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Election Day Approaches; Storms Pound Midwest and South; Indonesia Hit by Quake, Tsunami & Volcano Eruption; Blackout in a Can: Closer Look at Four Loko; John McCain: Campaign 'Rock Star'; Charlie Sheen Hospitalized

Aired October 26, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And as I was talking to Wolf, I was getting some news here just in my ear from my producer, news about another shooting, shots fired at some sort of military facility in Northern Virginia in Chantilly, Virginia. This comes just about a week after those shots were fired at the Pentagon.

I want to go live to Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence there.

Chris, what facility are we talking about and when did this happen?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, two things, Brooke.

First of all, right now, police and FBI are on the scene at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. That's out there near Quantico, Virginia, where there was reports of shots being fired at the museum overnight, again, FBI investigators still out there right now checking that out.

Also, a confirmation that a previous shooting at that Marine Corps Museum and then a shooting here at the Pentagon just two days later, those shots were all fired from the same gun. So, it stands to reason that there was one person or several people, one group involved in both the shootings at the Marine Corps Museum and here at the Pentagon in the last two weeks.

What does that mean? Well, that means the investigation is going to have to expand to find out some sort of motivation for these shootings. Again, nobody was hurt in these, but the fact that somebody took several shots from what we were told at the time was a high-powered rifle at the National Museum of the Marine Corps overnight, and then just two days later, also about 5:00 in the morning, someone taking six shots at the Pentagon, several of them lodging in the bulletproof windows here, stands to reason this is something that the FBI is going to have to take a much closer look at -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And I know, Chris, having lived in Washington, you can only get so close to the Pentagon.

Just curious with regard to this Marine Museum, is it fairly accessible for anyone to approach and potentially shoot at?

LAWRENCE: Well, the thing about it is, it's about 30 miles give or take from here at the Pentagon, but both of them are very accessible by the highway.

And if you sort of drew a line you could see the connection as to where, you know, someone may have just been along the same route of the highway, coming by the Pentagon and by the Marine Corps Museum. But, yes, as you say, you're talking about 5:00 in the morning, this time of year, pitch black outside, and for someone to make that many shots from the highway at that distance with a high-powered rifle, definitely something they want to take a look at.

Here at the Pentagon, we're being told that nothing right now is being done to sort of beef up security, but at the time of the shooting, about a week ago, the officials were telling us they were taking another look at the security protocols here to see if they needed to do anything else.

Remember, there was that shooting here at the Pentagon back in the spring, where a police officer, a Pentagon police officer, was shot and wounded. After that, the Pentagon did a review and right now they're in the process of sort of moving back the checkpoints. So the checkpoints to get in, even for those of us who work here, are further back from the building -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. Chris Lawrence breaking the news for us that there were shots fired at the Marine Corps recruiting station and the shots fired at the Pentagon, that coming from the same gun.

Chris, stay on the investigation. Keep us posted, will you? Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon.

And here we are at the top of the hour. I want to welcome the men and the women watching us right now on American Forces Network all around the world. We are going to move fast for you this hour so let's go, beginning with this fast-moving storm, violent tornadoes, storms across the Midwest ripping across large sections of the country.

Take a look at the damage. This is Indiana, hurricane-force winds, some up to 70 miles per hour reported in some of these areas, tornadoes now confirmed in Ohio and Illinois and reported in several other states as well, and then just in terms of power here imagine tens of thousands in the Midwest totally out of power.

To Illinois, where forecasters say the wind and the rain make up the worst storm the state has seen in 70 decades. We are all over this story, Chad Myers getting briefed on it now over in the weather lab. We will bring you updates throughout this hour.

Also, next, this just in to the CNN NEWSROOM, this big fire in Boston, here is what we know. The flames are moving through this empty textile mill. We're told they're evacuating the entire neighborhood simply as a precaution. It is not quite clear exactly how the fire started. We will get you updates on that story out of Massachusetts as we get them.

Next, police in Pennsylvania charging this woman for what they found in her living room closet. This is disturbing stuff. This is Michele Kalina, accused of killing five infants, keeping the remains of four of them inside plastic containers in her home. DNA evidence shows she was the mother of those four. Another infant's remains linked to her found at a landfill. And she apparently told her family to keep out of the closet, but her teenage daughter eventually went into the closet, told police exactly what she found.

I want you to listen here to how prosecutors say Kalina lied about her pregnancies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ADAMS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: She indicated to her boyfriend that she had had an ovarian cyst, and that is why she began to show. These remains were all badly decomposed skeletal remains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: According to police, the infants died from neglect, poisoning or suffocation. She is now officially facing charges, remains behind bars.

Next, one of the most recognizable faces of Saddam Hussein's regime will die by hanging, an Iraqi court sentencing today Tariq Aziz to death for his role in the hunting and killing of certain religious groups. Aziz served as Hussein's deputy prime minister for more than two decades until American-led forces invaded Iraq back in 2003.

Lawyers for Aziz say the sentence is illegal, it is wrong. And also worth noting here, Aziz recently gave an interview blasting American and British leaders for the war. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TARIQ AZIZ, FORMER IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Tony Blair and the son George Bush, they both lied on purpose and they both destroyed Iraq on purpose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Aziz goes on to accuse President Obama of -- quote -- "leaving Iraq to the wolves" because of U.S. plans to withdraw from the country.

Next, looks like Iran is getting even closer now to completing its first nuclear energy plant. And that is certainly distressing news to Western nations, including us in the U.S. State media reports crews have started loading fuel into the reactor core.

Iranian leaders are calling it a milestone. The U.S. and other nations fear Iran wants to build a bomb. Iran says the plan is for peaceful purposes only. The reactor could start producing energy by early next year.

Next, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was a raving alcoholic and watched porn to help fulfill his sexual fantasies. So says his ex-girlfriend. Lillian McEwan tells Larry King she and Thomas dated several years before he was nominated to the nation's highest court back in 1991.

And I want to you listen here to how she describes his alleged obsession with porn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LILLIAN MCEWAN, FORMER GIRLFRIEND OF CLARENCE THOMAS: I suppose I would call it a fetish or a hobby. It was on that kind of a level. It was something that was very important to him, something that he talked about. But, to me, it was boring, and I was uninterested in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: McEwan goes on to say she left Thomas when he quit drinking. She says that's when he got mean-spirited and short- tempered.

The justice's office, by the way, declining comment. Keep in mind, though, this comes days after Thomas' wife called Anita Hill, asking her to apologize for her testimony during his confirmation hearing 19 years ago. Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment back in the '80s.

Next, we all know train-vs.-car stories do not end well unless you're lucky enough to have a police officer nearby, like this woman did. The rescue -- listen to the train -- that's frightening stuff to think about it -- the rescue, the twist here that could get the driver in legal trouble, don't miss this one. That is also coming up.

Also, twisters, a blizzard warning, hurricane-force winds, what in the world is going on today in the Midwest? Chad Myers back to tell us a little bit more about this bizarre weather affecting air travel, possibly your day, and damaging houses.

That's next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: From the Great Lakes to Louisiana today, this 800-mile- long crescent of powerful storms fast moving eastward, sending down tornadoes, totally ripping apart buildings, farmhouses, roofs, leaving thousands and thousands of people without power.

Chad, I know you have been following these storms all day. I don't even -- Where do you want to begin, which state?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I will start with a snowstorm in North Dakota.

BALDWIN: Snow?

MYERS: A wind event with winds at 50 miles per hour for all the major cities, Minneapolis, Chicago, Dubuque, the Quad Cities, all the way up to Green Bay, a low-pressure center that is stronger than the storm that wrecked the Edmund Fitzgerald back in November in the '70s, a storm that has the same low pressure of a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.

And there it is right there, a storm with a front that stretches all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. And there are tornado watch boxes which means some storms could spin that could make tornadoes from Ohio through Pennsylvania.

Now, what I have been noticing is that most of the storms up here are lining up, which means it's going to be a wind event, all the weather coming through at once, whoosh, not so much spin, but I'm going to change this map to a different one of the South, which changes this to a super-cellular event, which means they are not all lined up. They are independent of each other.

And so as they are independent, they are not affected by other storms behind them that make them stop spinning. Storms like this called supercells spin a lot easier. Now, but we're not going to see F-3s, 4s and 5s, big tornadoes here, but this is Atlanta. This is Huntsville, right here Birmingham, Alabama. There are some big cities here that could be affected by big weather later on this afternoon and into this evening.

And, Brooke, I don't know how long -- how long have you lived in Atlanta?

BALDWIN: Oh, man, born and raised here, and moved back about three years ago.

MYERS: And when do most storms hit the South with tornadoes?

BALDWIN: Springtime?

MYERS: Springtime and in the middle of the night and in the middle of the night. And when middle of the night happens you can't see them coming and you don't get the warnings because you're asleep. Keep that NOAA weather radio on tonight.

BALDWIN: Speaking of not getting warnings and perhaps being asleep, let's go to Indonesia.

MYERS: Oh, yes.

BALDWIN: Talk about the earthquake, tsunami. My latest numbers indicate 112 people, that's where the death toll stands now, 500-plus still missing.

MYERS: Yes. Yes, 7.7 earthquake. We're talking about the Banda Aceh quake back in 2004, you know, our Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta, they were there for months, I think, hundreds of thousands of people dead. (CROSSTALK)

MYERS: This one was 30 to 40 times less powerful, with 130 times less energy released, yet still there was a tsunami that affected the islands here.

Banda Aceh way up there, and the Banda Aceh quake was so big, it made tsunamis all across the Indian Ocean. The tsunami with this one was really only along the villages of this island chain right there. And the water came in, it was about 10 feet high -- 100-and-something people missing, still to go on.

And then, in the middle of the night, an earthquake here, a volcano here. OK, it's a thousand miles away, probably an independent event, but a very big volcano that has been smoking for a long time, erupted in the overnight hours and it has been erupting now for two to three times today. There it is. Journalists we have reported, although CNN has not confirmed it have been killed, because they were going to take a look at it, not our journalists but some there, about 15 people killed in the ash of this, and this may be just the beginning of a very populated area being affected by one very big volcano.

BALDWIN: Yes, I know we have crews hopefully tomorrow get some pictures of the earthquake and tsunami aftermath. It's the kind of thing you hop a flight, take a drive, hop a flight, take a boat. We have global resources and hopefully we'll turn some pictures around tomorrow, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Coming up next the party drink that sent those nine college students to the hospital. Apparently, this stuff is so potent it's known on some college campuses as "Blackout in a Can."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's cheap, it's cool, it's legal, and apparently this stuff here, this stuff gets you wasted. I'm talking about a caffeine and alcohol drink, it's called Four Loko. Some people call it "Blackout in a Can" and investigators right now say this is precisely what made those nine college students so sick they had to be taken to the hospital during that off-campus party in Washington state.

I want you to listen to one of the students who was at that party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATELYNN ALLEN, CWU FRESHMAN: Everything was going fine, the music was playing, people were having fun and all of the sudden all the girls were puking everywhere, girls were outside like on their back, and people were so drunk they didn't know what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: I want to talk about some of the blood alcohol content of some of those young women. The sick kids' blood alcohol level averaged .23, that's almost three times the legal limit to drive. One girl's blood alcohol content so high she was almost dead when police found her in a grocery store parking lot. Now Washington state's attorney general now wants Four Loko and drinks like this banned.

By the way, we found that they've already been banned on one campus in New Jersey, Ramapo College. Seventeen students, six campus visitors have had to get medical help for alcohol poisoning since the fall semester started all because of this stuff, these alcohol energy drinks.

Elizabeth Cohen is our senior medical correspondent. And, Elizabeth, before I get to you and look at the medical ramifications here of this stuff, I want to read some tweets because this story truly is trending today.

Take a look with me, let's roll over to the Twitter word, we have a couple.

"I've tried it and do not recommend it. Went to pre-game, ended up no gaming. Too much of everything."

"My mom is just now warning me about Four Loko, SMH," shaking my head.

Jennifer tweets, "I worked a store that sold it by BSU. Could not keep it on the shelves. Quick cheap drunk for the kiddo! Sweet taste."

Also, "Have you tried Four Loko? They are a cheap and quick way for college kids to get drunk. The appeal and price are attractive."

And one more, "Honestly if you are not on board with your stat banning Four Loko, you have never tried it. hash tag blackoutcity."

Elizabeth, let's talk about this stuff. Basically, this is from what I understand, pretty cheap, like a $2 high. In fact, our P.A. who we sent to a convenience store to buy the stuff, said the lady said it was pretty much sold out and it's huge with college kids.

Talk to me about, you can see here alcohol content, you see that, 12 percent. What is this equivalent to, Elizabeth, in terms of, let's say, a beer?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, drinking a can of this stuff, Brooke, by alcohol, it's equivalent to drinking a six-pack of beer. So one 24-ounce can of this equivalent to a six-pack of beer.

So you have the alcohol going on and then to make things worse, you've got the caffeine going on. So sort of Mother Nature's way of telling you to stop drinking is that you pass out, but when you have all that caffeine in you, not to mention the other stimulants in this stuff, you don't pass out. You're going strong, you're partying on, and that's what's getting people into trouble.

BALDWIN: To me, that seems to be part of the frightening issue here. And if we can take a closer look, look at how big this can is, Robert (ph), take a look of the shot here. Here is a regular soda can and Four Loco. So the stuff is massive.

And your point, Elizabeth, the fact that, you know, normally, let's say, if you drink a lot of alcoholic drinks, one might pass out, your evening is over. But in this case are these young people just drinking and drinking and drinking because, at the same time, you're staying awake? Is that how it works?

COHEN: Right, exactly, that is how it works. And that's why there were reports from the hospital that these folks had been, these kids had been drugged, because they were so drunk they were beyond drunk.

And, Brooke, I want to add something here that you mentioned, people giving reports of young women who seemed to be the most intoxicated. That might not be a coincidence. Women get drunk more easily than men do for two reasons; one, smaller body size and women don't have quite as much of the same enzyme that men do, so they process alcohol differently. So women really need to remember that, you cannot keep up with the guys.

BALDWIN: We also did a little digging and found out that a couple of big name manufacturers were making drinks similar to this a couple years ago and they stopped, because the FDA had some questions.

But let's turn the tables, though. Have you reached out to Four Loko? What are they saying?

COHEN: Yes, let's take a look at what they said. We did reach out to them and they said a couple of things.

Here's one of them, "When consumed responsibly, (our products) are just as safe as any other alcohol beverages."

And also, in their statement to us, they made a point of saying, hey, we didn't invent alcohol and caffeine. Just take a look at rum and cokes.

BALDWIN: Exactly, but it just seems like, it appears that it's quite different. Though, some say if you have a couple rum and cokes versus Four Loko -- I don't know, I talked to -- actually, I'm fascinated by the story and I picked up the phone and actually got one with one of the young women who was at that off-campus party in Central Washington University. And you know, she told me she drank it, one of her friends was one of the gals who ended up in the hospital.

And just curious to you, Elizabeth, as a parent, as a mother, have you ever heard of this stuff?

COHEN: Well, my oldest child is 13, so if I have ever heard of this she's in big trouble. So no, I've never heard of it and I hope I never will.

I just think it's very different. I mean, obviously, it's not good to get rip-roaring drunk ever, but this is very different, because, one, it's also, it's very sweet like blue raspberry and all these other fruity flavors so you probably feel like you're almost like drinking punch in a way, plus the incredible amount of alcohol, plus the caffeine, plus other stimulants like guarine (ph) and other things in there. I mean, this is just different than having, you know, regular old can of beer.

BALDWIN: Yes. We will follow up and see if the attorney general ends up being successful in banning this stuff.

Elizabeth Cohen for us on this trending topic. Elizabeth, thank you.

Want to take you now to this story, this unbelievable video. How in the world did a driver -- do you see the car the train passed? -- how did the driver end up in that train's path and why did the police officer who saved her end up arresting her? That twist is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You want to know the definition of a close call? I'm about to show you this.

This is a car stuck on the railroad tracks. I'm going to take to you Magnolia, Texas. You see it there? A train is bearing down on it, a police officer rescues the driver -- there we go -- rescues the driver without a minute to spare. You saw the train totally crashed into the car. I know it's dark, may be hard to make it out, but it was very close. You can take my word for it.

The woman you see her walking out of the picture, she was behind the wheel. She was charged with driving while intoxicated.

The officer says look, the rescue was all, you know, in the line of duty, but his boss says he's being too humble. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CPL. JOSE LOPEZ, MAGNOLIA, TEXAS POLICE: Something different. Something different. It was a very loud noise, sparks everywhere, more like a Hollywood kind of stunt. You don't see very much out here in Magnolia.

CHIEF DOMINGO IBARRA, MAGNOLIA, TEXAS POLICE: He's very modest. He looks at issues when I talked to him. And I said, Corporal, you saved a life. Oh, chief, I was just doing my job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just doing his job. Officer Lopez, we think you do a great job and that driver should be thanking her lucky stars you were there in time. Last hour, we checked the Political Ticker from inside the Beltway, this hour hitting the campaign trail with Jessica Yellin. The latest on a hospitalized candidate, that is up next.

Also, two months here after rehab, is Charlie Sheen in trouble again? New York police reportedly found the actor drunk, naked, and very, very angry in a ritzy hotel room in New York with his ex-wife, oddly enough, next door. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have just gotten video in we're turning around for you. These are live aerial pictures of the Marine corps recruiting station in Chantilly, Virginia. It's kind of near Wuantico, courtesy of WUSA. There were some shots fired. In fact, we know, FBI on the scene right now investigating. See some guys investigating perhaps where those shots were fired, how many were fired. That happened early Tuesday morning or late Monday night.

This, keep in mind, happening -- and look at them, all in a line, obviously protecting the premises as they are investigating. Keep in mind this happened about a week after several shots -- I think it was six -- fired at the Pentagon last weekend. Before that, some shots fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia. So, FBI, federal officials investigating all of those.

In fact, Chris Lawrence broke for us last hour that the same gun was used in at least two of those shootings. So, we will keep our eye on this picture. If anything develops we'll bring it to you live on CNN.

Let's stay in Washington, though, but let's talk politics. Seven days until election day, and CNN has all your latest political news with The Best Political Team on Television. CNN Equals Politics. And Jessica Yellin, forgive me. You're not in Washington, you're in Colorado. It's tough to keep up with you. You're in Colorado, but you have some news that just came into us just this afternoon on California. Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, who was sent to the hospital. What do we know?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. In a very human note, Fiorina has been campaigning through her treatment for reconstructive surgery, which she had after she suffered breast cancer. We learned that today, she was admitted to the hospital because she suffered an infection as a result of that reconstructive surgery. The campaign says she's been in good spirits, eager to get out on the campaign trail again, and they're confident she will be released and hitting the campaign trail well before election day. And I should note, she has been on the trail significantly, consistently through much of these treatments, and they say she'll be able to do al of her work before election day, they're quite certain. So, party affiliations aside, everyone in California is clearly pulling for her to get well.

Switching gears, do you remember not so long ago we were talking, Brooke, about all the political trouble John McCain was in? He was in the fight of his life, we thought, not so many months ago, could lose his Senate seat. Well, he survived his tough Senate primary in Arizona, and as our own political deputy director Paul Steinhauser, he's now a rock star in the campaign trail campaigning for other people! His seat is so safe he's spending his time today in West Virginia campaigning for a Republican who is trying to win that Senate seat from a Democrat. That's one of those states you and I were talking about Republicans being hopeful they could pick up, and he's been in Massachusetts, Illinois.

The point is, he was in a fight, he's back. Political fates. They do change quickly.

And then I got to mention Colorado, where I am right now, because this might be the closest race in the nation. It is so hot that those outside groups we keep talking about, Brooke, have spent more in this state than any other state in the nation, $25 million only from outside groups. That's not including what the campaigns themselves are spending.

And it's between Ken Buck, a Tea Party darling, and Michael Bennett, a guy who has never ran for office before. Appointed to the Senate seat in the recent past, and now they're neck and neck. Polls show them in essentially a dead heat. Really, this one is considered so close they expect it could be a recount -- in recount territory. We may not know who wins this one til well after election night, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It is amazing --

YELLIN: Just some of the stories on the ticker.

BALDWIN: Amazing how quickly the tables can turn. That's why these next seven days are fascinating. Jessica Yellin on the campaign trail. Jessica, thank you.

We'll get another political update for you next hour. Also, you can get the latest political news. Just go to CNNpolitics.com and go to Twitter @politicalticker.

And when we're talking politics, you have your independent voters, your undecided voters, might I add, your angry voters. Who will hold the most influence at the polls one week from today? Joe Klein, star writer with "Time" magazine, hit the road to get that answer. And the result was pretty fascinating, if you're reading his articles, as I certainly have. We'll talk live with Joe when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Seven days from today, one week. The House, the Senate. Under capital domes in more than half of the states could look dramatically differently after next Tuesday's election. I say could because, look, we just don't know yet. The pulse of the nation is tough enough to take even this close to midterms. If only we could take a slow trip across the country, meeting voters, visiting their homes, eating meals with them, hitting the trail with candidates. Oh, wait, that's exactly what Joe Klein got to do. "Time" magazine's political columnist spent the month of September on the road, driving a refrigerator from Pennsylvania to California, and now he's joining me from New York.

Joe, great to see you, great to talk to you.

JOE KLEIN, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be back.

BALDWIN: It's great to talk. Last time we chatted, I think you were in Colorado. Now you're in New York, went on this four-week journey across the country. In fact, I read the trip exploded your personal Beltway bubble, which I loved.

But I want to talk specifically about how you got out there and you talked to the Americans. And I keep reading this is the year of the fed up voter, so I imagine you met a couple of those. What is making them so fed up?

KLEIN: Well, I think that there's a lot of anxiety out there. There's a lot of anger out there, too. You know, the fish shaking we see on cable news.

But for the most part, people are really worried that the country is in a prolonged slide, and it's not going to come back. That China is going to overtake us, that our kids aren't going to live as well as we have. And it was amazing to me, and it was very moving when I went out and talked to average folks how widespread that feeling was, and how unlike America usually is it was.

I mean, Americans are usually optimists. That's been our stamp in public polling over the years. Americans are the people who always believe that next year is going to be better.

BALDWIN: And now over the next year, they're hoping -- let's talk jobs here. The unemployment rate, I imagine they're hoping for better, they're hoping to be optimistic. But I read that you specifically on the job front, issue number one for people you met. And you met a man who had sent out 4,000 resumes. Tell me about him.

KLEIN: Yes, John McGraw. He was a great -- John McGraw, a great guy. I met him one evening in the suburbs of Chicago. He was 61 years old, former Vietnam veteran, former CEO of a small company.

BALDWIN: Wow.

KLEIN: And he had sent out between 4,000 and 5,000 resumes worldwide looking for work. And you know what? About six days after I interviewed him, he found work.

BALDWIN: He got a job.

KLEIN: He got a job through another -- I think it was a sales job through another Vietnam veteran. He attributed his good luck to me. I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

BALDWIN: But --

KLEIN: His wife -- we did have some really good sausages, though.

BALDWIN: Maybe it was the food, maybe it was you, who knows? But let me just ask you, though, Joe --

KLEIN: Karma.

BALDWIN: Was that more of the anomaly, somebody sending out thousands of resumes, or was that the narrative in terms of the economy and lack of jobs you heard from state to state to state?

KLEIN: No, that was the anomaly. And even the people who were at work are very concerned. I mean, I met with nine first responders out in the middle of Michigan. You know, cops, firefighters, health care workers, and eight of the nine had mortgages that were underwater. That meant that their mortgage was worth more than their house, and they were, you know, they were in despair.

By the way, this housing crisis is far more widespread than you know, because it's affected everybody's -- you know, housing value price. And a lot of people had put all their nest egg into their houses. And now, they see their neighbors walking away from mortgages which reduces their own housing price. And they're wondering about that, saying things like would our parents have ever walked away from our mortgage? What's going on here? What's happening to us as a country?

There's this tremendous level of introspection and concern.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about independents. We've been talking a lot about independents here in this election year in this last week now before the midterms. And if you read the blog 538, Nate Silver wrote about this enthusiasm gap, and I'm going to quote here, he says "This race most likely to manifest itself in mid- to high- single- digit advantage for Republicans. An edge that Republicans have among independent voters suggesting that they'll have a pretty good year."

Did you get that sense, and I know you were out there in September and perhaps they weren't talking as much about this. But did you get a sense from independents or people who were on the fence, you know, what this year? Not a fan of the president. I'm a little disappointed. I'm going to lean right.

KLEIN: Well, there's maybe you know a third of the public that just hates the president and thinks he's a secret Muslim or whatever. The rest of the public -- the attitude that I got was that they respect him but they were disappointed by him. They know what the Republicans stand for, and those things are usually pretty appealing. Lower taxes, less government, less regulation.

They're not quite sure that whether that's going to pull us out of this slump. But on the other hand, they don't really know what the Democrats stand for, especially since the Democrats aren't running on the things that they passed, like health care and so on. People don't know what's in the health care bill. They don't know what's in the financial regulatory reform bill. And they were just beginning to get the stimulus package because they saw all these road crews out there for the first time and made it hard to get to work in many cases.

BALDWIN: Well, having talked to all of the Americans throughout the country as they head to the polls next Tuesday, what do you think will be on their minds as they're trying to figure out which side of the aisle to vote for? There are a lot of races out there where you have incumbent Democrats who are in very tight races.

KLEIN: Well, you know the striking thing is that I think people are disappointed in both parties. I think it's going to be a Republican year. You don't have to be a genius to see that. I don't know how big a year it's going to be.

But there's real disappointment that the things that people really care about, the overall direction of the country, what we're going to do about the competition from China, which most people consider to be unfair. What we're going to do about the housing market. They don't hear their politicians, and they don't hear the president of the United States speaking about these issues. So, they're very concerned, and it's going to be throw the bums out.

BALDWIN: And I thought it was fascinating. You said every time you heard somebody mention the word Afghanistan, you heard China 25 times.

We've got to go. Wish I could talk longer to you. But I appreciate you coming on, Joe Klein. I hope you come back.

KLEIN: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: Thank you, sir.

KLEIN: OK.

BALDWIN: Still ahead, proof truth is stranger than fiction. "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen is hospitalized after a bizarre night in New York. We are minutes away from an update. Stay right there.

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BALDWIN: You know, as Jessica Yellin was recently telling me, some people were not very sure if John McCain was going to pull it through with that primary win. Now veteran campaigner John McCain hitting the trail like a rock star.

That is next with Wolf Blitzer.

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BALDWIN: He has been called a maverick, and now some people are calling him a rock star. I'm talking about Arizona Senator John McCain. Apparently, he's feeling so comfortable about his own re- election next Tuesday, he's out and about stumping for other Republican candidates.

Wolf Blitzer gearing up for "THE SITUATION ROOM."

And Wolf, you know, a lot of experts out there say McCain doesn't face that much of a challenge. Quite different from, I guess, his primary situation.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he had a stiff primary, but not much of a general election, and that enables him to go out and start campaigning for other Republicans, some of whom are his close friends, some of whom might be in trouble right now. And he's traveling around the country doing that.

He's also giving a lot of money away. I think about $1 million from his own PAC money giving to other Republicans. He's trying to help them.

Clearly, he's doing this because he can. He's John McCain, and he doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected in Arizona right now, so he's trying to help some other folks, some of whom are in deep trouble. But he's building some bridges, as he needs to do.

And right now, among that conservative Republican base, he's a lot more popular because of the positions he took in his bid to get the Republican nomination in Arizona, as opposed to some of his longstanding positions on comprehensive immigration reform, campaign finance reform, some of the other issues that, at times, irritated other Republicans.

BALDWIN: I was just in the commercial break reading the latest ticker item on McCain in West Virginia, or at least stumping for votes there. Do we know how many states he's visited now? I'm hearing 10.

BLITZER: I'm thinking at least 10 or a dozen. In West Virginia, he's trying to help John Raese, who's in a bitter battle with Joe Manchin, the incumbent governor who wants to be the next senator, succeeding the late Robert Byrd. And it's close in West Virginia right now.

And I suspect that John McCain, in a state like West Virginia, could help Raese, and that's why he's there. In the most recent polls I've seen, Manchin seems to have a slight edge, but still a week to go. And anything, as you know, Brooke, can still happen

BALDWIN: And I think you mentioned his PAC money. How much has he given to the RNC, Wolf? Do we know?

BLITZER: I don't know how much he's given to the RNC. I think he's given away about $1 million of his own PAC money, money he had built up in case he needed it to get himself re-elected in Arizona, which clearly he doesn't because he's way, way ahead right now. So he doesn't have to worry about the election next Tuesday for himself. He is trying to help some other Republicans, though, which is a nice thing to do.

BALDWIN: An admirable thing to do. So that is Senator McCain. Wolf, briefly, what do you have coming up on the show?

BLITZER: We're going to go in-depth. And there's a lot of irritation at President Obama right now for what he did in Rhode Island yesterday.

He went up there. He did not endorse the Democratic candidate for governor, Frank Caprio. He didn't endorse anyone else, although Lincoln Chafee, the Independent former Republican who had supported President Obama, seems to think he got an endorsement of sorts. He's running an ad between him and the president.

Some Democrats are deeply irritated. Not necessarily the president didn't want to endorse anyone, but because he went there a week before the election and sort of rubbed it in.

We'll speak with the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, Nathan Daschle, who is an up and coming star in the Democratic Party. He's not very happy with the way the White House handled this.

The White House knows it. He's made his views known to them. He'll explain this irritation. That's coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

BALDWIN: All right, Wolf Blitzer. We'll see you in six minutes. Thanks, Wolf.

But before we go, we want to talk about actor Charlie Sheen. He spent the entire day in a New York hospital after reportedly spending a wild night at a ritzy, ritzy hotel. Those details are next.

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BALDWIN: Celebrity news, you know, travels as lightning speed all around social media. And today is no different.

I just looked at my Twitter. Sheen is indeed trending right now. Reuters is quoting police that they found Sheen "highly intoxicated and incoherent" in the Plaza Hotel."

And that is why we're bringing in CNN Entertainment Correspondent Kareen Wynter.

So, Kareen, let's just back up for the people who have not heard the story. Why is Sheen in the hospital?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: A rough morning indeed for the actor, Brooke.

Well, first of all his reps, Charlie Sheen's reps, are telling us that he is in the hospital at the moment, and that it involves an adverse allergic reaction to some sort of meds that he took. Sheen's reps, they also tell us that he is expected to get out of the hospital tomorrow. But other than that, Brooke, they're really brushing it off as anything more than that. But here is where it gets really interesting, what you mentioned off the top, that Reuters report that police found him acting highly intoxicated and incoherent in his hotel room, his hotel room in New York.

Now, we're working that part of the story, Brooke, but we haven't confirmed those reports. But we do know that when paramedics showed up at the scene, that they transported what police say was an emotionally disturbed person to the hospital. They also tell us that there was a woman in the hotel room with Sheen at the time, but no further details on her identity.

And, you know, it's really been a challenging year for Sheen. He spent some time in rehab earlier this year for an undisclosed condition. He's really just days away as well in wrapping up his probation for a domestic assault case. This was from last year, when he allegedly threatened his third wife with a knife.

So, it will really be interesting to see what develops in this latest incident.

BALDWIN: OK. So let me back up. And I know this is bizarre and there are a lot of moving parts in the story.

So, his PR folks are saying it was some sort of adverse allergic reaction to medicine, other people reporting he was drunk. And I think you touched on this, Kareen, but just to confirm, had he trashed this Plaza Hotel, ritzy hotel room? Have you been able to confirm that?

WYNTER: There are so many salacious reports out there, we have not been able to confirm that.

BALDWIN: Got it.

WYNTER: But outlets like Radar Online, they say that he trashed his hotel room, that there was some sort of escort involved. And this woman claims that she used coke. I mean, just really, really sordid details. We haven't been able to confirm that outside of what's already been mentioned.

BALDWIN: Sure. Those are the claims. CNN is not reporting that. We're not confirming that as of yet.

Let me ask you about his ex-wife, Denise Richards, reportedly -- and again, I say that word, "reportedly," because we have not confirmed -- in the same hotel room -- or, rather, I should say same hotel, different room, and went with him to the hospital.

Is that what you're hearing?

WYNTER: Isn't that something? Denise Richards, she was in the room next to Charlie's suite.

She was apparently really distraught after all of this took place and accompanied Charlie Sheen to the hospital. She was on the Howard Stern radio show this morning -- or today, Brooke, and she mentioned that, yes, the girls and I, the couple -- Denise, his ex-wife, they have two little girls together, Sam, 6, and Lola, 5.

She says, "We have been hanging out with Charlie in New York for the past couple days." And said, "It's been a very eventful trip."

She also was interviewed by Joy Behar from HLN, so Joy Behar's show, and she wouldn't go into details in terms of what happened, what transpired this morning, but says, yes, she did accompany Charlie to the hospital -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I think from what I understand some of that they will be playing tonight on Joy Behar, on HLN.

WYNTER: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Kareen Wynter, live for us in L.A.

Stay on the story, keep us posted later on this week.

Thank you for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's end it up to Wolf Blitzer in Washington.