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Campbell Brown
McCain Calls Out Obama on Immigration; Barack Obama Addresses NAACP Convention
Aired July 14, 2008 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody.
Barack Obama takes the stage any moment now for a big speech to the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati. You're seeing a live picture of it right there, lots of anticipation, especially after Jesse Jackson blasted Obama for -- quote -- "talking down to African-Americans."
Obama will certainly be embraced by the nation's oldest civil rights organization, but are there some hard feelings simmering beneath the surface? We're monitoring the scene there in Cincinnati. And we are going to bring you the speech live as it happens.
And talk about controversy. The Obama camp is still smarting over this "New Yorker" magazine cover, Barack and Michelle Obama dressed as terrorists, burning an American flag. But are they taking it all too seriously? Is this an outrage or just an overreaction? We're going take it apart for you tonight.
Also ahead: John McCain on the offensive in a speech to a major Latino group, why he is calling out Obama on immigration.
Plus, the story we have been buzzing about all day today, the economy. When you see hundreds of people lined up outside a bank waiting to take their money out, you have got to be thinking, what does all this mean for me? Well, Ali Velshi will be here to break it all down for us, just the facts, no bias, no bull.
So, all that and more tonight in the ELECTION CENTER.
But, first, Barack Obama's big speech to the NAACP coming up here in just a few minutes. As I said, we will bring it to you live. He's speaking to the nation's most revered civil rights organization. And a lot of people in the audience have not forgotten what Jesse Jackson said less than a week ago.
Jackson accused Obama of talking down to African-Americans by criticizing black men for not taking full responsibility for their children. And that set off a firestorm of controversy. So, will the candidate be in somewhat of a hot seat tonight?
Jessica Yellin is live in Cincinnati with more on this for us.
And, Jessica, I know the speech is supposed to start any minute now.
But you did get an advanced look at it. Give us the headline. JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, Barack Obama is going to stand on this stage and tell the audience that he still believes that struggling African-Americans need to do more to help themselves. He's going to say, I know -- and these are his words -- I know some believe he's been too tough on African- Americans for pushing this self-help message. But he's not going to stop talking about it.
That is a clear reference to the flap Jesse Jackson kicked up last week with the controversy you mentioned. And he does press on this issue for a couple of minutes in this speech. But I should tell you, Campbell, that he quickly moves on. And much of the rest of the speech focuses on the very issues that Jesse Jackson criticized him for not hitting on enough, about the economic inequalities, the problems of racism, and what government and the private sector can do to help African-Americans.
So, what we have here is more of a mixture than we have heard from Barack Obama in recent weeks, talking about personal responsibility, but also what he could do as president to help the African-American community -- Campbell.
BROWN: And, Jessica, we were watching that live picture of him take the stage. He is going to be giving that speech shortly. We will be dipping it into.
But he's also paying tribute to a host of civil rights figures in the speech. One big name, though, did make the cut, didn't it?
YELLIN: Very interesting, isn't it?
He says he stands on the shoulders of other great men who paved his way, civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Julian Bond, the chairman of the NAACP. He does not mention the Reverend Jesse Jackson -- Campbell.
BROWN: All right. Jessica Yellin for us tonight from Cincinnati.
And, as we mentioned, we're going to be watching the stage there. We will bring you that speech live. We will be dipping in and out of it as it happens.
But, while we wait, we do want to tell you about the story that is all the buzz today. And I'm talking about the cover of the latest "New Yorker" magazine. Take a look at it right there. You have got Barack Obama dressed in a robe and a turban, fist-bumping with Michelle Obama, who is sporting an Afro, toting a machine gun.
There's a framed picture of Osama bin Laden on the wall behind them, an American flag burning in the fireplace. "The New Yorker" defends this. They say it is satire. But the Obama campaign is up in arms.
And here to talk that tonight, CNN political analyst Roland Martin is with me in the studio, Leslie Sanchez, Republican strategist and CNN political contributor, and also senior political analyst Gloria Borger.
And, Leslie, why don't I start with you?
The Obama campaign very upset. They don't see this as satire. They're calling it tasteless, offensive. Is it a mistake or is it valid social commentary?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I think you have to look at the fact, who is the messenger? It's one of the most liberal magazines.
And there's no doubt it's tasteless. But are they doing the Barack campaign a favor in the sense that if people get the joke, that this is really satire, it takes the air out of the bag, and the Obama campaign can basically sit back, act indignant, as they should, and it basically neutralizes that whole argument and that farce moving forward.
BROWN: Roland?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Campbell, I have run three newspapers. The problem with the cover is that you have no headline to put the photo in context. So, you're leaving it up to the reader to sort of figure it out.
Now, I really believe what "The New Yorker" is trying to do is to say to those people who are those hate-mongers out there who are trying to say that they are -- that Michelle Obama is militant, that he's Muslim, trying to target them for saying, you're trying to create fear in America.
But your headline must reflect that. You can't have people saying, well, I don't really get what you're trying to say here. I don't have an issue with that cover if that's the intent, if that's the headline. But you can't be confused for the person who is out in the general public.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Gloria, I just want to play before I get your comment on this -- the editor of "The New Yorker" spoke to Wolf Blitzer a little while ago. And let's listen to their explanation first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID REMNICK, EDITOR, "THE NEW YORKER": The intention of this cover, in no uncertain terms, is to talk about the politics of fear and the lies that have been told about Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Gloria, we should mention, "The New Yorker" has certainly been supportive as a magazine generally of Barack Obama. Do you think most people will get that, what David Remnick just said there? GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's kind of like a good inside joke. The people who read "The New Yorker" -- and after all let's not forget that "The New Yorker" has kind of got an elite leadership out there.
The people who pick up "The New Yorker" and look at the cover will say, oh, this is satire. This is holding a mirror up to all of the silliness that is out there, those people who think Barack Obama is a Muslim, et cetera.
But as it stands out there on the newsstand and people look at it, they may sort of say, gee, what is this all about?
And the sad thing for me, as a writer, Campbell, is that there are a couple of really interesting pieces this week about Barack Obama, his roots in Chicago, how he's really a politician, where he came from. And that kind of gets lost in all of this.
BROWN: But, Gloria, Barack Obama certainly must be a "New Yorker" reader.
BORGER: He is. He does.
BROWN: Why would he then so be outraged? He obviously gets the joke.
BORGER: He is a "New Yorker" reader, in fact.
I think he's probably outraged because he spent most of the last year trying to tell people that he is not a Muslim, that he has no relationship with any terrorist activity in any way, shape or form, that his -- his wife is portrayed as looking like Angela Davis on this cover, for heaven's sakes. And, so, he's probably just out of frustration doesn't even want to deal with it. And you can understand it.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I think I look at it, I have to say, Campbell, with a bit more of jaundiced eye, as somebody who works inside these campaigns. There's no doubt about it that there's folks -- probably the thinking that this did the Obama campaign a favor in the sense that it puts it out there.
It shows in many cases how ridiculous some of those accusations -- all those accusations are. It's farcical, and they can move past that. So, they act indignant. I'm not saying they collaborated. But I'm saying that, politically, it does what it's supposed to do.
BROWN: Roland, here is the problem, though.
He is fighting a perception problem out there.
MARTIN: Right.
BROWN: I just want to bring up the latest "Newsweek" poll -- 26 percent of people -- and this is their most recent poll -- believe that Obama was raised a Muslim -- 12 percent believe he is still Muslim.
We all know this not to be true. This is a lie. This is false. But yet that clearly -- the perception problem persists for him. How does he shut it down?
MARTIN: Well, I think, for his supporters, what they should be doing is not sitting here saying, let's protest "The New Yorker." What they should be doing is going after those individuals who on television who on radio who are spreading this stuff, saying they're un-American, that Michelle Obama is militant, that he's a Muslim. That's who they should be targeting, because they have to get even more aggressive.
You can't simply allow someone like this that's a lie to just sort of sit out there and fade away. No, they must attack it. I'm surprised what they have not done is set up operations to have their people going after every conservative radio talk show and puts the message out there you go after them the moment they actually say it, not hoping it goes away.
BROWN: All right, guys, stay with us.
Roland, Leslie and Gloria, we're going to come back to you. We have got a lot more to talk about as we wait for Barack Obama's speech in just a few minutes. We're going to bring that to you live.
And then, later, why you don't have to put money under your mattress, at least not yet anyway. Ali Velshi is here with a realty check on your money.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We're waiting for Barack Obama to speak at the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati. You're looking at a live picture of it there. We will look at that to you as it happens.
But we want to turn now to John McCain. The Straight Talk Express stopped in San Diego today for the annual meeting of at the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino rights group. And McCain got pretty feisty while defending his record on immigration. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I recently spoke at two major Latino conferences, as did Senator Obama. I didn't use those occasions to criticize Senator Obama. I would prefer not to do so today, but he suggested in his speeches there and here that I turned my back on comprehensive reform out of political necessity.
I feel I must, as they say, correct the record. At a moment of great difficulty in my campaign, when my critics said, it would be political suicide for me to do so, I helped author, with Senator Kennedy, comprehensive immigration reform. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And we're back with our panel to talk about all this, Roland Martin, Leslie Sanchez, and Gloria Borger once again.
Leslie, you were at the La Raza conference again, strong words from McCain. Just a few months ago, though, he said he wouldn't even vote for his own immigration reform plan if it came before the Senate today. He said that the public was clearly more focused on enforcement at this point.
Now, in the same way that Obama was criticized last week for moving from the left to the center, is McCain now moving from the right to the center?
SANCHEZ: Not at all.
I think that Senator McCain did exactly what he had to do today and take the wind out of the sails of this false argument that he has flip-flopped on the issue of immigration. He talked about he moved his immigration plan forward twice, and it failed, and that something needs to change in that dynamic, that he understood the American public looked at this immigration reform plan like 1986, where amnesty was granted to a few million people, but nothing was ever done to secure the border.
He said, that has to be done first. He said it adamantly, but he also said, trust me in the fact that I am committed to a compassionate, effective way that is essentially comprehensive immigration reform. He also pointed out that Barack Obama was essentially voting for poison pills that would kill that immigration reform plan, and he made tough decisions not do so.
So, overall, it was very effective.
BROWN: Roland, does Obama have to be a little bit careful here, because he hasn't done anything to help pass immigration reform or he didn't when he was in the Senate. John McCain did put his political life on the line, essentially, and it almost cost him the nomination with a lot of conservatives.
MARTIN: Well, of course. But I don't necessarily think he has to be careful with that.
Look, this is -- what you have is a flat-out battle in terms of how do you speak to this issue. But the problem is here, John McCain and Senator Obama, they can talk all day about comprehensive immigration reform. But the problem is, the American people are simply not there.
OK? We have not come to an agreement as to what do you do with the millions who are here. And, so, they can talk to La Raza. They can sit here and placate people. They can sit here and pander if they want to. But that's not going to cut it. If you're not confronting the issue of closing the borders, dealing with enforcement, and, yes, forcing people to go through the legal process -- we do have one in this country -- then all this means absolutely nothing.
BORGER: Campbell, here's John McCain's problem. During the primaries, he almost committed political suicide by supporting immigration reform. His small donations just dried up. He couldn't get large donors to side with him. Rush Limbaugh took off after him. Conservatives didn't like comprehensive reform.
I was with him on the Straight Talk Express in New Hampshire. He said to me, the big thing he didn't realize was that the American public did not trust the government to first deal with the border problem before having comprehensive reform. So, he switched his message. He said, we are going to deal with the border problem. But now he's talking at La Raza and he's saying, we need comprehensive reform. So, he's having it both ways a little bit here when speaking to different constituencies.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Campbell, that's absolutely false. He adamantly said he supports border enforcement. He didn't run away from that. He also said he supports a comprehensive plan. But it's ridiculous to try for the third time the same measure that's not going to get the support from Republicans or Democrats in Congress.
BORGER: But during the primaries, Leslie -- you know this very well...
SANCHEZ: Sure.
BORGER: During the primaries, he wasn't talking so much about comprehensive reform anymore. He was talking about the border.
MARTIN: Absolutely right.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Guys, sorry. We have got to end it there because we do want to dip into the speech in just a moment.
But stay with us. Roland, Leslie, and Gloria, we're coming back to all of you. Barack Obama now on the stage in Cincinnati. We will bring you some of that speech live coming up in just a minute.
And still to come, a one-time Bush fund-raiser caught on tape offering up close and personal access to Vice President Dick Cheney in exchange for cold, hard cash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We want to take you now live to Barack Obama's speech to the NAACP under way right now in Cincinnati, where he's been talking about the civil rights movement. Let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... that creates good jobs right here in the United States of America, right here in Cincinnati, right here in Ohio.
That's why I brought Democrats and Republicans together in Illinois to put $100 million in tax cuts, not into the pockets of the wealthy who didn't need them and weren't even asking for them, but into the pockets of hardworking families, and why I fought to expand health care to 150,000 children and parents, and to end the outrage of black women making just 62 cents for every dollar that many of their male co-workers make.
That is not just. That is not right. And that's why we changed it in Illinois, and that's why we have to change it all across the nation.
That's why I moved to Chicago after college. Some of you know I turned down more lucrative jobs because I was inspired by that civil rights movement. I was inspired by Julian Bond, John Lewis, Dr. King, and Diane Nash. I wanted to do my part in the ongoing battle for opportunity in this country.
So I went to work for a group of churches to help turn around neighborhoods that were devastated when the local steel plants closed. And I reached out to community leaders -- black, brown, and white -- and together, we gave job training to the jobless, set up after-school programs to keep our young people off the streets. Block by block, we helped turn those neighborhoods around.
So I have been working my entire adult life to help build an America where social justice is being served and economic justice is being served, an America where we all have an equal chance to make it if we try. That's the America I believe in. And that's the America that you believe in. That's the America that the NAACP has been fighting for over these past 99 years. And that's the America we have to keep marching towards today, because our work is not over.
Just electing me president doesn't me our work is over. We have got more work to do. When so many of our nation's schools are failing, especially those in our poorest rural and urban communities, denying millions of young Americans the chance to fulfill their potential and live out their dreams, then we have more work to do.
When CEOs are making more in 10 minutes than the average worker earns in a year, and millions of families are losing their homes due to predatory, unscrupulous lending, checked neither by a sense of corporate ethics or a vigilant government, when the dream of entering the middle class and staying there is fading for young people in our community, we have more work to do.
When any human being is denied a life of dignity and respect, no matter whether they live in Anacostia or Appalachia or in a village in Africa, when people are trapped in extreme poverty we know how to curb or suffering from diseases we know how to prevent, when they're going without the medicines that they so desperately need, then we have more work to do.
That's what this election is about. It's about the responsibilities we all share for the future we hold in common. It's about each and every one of us doing our part to build that more perfect union.
It's about the responsibilities that corporate America has -- responsibilities that start with ending a culture on Wall Street that says what's good for me is good enough, that puts their bottom line ahead of what's right for America, because what we have learned in such a dramatic way in recent months is that the pain in our economy trickles up, that Wall Street can't thrive so long as Main Street is struggling, and America is better off when the well-being of American business and the American people are aligned.
Our CEOs have to recognize they have a responsibility not just to grow their profit margins, but to be fair to their workers, and honest to their shareholders, and to help strengthen our economy as a whole. That's how we'll ensure that economic justice is being served. And that's what this election is about.
It's about the responsibilities that Washington has, responsibilities that start with restoring fairness to our economy by making sure that the playing field isn't tilted to benefit the special interests, at the expense of ordinary Americans, and that we're rewarding not just wealth, but the work and workers who create it.
That's why I will offer a middle-class tax cut, so we can lift up hardworking families, and give relief to struggling homeowners, so we can end our housing crisis, and keep people in their homes, provide training to young people to work in the jobs of the future, and invest in our infrastructure, so we can create millions of new jobs.
If we can spend $10 billion in Iraq every single month, we can spend some of that money right here rebuilding the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: That's while I will end the outrage of one in five African-American going without the health care they deserve. We'll guarantee health care for anyone who needs it, make it affordable for anyone who wants it, ensure that the quality of your health care does not depend on the color of your skin or where you live.
And we're not going to do it 20 years from now to do it or 10 years from now to do it. We're going to do it by the end of my first term as president of the United States of America.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Here's what else we're going to do. We'll make sure every child in this country gets a world-class education from the day they're born until the day they graduate from college.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I understand that Senator McCain is going to be coming here in a couple of days, is going to talk about education. And I'm glad he's going to, because this has to be a bipartisan effort. Not just Democrats, but Republicans need to recognize too many of our young people are falling behind.
Now, the fact is, though, what Senator McCain is offering amounts to too much of the same old, tired rhetoric about vouchers. Well, I believe we need to move beyond the same debate we've been having for the past 30 years, when we haven't gotten anything done. We need to fix and improve our public schools, not throw our hands up and walk away from them. We need to uphold the ideal of public education, but we also need to reform it.
BROWN: And we are going to bring you more highlights from the speech later in the program.
And we should mention that we are going to make this a practice in the weeks and months ahead, bringing you live coverage of the candidates' events, both candidates' events, whenever they happen in our hour, their word, unfiltered, no bias, no bull.
And our panel of some of the savviest political observers on the planet will be back in just a moment with their reaction to what Obama said tonight.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's because of that and all those whose names never made it in the history books, those men and women, young and old, black, brown, white, clear eyed, straight backed, who refused to settle for the world as it is, who had the courage to remake the world as it should be, it's because of them that I stand before you tonight as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: That's Barack Obama speaking a few moments ago to the NAACP at their convention in Cincinnati.
And back with me now to talk about that, we've got three of the smartest people in politics, the best political team on television, Roland Martin, Leslie Sanchez and Gloria Borger.
Roland, you know, he got a thunderous public applause there. But talk to me about the reception behind closed doors. Are the sentiments that we heard from Jesse Jackson to a certain extent echoed on any level, do you think, among some of those in the audience?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: About that much.
BROWN: All right. Explain.
MARTIN: I mean, it's insignificant because look, you have -- there'll always going to be a percentage of people who say you shouldn't say this and you shouldn't say that. But the bottom line is, when you talk about a black man taking care of their children, when you talk about the destruction of the black family, you're not going to get groans, you're going to get applause.
I was at the Essence Music Festival. Bill Cosby spoke on stage with Dr. Alvin Poussaint (ph). Let me tell you something, the room was packed. Five thousand plus people, Campbell, on both sides, you couldn't walk in there.
What was Bill Cosby talking about? The family. And so, this whole notion that somehow African-Americans don't want to hear that, no, that's flat out ridiculous.
BROWN: Gloria, you agree with that?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I do agree with that. And I think the most interesting thing about this whole controversy has been the generational aspect, Campbell. I mean, you saw Jesse Jackson say what he said, complaining about what Obama had said about the black family. And then his son, who is a supporter of Obama came out and said, you know, I wish my dad would just be quiet and because these are issues we need to address. And I think that perhaps there is a generational issue here going on and Obama is of a younger generation.
BROWN: Leslie, John McCain is speaking to the same group, to the NAACP on Wednesday, and you will remember that he was booed when he went down to Memphis and spoke at the anniversary of the Martin Luther King assassination. He did not get the most or the warmest welcome. Do you give him credit for reaching out when Republicans generally don't and ways that Republicans generally don't? Or do you think he's wasting his time?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Absolutely. It's a difficult thing to go before your critics. There's no doubt about that. There's a great example.
Barack Obama was speaking to the National Council of La Raza yesterday and he wouldn't take questions. And Senator McCain did today and a lot of them are on immigration and they challenged in. It's a tough situation.
I was with the chairman of the Republican National Committee when he went before the NAACP years ago, and sometimes it's not the most welcoming audience. But overall, they're asking for their trust and for their ear so that they can explain in their own words what their vision is for America. It's a very important step for both parties.
MARTIN: Now, Leslie -- Leslie, it's important if you talk about policies. That's what the real issue is. And so, look, John (ph) of "Politico" had a story several months ago where John McCain has a significant issue when it came to black folks right there in his home state of Arizona. Also, he was booed in Memphis not because he showed up, but because he talked about his opposition over the years to the Martin Luther King federal holiday.
BROWN: But he changed around on that. (CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Right, right. He eventually came around but it took him a number of years. But when he brought it up, that's why he was booed for his opposition that he said, hey, it was a wrong position that I took being against that federal holiday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know --
BROWN: So why was he booed for that? I mean, people should be applauding him for coming around, right?
MARTIN: People also booed Ronald Reagan who's also against it even though he signed the bill.
BROWN: So Gloria, what should John McCain say on Wednesday?
BORGER: What should he say? I think -- I think he should tell the truth. I think he should say, you know what, this immigration reform bill was a real political problem for me. It almost killed my campaign. And so, we need the wall first, which is what he's ordered the fence first. And then we're going to talk about comprehensive reform, which is a, the political likelihood of what would occur and be what he was saying during the primaries.
I mean, what he's doing now is shifting emphasis. But I do give John McCain an awful lot of credit, Campbell. He's going before these audiences that are not friendly to him, and he's answering all of their questions. And people like that when politicians do that.
MARTIN: Campbell --
BORGER: Campbell, there's a great --
MARTIN: What he should do is he should talk about the issue of education and voucher. I think Senator Barack Obama, I have a problem and he made a mistake, when he just made the point about frankly opposing vouchers. Most black politicians oppose it when African- Americans indeed support it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
MARTIN: I firmly believe that vouchers is a part of the education system but I don't believe it is the complete answer. If John McCain goes before and says, look, to solve the education crisis in America, vouchers should be a part of the conservation. I think he'll pick up points even though --
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: OK, very quickly -- very quickly, Leslie --
SANCHEZ: Campbell, I actually agree with Roland on this part. John McCain went out today and supported the idea of charter schools. You know, the NCLR has 50 charter schools and he got, you know, a rousing ovation in that. He's talking about reform. BROWN: Right.
SANCHEZ: And Barack Obama did not talk about taking on the education bureaucracy and the teachers union and people want to know, is he really serious about reform?
BROWN: OK, guys, we're coming back to you a little bit later. We got a take a quick break. Tomorrow, Senator Barack Obama does go one-on-one, which I've mentioned, with our very own Larry King. So be sure and watch "LARRY KING LIVE" tomorrow. That's 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Time now for everybody's favorite summer pastime, veepstakes, baby. Think you know who Barack Obama or John McCain will pick for their number two? We got even a semi informed guest.
Well, we have got a game for you. Go to CNN.com/electioncenter and click on our veepstakes link. It works basically like the stock market, which I don't really understand so that doesn't help me much. So you'll be able to predict the winner and see how every possible vice president's political fortunes are doing.
For the Republicans, Mitt Romney is our current leader, followed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist. For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton is the overall top choice, followed by Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana. Roland is shaking his head.
To make your own picks in our veepstakes game, again, check out or log on to CNN.com/electioncenter.
After the fifth U.S. bank failure this year, are your savings safe? When we come back senior business correspondent Ali Velshi will be here to talk about that. Lots of confusion out there. He'll clear it all up for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: All day, frantic customers have been lined up outside of Pasadena California's IndyMac Bank, waiting to find out if they've lost their savings. IndyMac failed on Friday, a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis. And over the weekend, the federal government stepped in with a rescue plan for mortgage providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
So what does all of this mean? Senior business correspondent Ali Velshi is keeping tabs on all this new trouble, and he's going to try to explain it all to us. So a couple of issues at play here, Ali, and let's go through them individually.
First, your house.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
BROWN: If you've got a mortgage, 50/50 chance that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are involved in some way. Should people be really worried right now. VELSHI: Well, don't be really worried because everybody says there on it. But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you may not know exactly what they do. But the bottom line is, it's kind of like the operating system in your computer. Without them things wouldn't work.
They provide the liquidity. They provide the money that your bank uses to give you a mortgage. If they were in better financial shape, there are some people who say that the rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage might be up to a percent lower than it is today. And the worst financial shape they're in, the more you're likely to pay when you go to get a mortgage or you go to a refinance.
In fact, if you're selling a house, if mortgage money is not readily available and it's not cheap, it could affect the amount that you get for your house. So Fannie and Freddie, while they're not something you deal with on a daily basis, they are really important. The government has stepped in and said they will ensure that these two companies which have been faltering will not fail. They're sort of quasi-government entities.
BROWN: Right.
VELSHI: For now they look like they're safe so you can breathe a sigh of relief if you're even worried about it.
BROWN: OK. Well, explain to us what happened with this bank out in California, IndyMac. And we just saw a moment those pictures of people lining up to try to get their money out.
VELSHI: Yes. They're still in line there.
BROWN: Is this a special case or is this something that could spread?
VELSHI: It's a little unusual and that IndyMac was one of these banks that made loans to people with no income and no job. They didn't have to verify what their financial situation was.
BROWN: That sounds like the stupidest thing in the world.
VELSHI: Completely nuts. It's the idea that the property value was so good that it would just increase and you didn't have to worry about the actual borrower's finances. As of today, the Federal Reserve has laws that say you can't do that anymore. But the bottom line is this bank was on shaky ground.
A few weeks ago New York Senator Chuck Schumer said, I'm kind of worried about what will happen if people take all their money out. Guess what happened? $1.3 billion was taken out by people. The bank basically collapsed. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in.
Most people will get all their money back. If you had more than $100,000 in account in that bank or collectively in that bank, you may not get the remainder back. Got a $150,000, you'll get your $100,000. Right now, they'll give you half of the balance. The lesson out here is do not keep more than $100,000 in an account or $250,000 at a retirement plan at any one institution. Check the rules, ask if you are insured. You are insured below those limits.
BROWN: OK. Important stuff. Don't take this the wrong way, but every time you come on the show, you bring more bad news.
VELSHI: It's all going to change one day, Campbell. It's all going to change.
BROWN: So that's my question. When is it going to change and tell us something good?
VELSHI: I'm going to tell you that home prices are going up and the stock market is going up and interest rates are down. It's going to happen one day.
But that's the thing IndyMac and everybody else should realize, these things go in cycles. So for a while it seems like doom and gloom but it is a cycle. So you have to just think about the long term. You got to think of me as your long-term friend, Campbell.
BROWN: I'll do that. Ali Velshi, of course you're our long-term friend.
VELSHI: Thank you.
BROWN: You're the only one that can put this in English for me. Thank you very much.
VELSHI: OK.
BROWN: Appreciate it, Ali.
All right. Still to come up, President Bush lifts the ban on offshore drilling. But actually getting it done is going to be no day at the beach.
And does a fat contribution to the George W. Bush Presidential Library buy you an all-access pass to the White House?
That sure sounds like what a Bush fund-raiser was promising on this hidden camera tape. The anatomy of a could be dirty deal when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Let's check now the hour's headlines. Gary Tuchman is joining us live with "The Briefing" -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, thank you very much.
President Bush is pressuring Congress to allow offshore drilling for oil, announcing today he's lifting an executive ban on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. That doesn't mean any drilling will actually take place. First, Congress is going to have to lift its own offshore drilling ban. Team Democrats say drilling offshore won't do anything to reduce prices at the pump.
U.S. officials say yesterday's deadly attack on an American military outpost in Afghanistan shows militants have become more sophisticated and better coordinated than it were just a year ago. Nine American soldiers were killed in yesterday's attack.
And judges in the Hague are accusing Sudan's president of genocide. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court charged Omar al-Bashir with masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation. Sudan denounced the indictment as a political stunt.
Campbell, back to you.
BROWN: An important development there. OK, Gary Tuchman for us tonight. Gary, thanks.
And "LARRY KING LIVE" is coming up in a few minutes. There could be a big political headline out of tonight's show. Larry, tell us who you've got.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Could be one of the most, Campbell. Jesse Ventura is here. The question, will he run for the U.S. Senate or not? He's made his decision and he'll announce it first and only on "LARRY KING LIVE."
We'll also wrestle with some political -- get that -- wrestle with some political issues of the day, including that controversial magazine cover. "LARRY KING LIVE" next.
BROWN: All right, Larry. We will be holding our breath. See you then.
A hidden camera puts a one-time Bush fund-raiser in an embarrassing fix. Next, why he was asking for money and what he was offering in return. And then later, why is it we never see John McCain with a BlackBerry. We'll tell you about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Caught on tape, a former fund-raiser for President Bush's presidential campaigns, suggesting he could provide access to senior White House officials in return for a contribution toward the Bush library in Texas. White House correspondent Ed Henry has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Promises of access to the president's top aides in exchange for contributions to the George W. Bush Library and some cold hard cash on the side for the man brokering the deal. The whole discussion, caught on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN PAYNE, TEXAS LOBBYIST: A couple of hundred thousand I think that would probably get the attention of the people raising the money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: That's Texas lobbyist and Bush fund-raiser, Stephen Payne, unwitting star of this shocking video, secretly recorded by "The Times" of London. Here, he tried to get a donation from a man who he thought was representing the exiled former president of Kyrgyzstan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAYNE: 200, 250, something like that. That's going to be a show of we're interested. We are your friends. We're still friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Payne, who raised $200,000 for the president's reelection, is seen promising meetings with top officials, including Vice President Cheney, in exchange, big money for the future Bush library.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAYNE: Cheney's possible. Definitely the national security advisor. Definitely either Dr. Rice or --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: The White House distanced itself from Payne's actions and suggested he's not an insider.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's categorically no link between any official business in the Bush library. Steve Payne was never an employee of the White House, but we do use hundreds of volunteers and years, you know, for helping us to advance work.
HENRY: The White House admits Payne helped with logistics in some foreign trips, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff did appoint Payne to an advisory committee.
In a long written statement to CNN, Payne, president of Worldwide Strategic Partners in Houston, called "The Times" of London story "got you journalism." Payne acknowledged mentioning "that they might be able to make donations to think tanks, foundations, and/or President Bush's library. But Payne stressed that in subsequent e-mails, which he gave to CNN, he made clear, "there could be no quid pro quo."
In one of those e-mails, Payne wrote, he would accept the 250 and pass it directly to the library, but noted he could not promise specific government action because that would be bribery.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BROWN: Ed Henry joining me live now. And Ed, did Stephen Payne manage to get any of his clients into the White House. What do we know about that?
HENRY: Well, I asked Dana Perino whether the White House would release the visitor logs to tell us what kind of meetings he had here. She said she'll check with White House lawyers which basically means it's unlikely they're going to turn these over.
But breaking tonight is that Democrat Henry Waxman on Capitol Hill has launched an investigation of this whole thing. So maybe there'll be some answers, Campbell.
BROWN: We'll see about that. Ed Henry for us tonight. Ed, thanks.
HENRY: Thank you.
BROWN: Coming up, Internet smeanernet (ph). Why John McCain is not going to start blogging any time soon. You know, he's got people to do that for him, like his daughter Megan. John McCain's shaky relationship with the Internet when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Nearly half the people in this country have used the Internet to get news about the campaign this year. Nearly half. But one of us who has not is Senator John McCain.
Sure, his campaign has its own Web site and uses the Internet for both fund-raising and advertising, but the candidate himself doesn't really know how to send an e-mail or surf the net.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): Seventy-five percent of America's adults use the Internet, but John McCain still isn't one of them. Back in January, in an interview with "Politico.com," the senator said, when it comes to computers --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, YOUTUBE YAHOO NEWS)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am an illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance that I can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Now, at least, he's trying. McCain tells the "New York Times," "I'm learning to get online myself, and I'll have that down fairly soon." Last month, when asked how he connects with young people, McCain implied he was at least aware of the Internet.
MCCAIN: The other thing that I've got -- that I do is I try go to venues that young people use for their sources of information and knowledge, whether it be the Internet, or whether it be going on Jay Leno. BROWN: He also doesn't do e-mail at all, telling "The Times," "I've never felt the particular need to e-mail," which means he's not always thumbing away on his BlackBerry either like some other politicians we know.
At 71, McCain isn't really all that out of step with other Americans his age. Only 37 percent of people over 65 use the Internet, according to the Pew Research Center.
But the younger you are, the higher the likelihood you surf the Web. Eighty-five percent of Americans between the ages of 30 and 50 do it. Don't even get us started on the kids.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: I must get the panel's take on this. Roland Martin with me, along with Leslie Sanchez and Gloria Borger.
OK, Leslie, you're the Republican strategist here. What's up with John McCain and the Internet? Does it make him look a little bit out of touch?
SANCHEZ: Not at all. I'm sure he's got a campaign staffer in that line for the iPhone 3G right now. You know, he's ready to get engaged. I mean, the truth of the matter is John McCain does a very good job communicating with all folks. He understands that these elements are important. The campaign staff does. It doesn't take away from his leadership or his decision ability.
MARTIN: Oh stop, Leslie.
SANCHEZ: Yes. I mean, come on, he's not twittering all day but he's definitely getting his point across.
MARTIN: You can't be the president in the 21st century if you don't live in the 21st century.
SANCHEZ: You want him to blog. I mean, he's got his blog.
MARTIN: Hey, you know what, Leslie -- Leslie, here's the deal.
At WVON in Chicago, I launched some free computer training classes. Senator John McCain, you're welcome to come any time. I've had the oldest person I have in the class, Campbell, was 85. So I'll think he'll have good company.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Come on. You know, it's like not the president -- she's got a point. I mean, Gloria, does the president -- it's not like he's going to spend his day blogging or doing Google search.
BORGER: Well --
BROWN: Is it really essential?
MARTIN: What do you mean?
BROWN: Well, you know, it's interesting because when George Bush became president, he said one of the things he missed is that he couldn't e-mail his friends anymore.
You know, you can't just e-mail the president because be sure somebody would get hold of those e-mails that he returns. So if John McCain gets to the White House, he's not going to have to e-mail anyway.
But how can you really understand the global economy and everything else we deal with everyday in our jobs and our lives without really getting the Internet?
MARTIN: Isn't this amazing? We spend a lot of time in the primary, Gloria, hearing stories about Senator Clinton taking shot glasses and Senator Obama can't bowl. The guy can't send an e-mail. I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
MARTIN: If you want to be the president of the U.S., please!
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Let's give Leslie the last word. Leslie, it is a legitimate point.
SANCHEZ: Sure, I mean, of course we want him to be computer literate. There's no doubt about that. That's not the point. I mean, he gets the briefings, he knows the information. He's using the same type of capacity that he's had being a public servant.
You know, Barney has a Web cam. I mean, what does that do in terms of judgment? Let's be real and take, you know, --
MARTIN: Just send one e-mail.
(LAUGHTER)
BORGER: Let's get him a BlackBerry. Let's get John McCain a BlackBerry. We'll teach him how to do it.
BROWN: I think somebody needs to.
MARTIN: Come to my computer classes.
BROWN: OK. Guys, we got to end to it there. Roland, Leslie and Gloria, thanks to everybody. That is it for me. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
