that slow, they get in my way. Whoever is controlling them, I don't know if it's you or the computer, maybe you should have a talk with them. They're in my way. It passes around my skates. It was a mess out there.

Get your guys going. Get your guys skating a little bit so they get out of my way all right. Sorry I ruined the game, but talk to your guys next time.

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HARRIS: Get it together. Really.

PHILLIPS: That's hilarious.

HARRIS: Yes. That's great, isn't it?

PHILLIPS: That's great. Should we bring a little Journey back just for old times?

HARRIS: You want to do that.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it's 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 7:00 a.m. out west. I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here are some of the stories that we're talking about today.

A somber homecoming for a world class swimmer who died over the weekend. Twenty-six year old Fran Crippen died during the last leg of a six-mile race in the United Arab Emirates. There are concerns the warm water and high temps contributed to his death.

A New York Congressman wants YouTube to remove hundreds of videos from a radical cleric. Anwar Al-Awlaki is known as the bin Laden of the Internet. Representative Anthony (INAUDIBLE) says that uses his postings to recruit new terrorists.

Now we turn to Texas.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the tornado.

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PHILLIPS: A terrifying view of a tornado sweeping through the north east Texas neighborhood. 125-mile-an-hour winds, destroyed at least five homes, left four people with minor injuries.