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President Obama's Election Pitch; Washington Bomb Plot Exposed; $4 Billion Spent on Midterm Campaigns

Aired October 28, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: As the clock counts down to Election Day, President Obama is hitting popular television and radio shows to get his pitch in for fellow Democrats.

I'm going to speak to Yolanda Adams about his appearance on her show.

And he is a star making his first appearance in the World Series. Josh Hamilton has come a long way since hitting bottom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH HAMILTON, TEXAS RANGERS: All I could think about was how to get and use more drugs. That's all I cared about and all I thought about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You're online right now. We are, too. Josh Levs is following "What's Hot."

Somali militants -- yes.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Somali militants, Suzanne, they've executed two teenage girls after accusing them of being spies for the government. We have all the details for you and the back-story. It's up right now at CNN.com.

MALVEAUX: Let's get started with our lead story.

Just five days, five days left until the midterm elections, and President Obama is taking to the airwaves. He's trying to rev up support for the Democrats.

Last night it was "The Daily Show." This morning, it was "The Yolanda Adams Morning Show." The president says he wants to continue this kind of progress that he's made on issues like health care, financial reform.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This midterm determines whether we're going to be able to continue that progress forward, because the other side, frankly, has said they don't want to do any of that. All they want are tax cuts for the wealthy. That's been their main economic agenda item. And, you know, no matter how hard I work, if I don't have some support from Congress in the House and the Senate, then I can't do everything that needs to be done to put people back to work and to help revitalize our communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Radio talk show host and gospel star Yolanda Adams, she is now joining us by phone from Houston.

Good morning. How are you?

YOLANDA ADAMS, RADIO TALKS HOW HOST: Good morning, Suzanne. I'm fine. Thank you for having me.

MALVEAUX: It's so nice to have you here. You're an inspiration to so many people.

I'm going to tell you first, as a White House correspondent, I'm a little jealous here. How did you get the president on your show?

(LAUGHTER)

ADAMS: Wow. Well, I was there at the White House in February. And I'm like, OK, if I need you on the show -- because, you know, come on. He's the president. If you get the president on your show, you made it!

MALVEAUX: Oh, yes. I think you did. I think you made it.

And obviously, we see it was back in February that you were performing at the White House there for the president. What was his message this morning on your show?

ADAMS: Well, his message this morning is that we still have to galvanize all of our energy to make sure that America, the United States is the best nation on earth. And he wants for young people to be able to have the quality education, that's public school all the way up to the college and university level.

He also wants to make sure that housing is -- does not go back into the slump that it was, and we don't have this predatory lending that we had. He also wants to make sure that our elderly have the health care and our children have health care that they so desperately need.

MALVEAUX: Tell us about your listeners. What are they saying about this election? Are they engaged? Are they interested? Do they understand what's at stake?

ADAMS: Before today, I think my listeners were more, you know, apathetic about things. Ah, it's midterm. We're not going to worry about it. It really doesn't make a difference.

And when President Obama finished today, we had so many calls where people were like, "Man, I didn't know this was important. I'm going to get folks out to vote. I'm going to get my friends to understand how important this is."

MALVEAUX: It's just five days away. Do you think it's too late, a little too late here from the president to get them to actually go out there and participate?

ADAMS: I don't think it's too little, and I definitely don't think it's too late, because the president spoke with such passion and such concern for the people of America. I think once you hear him say it on a -- you know, on a forum where they listen to us every single day, encouraging them, I think it made a big difference. And I think it's going to make a huge impact.

MALVEAUX: All right. Yolanda Adams, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Obviously, the big "get" today. So good to hear from you, as well as the president.

ADAMS: Take care, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Well, there was some lighter moments, but President Obama also tried to hammer home a serious message in his appearance on "The Daily Show."

I want to bring in my colleague, Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

Ed, we know the president sometimes can be funny. Sometimes he's not so funny. But he tried last night.

What did you think?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I mean, certainly you're right, he's walking a fine line. There was a balance he was trying to strike.

Trying to play along with Jon Stewart and do that, and show maybe a lighter side. But at the same time, we're five days out from these midterms, as you've been reporting. And the bottom line is, he wanted to make some serious points, reach out to younger viewers, younger voters who may be watching Jon Stewart's program.

As you know, the president has been out at these college campuses saying, look, I know you may have voted for the first time ever in 2008, don't sit on the sidelines in 2010. But some of these young people may be disillusioned. And Jon Stewart was tapping into that by saying, look, you promised all this change, it's been too slow. Are you living up to the hype?

And the president had to deal with that and sort of push back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": You ran with such, if I may, audacity. So much of what you said was, great leaders lead in a time of opportunity. We're the ones we're looking for.

Yet, legislatively, it has felt timid at times. I'm not even sure at times what you want out of a health care bill.

OBAMA: And this is -- Jon, I love your show, but --

STEWART: Great (INAUDIBLE).

OBAMA: -- this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you. And I don't want to lump you in with a lot of other pundits. But this notion --

STEWART: You may.

OBAMA: No, no. Look, this notion that health care was timid, you've got 30 million people who are going to get health insurance as a consequence to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So he made his serious point there. Then he was maybe a little on the defensive during a lighter moment when he was defending his economic team and said, look, Larry Summers is doing a heck of a job. Jon Stewart stepped in and said, "I'm not sure you want to use that, dude." He used the word "dude" because of the whole Brownie episode after Katrina doing "a heck of a job."

And it shows kind of the peril sometimes of playing this game with Jon Stewart, but on the other hand, inside the White House, they feel, to use another phrase, "Mission Accomplished." Because he got out there. He showed his lighter side, but also made his serious points to a lot of younger viewers who he wants to get out there next Tuesday -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And clearly, Ed, it underscores just how important this is, the midterm elections, and reaching as many people as possible. A lot of those people who watch Jon Stewart, young people, young voters. He's going to have a lot of people out on the rally this weekend.

The timing, it seems as if the president certainly wants to jump on the coattails.

HENRY: Oh, no doubt about it. I mean, you're going to see him very active this weekend.

He has got three rallies on Saturday in some swing states, some more Democratic states he needs to save. You've got -- he's going to be in Philly doing some canvassing. That's a state where they've got high hopes of a Senate win there. Connecticut, another big Senate race.

And then his home state of Illinois. He's going home to Chicago. Democrats didn't want him doing that in the late days. They thought they'd have his old Senate seat wrapped up. But it shows that they're still on the defensive here. Then he wraps it all up on Sunday in Ohio, a big rally in Cleveland. He's been doing some of these big rallies, but we're going to see whether or not the people who show up at the rallies actually show up at the polls. That's going to be the big question -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Ed. We'll be following it every step of the way. Thanks.

Our coverage of the midterm election campaigns continues this weekend, what you've seen about the Tea Party movement, those massive rallies, angry protesters, demands on elected leaders. And there's a lot you've never seen and don't know.

Don't miss CNN's unprecedented documentary, "Boiling Point: Inside the Tea Party," Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern.

Well, an alleged terror plot in the nation's capital. A Virginia man is charged with planning to bomb the city's subway system.

Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve is following the investigation in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The intended target, Washington's metro system, which carries 750,000 people every day. The government alleges that 34-year-old Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, wanted to kill as many military people as possible and cased four metro stations near the Pentagon.

He did his alleged plotting with people he believed were affiliated with al Qaeda, but they were really working for the government. As of now, officials say they have no indication that he was working with other extremists overseas or here in the U.S.

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, FMR. FBI ASST. DIRECTOR: The fact that he was arrested and the case made public is a strong indication that it's not jeopardizing any other active investigation.

MESERVE: The indictment says Ahmed provided video and sketches of the four metro stations and suggested an attack during afternoon rush hour to maximize casualties.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's definitely scary for me to think that something could have happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because there's really no things in place to keep someone from actually just coming into the system and blowing up the metro.

MESERVE: The investigation is continuing. Police searched Ahmed's Ashburn, Virginia townhouse where he lived quietly, neighbors said, with his wife and young son.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, you don't expect people that are citizens to do things like that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Our CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve, she is joining us from Washington.

Jeanne, I understand that you have some new information about this case?

MESERVE: That's right. We now have the affidavit in support of a search warrant of his home and his car. And in it there were references to an associate. It says an associate was with him as he did surveillance on some of those metro stations. However, a source close to this case says they still do not expect any additional arrests in connection with this case.

Also in here, allegations that he had firearms, including rifles and shotguns. And claims that he had trained with those. Also had taken karate in order to learn disarming techniques. It also quotes Ahmed in this affidavit as saying that he wanted to fight and kill Americans in Afghanistan and was willing to martyr himself.

Suzanne, back to you.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Jeanne.

Well, the Pentagon is boosting security for this weekend's Marine Corps Marathon because of recent shootings at three military-related buildings. This marathon is one of the world's largest. I know it well. I've participated about three times or so.

More than 30,000 runners are expected to take part in Sunday's race. Now, the starting point is at the Pentagon, which is one of those buildings hit by gunfire.

Well, you're not going to believe the mind-blowing amount of money that is spent to win your vote during this election season. What could you buy, right, with $4 billion?'

First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: OK. We had to reach back 82 years to find today's "Random Moment" in a Charlie Chaplin movie. There's been a lot of buzz about this clip from his film "The Circus."

Now, I want you to watch the person in the dark coat walking behind the zebra. What are they holding up to their ear? A cell phone in 1928? Seriously?

Or maybe -- well, I don't know. Maybe it's a time traveler caught on film.

That, of course, in our "Random Moment of the Day."

It looks like maybe they're holding a cell phone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, you know this: money and politics go hand in hand. But the amount, the sheer amount of cash flowing into the midterm election this year, is absolutely astounding.

Details from our Senior Congressional Correspondent, Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sure, there's a lot of money flowing in this year's election, but exactly how much being spent is mind-blowing -- $4 billion.

To put $4 billion in context, that's enough to send about 80,000 students to Princeton for a year. It could buy every person in America three Big Macs with fries at McDonald's. Four billion dollars is far more than the $2.85 billion spent in the last midterm election in 2006 and dwarfs the $1.6 million spent a little more than a decade ago in 1998.

OpenSecrets.org compiled the figures in a new report.

SHEILA KRUMHOLZ, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: The stakes are so high this cycle, that it's not surprising there's an intensity to the cycle that was perhaps reduced or missing in the last cycles.

BASH: Though much of the $4 billion is spent by candidates themselves, an eye-popping amount is coming from outside candidates' campaigns, political parties and independent groups. Four hundred thirty million dollars in overall outside spending. Only $31 million was spent in 2002, less than a decade ago.

And despite Democrats' complaints about being outspent when it comes to political parties, Democrats are winning. All told, the Democratic Party has raised $782 million, a lot more than the Republican Party at $515 million.

But GOP outside groups with ads like this are making up for that gap and then some. Although Democratic groups are catching up, they're being outspent by GOP counterparts two to one. Another fascinating 2010 trend, key industries moving campaign cash from Democrats to Republicans.

Take the health care sector. When the president took office, two-thirds of its dollars were going to Democrats. Since health care passed, the industry is giving 60 percent to Republicans.

The same goes for money from Wall Street and the energy sector. Just last year, both gave mostly to Democrats. Now, 67 percent of Wall Street money goes to Republicans. The energy sector, 74 percent to Republicans.

KRUMHOLZ: I think they've got their finger in their ear. I think they're looking at the changing poll numbers and seeing that the Republicans have a clear shot at taking the majority, particularly in the House.

BASH (on camera): Now, we should note that while the dollar figures are huge, they're just conservative estimates based on fund- raising numbers reported to the Federal Election Commission, and they will climb. Now, going back to the estimate of $4 billion in overall election spending this year, remember, this is a midterm election, and the amount is already about the same as the presidential election in 2004.

Dana Bash, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Five days until the midterm elections. Amid all the mud-slinging, the nutty ads, the strategists, the pundits, the talking points, it's easy to lose sight of what elections really are all about. They're about shaping what this country is and setting a course for the future.

On this show, we want to get back to the basics, so we're asking you to help us. A simple question: What does America mean to you?

It's a segment we are calling "My America Is..." Your personal experiences, your vantage point. What does this country look like from where you're standing?

Here's what some of you are saying.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My America is a place where free Americans are going out to vote as we speak. And that gives great satisfaction to my service in the military.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My America is the (INAUDIBLE) of freedom in the world, the (INAUDIBLE) of peace and prosperity.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Send us your thoughts and start your answer with, "My America is..." on Facebook and on Twitter, @TonyHarrisCNN. You can also go to CNN.com/Tony.

Or give us a call. The number is 877-742-5760.

We'll share more of your comments in CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, Josh Hamilton sacrificed his baseball career to get high. Now the Texas Ranger's comeback from his addiction has led him all the way to the World Series.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (NEWSBREAK)

MALVEAUX: And Josh Hamilton is on the comeback trail. The Texas Rangers center fielder wasn't slumping on the field. He was getting high off the field. Now he is a recovering addict and has earned the respect of many of his teammates.

Our CNN's Mark McKay reports they've even changed a championship tradition just for him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Josh Hamilton is one step away from every major leaguer's dream, winning his first World Series. Only for Hamilton, it's a dream he stopped thinking about a few years ago.

HAMILTON: All I could think about was how to get and use more drugs. I mean, that's all I cared about and all I thought about.

MCKAY: Hamilton was the top choice in baseball's 1999 draft, a can't-miss center fielder with all the skills to be one of the game's greats. And then he got hurt. Too much time away from the field found him hanging with a dangerous crowd, descending into drug and alcohol abuse.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Chen remembers Hamilton telling his story.

ALBERT CHEN, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: You know, the heavy drinking started, the drug use started, and then you had this cycle of failed drug tests, suspensions, you know, relapse, rehab, relapse again, and more failed drug tests.

MCKAY: Hamilton spent three years banned from baseball, blowing some $4 million on drugs before finally hitting rock bottom.

CHEN: One night he woke up from a crack binge in a trailer with half a dozen strangers. He had no idea who these people were. He had no idea where he was. He kind of wandered the streets that night and as fate would have it, he actually ended up at his grandmother's doorstep. And at that point, he had lost 50 pounds, his wife had kicked him out.

MCKAY: His climb back since 2007 has been nearly as swift as his demise once was but not as quick as a swing that helped him lead the majors and hitting this season and the Rangers into their first World Series.

IAN KINSLER, RANGERS 2ND BASEMAN: Just for him to get back in the position he is in now takes a lot of fight and a lot of courage. You know, at the same time, he inflicted it on himself somewhat, but for him to fight through that and to fight through the addiction that he had and to overcome it, and to be where he's at now is pretty impressive. MICHAEL YOUNG, RANGERS 3RD BASEMAN: I can't pretend to understand what he's gone through but as teammates, we respect Josh's decisions and we respect where he's at his life right now. And we try to make sure we put him in situations where he can thrive.

MCKAY: That means that the Rangers dowsed Hamilton with ginger ale rather than the traditional champagne after each of their playoff wins. It fits with the steps that he takes to keep him sober, including never going out alone at night or with teammates after games, never keeping more than $20 in his wallet to avoid temptation and being drug tested every three days.

He's obviously a guy who can't sit after a game, drink beer with us or go out to dinner and have a couple of glasses of wine or beer, so we try to do what we can to make him feel like he's part of the team.

JOSH HAMILTON: My teammates understand my situation and let's you know what kind of character they have, they want me to be a part of the celebration.

NOLAN RYAN, RANGERS CO-OWNER: We are really proud of him and understand that it's something that he has to be very vigilant about, but we feel like that it's a great story and that he - and he very much is committed to helping other people that have the issues he has.

HAMILTON: It's truly a miracle that I'm here in this situation. I've been blessed and god is absolutely the biggest reason I am where I am.

MCKAY: Mark McKay, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Well, are we over the worst of this week's scary weather? Your Halloween forecast, incredible pictures of tornado damage, up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Well, think about your experience flying this year -- I do a lot of flying -- and answer this question. OK? What company do you think tops Yahoo! Travel's new list of meanest airlines: Southwest, Delta, Hawaiian or American?

The answer just in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, the stormy weather delayed lots of flight this week all around the country. I-reporter Vic smith snapped this picture walking through the Minneapolis airport. Folks sleeping on the floor, waiting for their flights. Now, before the break, we asked you to think about your recent experiences flying and then answer this question. What company do you think tops Yahoo! Travel's new list of meanest airlines? Southwest, Delta, Hawaiian or American? And the answer is?

Chad? Any guesses?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I would rule out Hawaiian. Because you're already in a good mood. You're in Hawaii. Right?

I would rule out Southwest, because they dance on the wings. So, those guys are having fun. And then American and Delta --

MALVEAUX: So, it's Delta. It says that it's Delta. Yahoo! Travel looked at airlines' on time arrival rates, mishandled baggage rates and flight delays. Delta was number one in delays and consumer complaints. Yahoo! ranked Hawaiian Airlines -- you were right -- as the best airline.

I tell you, Chad, just getting here, I won't name the airline, and I know it was really bad weather. But I was coming from Los Angeles here to Atlanta. We were sitting on the tarmac for like, two- and-a-half hours just waiting for those planes to come through. Hour- and-a-half for the bags. I was thankful that I got my bag. Then an hour to get out here.

MYERS: That's the problem, right?

MALVEAUX: It was a nightmare. When bad weather happens, everything gets jammed up.

MYERS: And your plane that you think is going to be okay because you're in Seattle, my weather is great -- the problem is that plane came from Atlanta and it never left. You're just -- everything gets so discombobulated when it comes to bad weather like that.

MALVEAUX: I have to say, they were nice to us. Because we're on the tarmac waiting. So, they gave us some water and cookies to be quiet

MYERS: That picture from Minneapolis was telling. I always say take a book for your patience. I never think about take an air mattress.

MALVEAUX: There you go. Sometimes you need it. Yes. Fortunately, nobody had a meltdown. So, we were good.

MYERS: Glad you're here.

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Chad.

In the final days before the midterm elections, millions of dollars are being poured into ads that play on people's biggest fears. Many of these ads are targeting women.

Our Josh Levs is here along with CNN's expert on political ads, Evan Tracy of Campaign Media Analysis Group. Josh, why do we see this happening? Explain to us, what are we looking at first?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's start off with a clip from one of these ads. These are a really good example of wherever you live, you've probably been seeing ads like this. This one here is -- you know what? Let's go to the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was my niece. If Senator Nathan Deal had won his fight to weaken the rape shield law and my niece took the stand, she would have been forced to defend what she wore, and that she didn't deserve to be raped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Just the pictures in this ad. And I'll tell you a little bit more about it. This is here in Georgia, ad paid for by the Democratic Party of Georgia, targeting Republican candidate Nathan Deal. And Democratic candidate Roy Barnes authorized this ad. Nathan Deal obviously rejected it.

Now, there's a group called PolitiFact.com that did a fact check about the claims in this. They said Deal did not fight to help rapists or hurt victims but did invest capital as number two on the state's Senate on behalf of a law that weakened the Rape Shield Act.

Evan, this year, this is part of a phenomenon we're seeing this campaign season. These ads targeting women. And you say many of these ads, most of these ads are coming from the Democratic side. Why is that?

EVAN TRACEY, CAMPAIGN MEDIA ANALYSIS GROUP: Well, this is a time of year where you look at these political ads and you have to reverse engineer them to figure out who the campaigns are targeting. Absolutely women right now. Especially single women. It's been a very reliable voting block for Democrats. They went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008. So, what you're seeing is a lot of these campaign ads right now from Democrats in tight races are really trying to go out there and get these women to the polls any way they can.

LEVS: Yes. So, it's interesting. When you look at the way this is shaking out, you've talked about how incredibly much money has been going into this as well.

I'll tell you what. Let's take a look at one more example of another ad here. Then we'll bring Suzanne a bigger picture here. This ad here is from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. This one is in Nevada, targeting Republican Joe Heck, a doctor who's running for Congress. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Risk factors for getting cervical cancer. Our Congressman shouldn't be one of them. Joe Heck voted to let insurance companies deny coverage for a vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Now, he has assailed this ad, saying virtually all of Nevada's health plans covered that vaccine without a mandate.

And Evan, my question to you, we understand Democrats are trying to target women in this age group, and this is why you're seeing this. And I in fact saw a Pew Form study that said women favor Democrats by three percentage points. So, you can see why a lot of Democratic groups would go after women.

Is this working? Are these fear tactics working in this election cycle?

TRACEY: Well, you know, advertising and especially political advertising is engineered and designed to make that emotional connection with voters. So, when you look at this ad and you look at the ad from Barnes previously, you know, they're not soft selling these issues. They're going straight towards women with these kind of visuals, really trying to get them motivated and out to the polls.

As the president goes on things like "The Daily Show" and then the radio talk shows, you can really see that Democrats are working right now to get their most reliable voters out to overcome some of this enthusiasm gap we hear so much about.

MALVEAUX: Evan, it doesn't seem like it's just social issues for women. It seems like also you see these ads and they really are playing on the fear of the pocketbook, the economics. Am I going to lose my job? Am I going to be able to support my family?

Are those the ones that are really resonating with female voters?

TRACEY: Yes. That's the one thing I think we'd say as somebody who looks at and codes hundred of ads a day from these candidates, you actually don't see as many ads as you would think in this economy aimed at women voters on those pocketbook issues.

Now, this has certainly been an election where a lot of rhetoric and a lot of the ads are aimed at people with jobs that are worried about losing jobs. Kind of this economically insecure voter. But the ones we're seeing right now targeted to women voters are really trying to hit some issues I think that hit very close to home.

LEVS: Evan, you followed the correlation. This is so interesting. You follow the correlation what's going on in the ads. Billions of dollars flying around. And what's going on in the polls.

When you look at these polls and you look at these ads, are you seeing certain themes that are incredibly successful this year different from other years? Are you seeing this kind of fear, this kind of reaching out to women is more successful this time around than it is in previous election cycles?

TRACEY: You know, I think we'll see on election day. What you see from doing the content analysis of these ads right now is that really if Democrats are looking to get their people, get their most reliable voters out to the polls, we'll see if sort of these lines of attack actually work in some of these close races.

But really where you see these races tighten, you see these kind of ads, they're really going to make that emotional connection, try and get women basically motivated to go to the polls this year. If not to vote for somebody, to vote against somebody.

MALVEAUX: All right. Evan, Josh, thank you so much. Obviously a lot of different types of ads. But clearly a lot that are playing on the fears and fears of women in particular.

Well, it's a job that is so dangerous that no man would take it. So, it was a woman who had to step up. Meet the 20-year-old police chief in one of Mexico's most drug infested areas. She's a student, a mom, and she's never fired a gun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A 20-year-old woman steps up to take charge of law enforcement in one of the most violent, drug-infested areas in Mexico. CNN's Kaj Larsen reports it's a job that no man would take.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAJ LARSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Its early morning just over the border into Mexico. It's one of the most violent areas in the country. We are headed 60 miles south of El Paso, Texas into Mexico, into the Juarez Valley, which is sometimes known by its more sinister moniker, "The Valley of Death".

Meet Marisol Valles Garcia, a 20-year-old university student and mother of a 7-month-old, and almost by accident, she's also the chief of police. Yes, this criminology student with no law enforcement experience is now chief of police in one of the most violent areas in the world.

(on camera): What does your job entail? What do you -- what do you do in your job a police chief?

MARISOL VALLES GARCIA, CHIEF OF POLICE, JUAREZ VALLEY, NEW MEXICO (through translator): We divide the town into nine different parts so the police officers go around town.

LARSEN (voice-over): Thirteen officers, nine of them women in this town of about 8,000. Praxedis has been plagued by violence from the drug war, almost 2,500 killed in the valley just this year. It's been without a police chief for almost 18 months. Why? because no one else would take the job.

(on camera): Are you afraid of the drug traffickers -- are you afraid of the cartels?

GARCIA (through translator): I have fear. I'm afraid for my security but this is natural for the chief of police.

LARSEN: That may be true, but this place is anything but natural.

(on camera): Just to give you an idea of how acutely dangerous Chief Valles Garcia's job actually is, her predecessor in the position, the former chief police, he was abducted and then murdered and they took his head and they placed it in a cardboard box and placed it right here outside the building.

(voice-over): Walk around the police station, and you quickly get a sense of what feels like a David versus Goliath struggle.

GARCIA (through translator): This is the weapons bank. We're going to get new weapons but right now we don't have many. We have two pistols.

LARSEN (on camera): Do you know how to shoot a gun?

GARCIA: No.

LARSEN: Have you ever shot a gun?

GARCIA: No.

LARSEN: This is their one police vehicle and you can see there's a bunch of bullet holes just in -- in their vehicle alone, a small caliber bullet holes right here, right here, right here.

(voice-over): Even the entrance to the police station which Chief Valles Garcia walks through every day was shot up.

(on camera): You work underneath the photograph of a man who was killed by the cartels. It must be on her mind.

GARCIA: Yes, I'm afraid but we're very focused on prevention.

LARSEN (voice-over): Instead of fighting the cartels head on, this young woman is taking a more indirect approach. She is the face of a team of women who are going out into the community directly to talk to residents about stopping the violence.

I loaded up with some of them who wanted their identities protected because they're scared of retaliation.

Tell me about this job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think it's great because we're going to help some people to have opportunities not to be scared anymore --

LARSEN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- because all the people are just afraid to be outside.

LARSEN: it's because of the drug violence that they're scared?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. LARSEN: Has there been a lot of killings here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LARSEN: When you think about fighting the drug war in Mexico, you think about the federals and the Mexican Army versus the cartels, but that strategy thus far has proved to be fairly ineffective. Since 2007, almost 30,000 people have died in Mexico due to the drug violence.

A lot of killing, a lot of danger, but this is now more than just a job to Marisol.

GARCIA: At the beginning, I didn't think about the risk of becoming a police chief but I wanted the job because of my young son. It's part of my dream to establish the calm and create the peace. I don't care about my age. I care more about what's in my heart. That's why I'm doing it.

Kaj Larsen, CNN, in the Juarez Valley, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Well, don't expect Karl Rove to help Sarah Palin plan her White House strategy. He says that she doesn't have what it takes. Details in our political update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Five days until Election Day. Is this the year of the woman or not? Jessica Yellin, part of "The Best Political Team On Television," joins us live from the political desk in Washington.

Hey, Jessica, good to see you. What's crossing now?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Suzanne. Great to see you. You look great behind the anchor desk in Atlanta.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

YELLIN: One of the big stories coming up, you know, it's fun, is, you know, Jon Stewart is here in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the Rally to Restore Sanity. And the Democratic National Committee is trying to capitalize on the crowds he's bringing. They're guessing there're going to be progressives, so they're holding a phone bank and inviting some of the volunteers to come in and dial people to get out the vote. They're also going to be signing up people, they say, so that they can try to get out the vote in their own states. So every single party around the country, Suzanne, is working on their get out the vote efforts like I've never seen because they think some of these races could be won by as few as 1,000 votes.

You mentioned, is this the year of the woman? Well, the simple answer is, no. OK, I'll tell you why. Even though we're hearing about a lot of these big name women, Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell, Meg Whitman, who are capturing a lot of attention, if you crunch the numbers, after this election, it looks like there will actually be fewer women elected to Congress than before the election. That will be the first time in 30 years women have seen a backslide in the number of them elected to Congress.

MALVEAUX: Really?

YELLIN: One of the big reasons -- yes. One of the big reasons is, last time around, 160 women elected to office are now up for re- election. More of them are Democrats than Republicans. And because it's such a tough year for Democrats, there's an expectation a lot of them will get wiped out of office. The one, you know, balancing out good news is, I mean this not in a partisan sense, but there are many more Republican women running this year, so maybe we'll start to see equal numbers of women on both parties and growth in the total numbers of women in office over time. But not a good year for women in the end.

MALVEAUX: OK.

YELLIN: And here's -- yes, right.

And here's one famous woman in the news -- Sarah Palin. You know, she's had some words with Karl Rove in the past. Well, Karl Rove is now quoted in a British newspaper saying that Sarah Palin lacks gravitas. That voters want to know that whoever's in the president's office, the Oval Office, has what it takes to be there and she just lacks that gravitas. He's gotten in some hot water for criticizing the Tea Party in the past. And I have a feeling we should probably watch our Twitter pages to see if Sarah Palin has a tweet in response to his comments coming up, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Jessica. They're already bouncing forward to 2012. We'll be watching out for our Twitter pages. Thanks.

Well, your next political update coming up in just one hour. For the latest political news, go to cnnpolitics.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Josh Levs is handling the "What's Hot" duties.

LEVS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Want to tell you, you know, what's hot? That's pretty cool.

LEVS: And this is hot. This police officer.

MALVEAUX: This police officer story.

LEVS: She's off getting her hair done. And what she ends up doing is pretty heroic. We have the story. I know it's tiny on your screen. We need to take this full but we have -- there. That's the salon. Take a look at this. All right, so she was basically getting her hair done and she stopped an attempted robbery in this beauty salon. Her name is detective Ferris Jones. And this happened Saturday. A guy walks in with a gun and said, this is a robbery. I will kill you. Orders everyone to the bathroom. She comes out with her weapon drawn. The suspect fires on her, just missing her head. She fires back, shooting him in the hand. So he drops his weapon. Then she shoots at the door in order to trap him inside the salon.

MALVEAUX: You're kidding.

LEVS: And this is the first time --

MALVEAUX: You've got to be kidding.

LEVS: She's ever had to fire her weapon at anyone. Twenty years of duty.

MALVEAUX: It sounds like a movie or something, you know?

LEVS: It will be now. Or an episode of something.

He broke a window and got out, but then he was picked up a couple days later. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has now promoted her to detective. So, good for her.

MALVEAUX: That's good. That just doesn't happen to me when I go to the hair salon or the beauty salon. Not all that excitement, you know. I want her -- the next time I go, I want to make sure she's there.

LEVS: I think everyone in America wants her wherever they are right now.

MALVEAUX: Tell us about the gummy worms --

LEVS: Oh, yes, there's like, get to the gummy worms. All right, so there's this website, Vat19. But take a look at the image here. Vat19.com, haunting what it calls the world's largest gummy worm. Twenty-six inches long, about three pounds, weighs as much as 187 basically normal-sized gummy worms, or 840 gummy bears. The site says it features duel flavors, a ridged body, a five-inch girth, a smiley face --

MALVEAUX: Why did -- why did they do this?

LEVS: You know, the why, we've learned not to ask when it gets to "What's Hot." There's so much quirk out there. And, you know what, if you want a ginormous gummy worm, we have now provided the website for you. We've done our service for the day here, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, you know what, I think we've got something else after the break. This is going to be a -- there's a shark attack that was actually caught on camera.

LEVS: Yes. That's hot, too.

MALVEAUX: Oh, God.

LEVS: Coming up.

MALVEAUX: Hot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This was a close encounter with a shark. It seemed that diver Scott MacNichol was about to become lunch. He was filming the ocean bottom off the coast of Maine over the weekend when a shark came at him. Now he estimates it was eight feet long, 300 pounds. MacNichol says the shark circled him twice and then began jabbing at his camera. All he could think about was his young son. MacNichol, fortunately, was not hurt.

Well, CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kate Bolduan, in for Ali Velshi.

Kate, good to see the D.C. posse in town.