Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
6-year-old Nevada Boy Found; Obama Raises $150M; Powell Endorses Obama; Voter Registration Fraud
Aired October 19, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TJ HOLMES, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Well, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody, on this Sunday. I am Betty Nguyen. It is October 19.
HOLMES: A busy news day, an important news day and a good news day, really. We can report that the breaking news we got overnight, he is safe. We're talking about Cole Puffinburger, 6-year-old boy. You're seeing him there. He was the subject of a nationwide search. He has been found. He is in good shape. Police say he is in excellent health, actually. They believe the abduction was connected to a beef the boy's grandfather had with drug dealers.
NGUYEN: Yeah, Cole was abducted Wednesday from his home when two men posing as police officers tied up his mother and her boyfriend. Now, the grandfather, Clemens Tinnemeyer was arrested late Friday in Riverside, California, as a material witness. Police were canvassing several neighborhoods last night when word came in about a boy wandering an east side neighborhood and that boy was Cole.
CNN's Kara Finnstrom is at the Las Vegas Police Department, this morning.
Kara, where does this case stand now that Cole has been found?
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's still a lot of work left to be done, but, you know, this was the ending that everyone was hoping for. Incredible news this morning for family members, for detectives, for people whose community had really searched tirelessly these past four days trying to find Cole, many of them combing the streets of Las Vegas one by one. One of the people who has been out there is Cole's father, Robert Puffinburger. And we want to share a little bit of his emotional reaction this morning upon hearing the news that his son had been found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT PUFFINBURGER, COLE'S FATHER: We had stopped passing out flyers for the night, you know, because we wanted to catch some news and stuff like that. And we were just sat down and I zbot the call, and -- "we got him." "You got who?" "Your son." It's, like, all right, and I just booked.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FINNSTROM: At that point, Cole's father, still waiting to be reunited with his son, but obviously very eager to do so. We haven't heard yet from Cole's mother, her fiance or any other family members. We were told they were instructed not to talk with the media during the search. Police not commenting this morning on whether there are any custody issues or concerns. What they tell us, Betty, is that there is still a lot of this investigation left to go.
NGUYEN: Yeah, absolutely. And obviously, they're going to want to talk with Cole may give him a little bit of time, though, since he's been through a lot in the past few days. Thank you, Kara, we do appreciate it -- T.J.
HOLMES: Turning to the campaign now, the final stretch, just 16 days to go now and we hear that Barack Obama has broken a record. Sasha Johnson, part of the best political team on television joins us now on the phone.
Sasha, I said "we hear," and certainly the Obama campaign is letting us know about this record. This sounds unfathomable, $150 million in a single month.
SASHA JOHNSON, CNN SR POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yeah. It's actually a little bit over $150 million in the month of September, which beat their record of $65 million in August. The campaign video this morning, their campaign manager talking directly to donors saying not only did they raise $150 million, but they added over 630,000 new donors, which was a monthly record for the campaign. Other donor lists now totals about three million people who have given to the campaign so far with an average contribution of under $100.
But what's interesting about that video when you watch it is David Plouffe, the campaign manager, talks about all the money they will still need for the remaing 16 day to fight the robocalls, the ads the McCain campaign plans to put up. He said they have a very specific battleground strategy that they can't deviate from in order to win and he said that the polls are shaping up, they plan to now campaign aggressively in West Virginia and places like Georgia and North Dakota.
Obviously, Barack Obama is in North Carolina today where our latest poll has him tied at about 49 percent with John McCain. As we know, John McCain is in Ohio where Barack Obama has a slight edge, I think, in our poll of polls. So, you know, the battle continues, 16 days left.
HOLMES: You talk about the strategy the Obama campaign has that they don't want to deviate from, but certainly we have seen that strategy as one of offense. They have been on the offensive and John McCain is being forced to defend some places like we saw in North Carolina, Virginia, usually reliably Republican, but also, like you said, I mean, talk to us about the, certainly, what we can glean from the fact he is spending time where he is versus where Obama is spending his time.
JOHNSON: Well, I mean, you know, we talked about with all the money that Barack Obama has and the economy in the situation that it is, he's obviously gotten a bounce from these external conditions, and so with all this money, he has got, you know, Barack Obama has the ability to go into places like North Carolina, which is traditionally Republican, to go into places like Virginia, do field operations, and John McCain, who took public financing, $84 million, is forced to defend that territory with limited resources.
And honestly, even if there were places Barack Obama didn't think he could win, if he could at least advertise in those markets, raise his margin a bit, John McCain has been forced to advertise there or to travel there and use valuable time and money.
HOLMES: Yeah. You talk about that public financing, that $85 million, and isn't that something, Barack Obama raising $150 million in one month.
JOHNSON: Remarkable.
HOLMES: Also, we've heard it about, here and there on the campaign trail, the word "socialism," Obama being a "socialist." We've certainly stepped up after the whole plug we saw with "Joe the plumber," as we've been hearing a whole lot about, while some McCain supporters stepping up attacks. Here's one we'll listen to, Republican senator, George Voinovich recently calling Obama a socialist. Let's take a listen, I'll ask you about it on the other side, here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN GEORGE VOINOVICH (R), OHIO: There's a guy in the Senate who brags about it, Bernie Sanders, says "I'm a socialist." And if you study Bernie Sanders' record and you study Barack Obama's, Senator Obama's record, you're going to find they're not too much apart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That has been the line of attack lately, again, after Joe the plumber made a couple questions to Obama and his response was he wanted to spread the wealth around. Sasha, is this resonating?
JOHNSON: Well, you look at the blogs and local newspapers this morning, there are people concerned about that idea. You know, as we talked about it at 7:00 this morning, that's a real buzzword for folks. And the Obama campaign is aware of that and yesterday, he took on this attacks head on in Saint Louis and Kansas City and said look, you know, John McCain wants to give tax breaks to the wealthy people and I want to take care of, you know, "Joe the plumber," for that fact, and so, you know, Barack Obama is going to continue this idea that he's fighting for the working class and hope that trumps whatever the buzzword is.
HOLMES: All right, and we'll be talking to a couple surrogates from both campaigns in a while, certainly going to ask them about his socialist word that's being thrown around a bit. Sasha Johnson, from the best political team on television, one of our senior political producers, thank you for joining us this morning. And you can find out more about the candidates' plans from the contenders themselves when you join that best political team for BALLOT BOWL, that'll be today at 4:00 Eastern Time -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, T.J., well, Sarah Palin, she's been a favorite for the cast of "Saturday Night Live" this season, even though that she has never actually appeared on the show. Might not think so with Tina Fey's impersonation, but she did, that is, Palin, appear last night. In fact, the Republican VP popped up twice on the late-night comedy and here she is in a nonspeaking role on the "Space News" set.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (SINGING): All the mavericks in the house put your hands up. All the plumbers in the house pull your hands up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All the mavericks in the house, put your hands up, and all the plumbers in the house...
HOLMES: pull your pants up, is what they say.
NGUYEN: Oh my goodness, and then a moose will come out in a minute. But, if you look closely at the backup dancers, the guy on the far left -- well, not that one -- yeah, the one in the snow machine outfit, it's an impersonation of Palin's husband, Todd. Or as she -- there's the moose, as she affectionately calls her husband, "the first dude." It was hilarious. Hopefully you got a chance to check it out last night.
HOLMES: And she did -- you know, kind of nice to see some of the candidates out there.
NGUYEN: Doing one of these moves?
HOLMES: Well, you don't see that a lot.
NGUYEN: Yeah, she had a good time. You know, Sarah Palin, a role that is so meaty there on SNL that Tina Fey was back at her old stage, but these impersonations, there's a big question around them because people want to know do they help or do they actually hurt the candidates?
HOLMES: Certainly draw a lot attention, a lot of laughs. But CNN's Alina Cho was at the show last night, she talked to the cast after the fact and she'll look closer at the "Fey Affect," if you will, tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, though, boy, it's kind of cold outside this morning, I mean, even here in Atlanta. Chad Myers, is it that time of the year? Because I know some folks are, what, down in the teens?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I don't have to get the violin for you, do I?
NGUYEN: No. That's true. But look at the numbers behind you. You got some freezing temperatures.
MYERS: I know. Puppies are walking out this morning going what is that? You know?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Stay on the sunny side of things.
MYERS: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Chad.
Well, you know, there has been a deadly attack in Afghanistan on a passenger bus -- 30 to 40 people have been killed or kidnapped by Taliban militants. It happened in the province of Kandahar. Now, there are some conflicting reports, here. Afghan officials say the victims are civilians, but a Taliban spokesman says Taliban firefighters killed 27 Afghan soldiers. Although we're just hearing about this, the incident took place on Thursday. Today, officials retrieved six of the victims' bodies. All had been beheaded.
HOLMES: Well, we'll turn back to American politics, here. And John McCain says ACORN, that group, may be perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history.
NGUYEN: So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to ask an elections law expert and get the lowdown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK so, Mickey Mouse signed up, so did Donald Duck.
HOLMES: So did a 19-year-old man who registered 73 times in Cleveland, Ohio, and also a 7-year-old child registered to vote in Connecticut.
NGUYEN: How is this possible? This list, though, does go on and on and so allegations of suspected voter registration practice as against a nonprofit group called ACORN.
HOLMES: ACORN's chief organizer talked with CNN on Friday. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERTHA LEWIS, ACORN CHIEF ORGANIZER: There has never been a time where it's been proven that we have ever committed registration or voter fraud. And I just say it's very peculiar that the Republicans are attacking us like this, but, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I just in just for one second, Miss Lewis? Did you say no one in ACORN has ever been found to commit voter registration fraud? Now worker for ACORN? LEWIS: No. ACORN, the accusations are against my organization, ACORN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who encourages people to fill out voter registrations, then people who fill out voter registrations for ACORN you admit have been in trouble in the past for committing fraud, correct?
LEWIS: We've actually turned those people in and helped to prosecute individuals that commit voter registration fraud. So, there's never been any case, period, even the RNC's general counsel that says there's never been one single case where someone has voted fraudulently because of an organized voter registration effort.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We do want to pass along a bit of information we are just getting. There has been speculation about this, and now we're getting official word that, in fact, Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama for president. Colin Powell making an appearance this morning on NBC's "Meet the Press," and he has just announced that he is, in fact, going to endorse Barack Obama. There had been speculation about this, and it was going to happen. In the past, Colin Powell has expressed a lot of admiration for Barack Obama. Powell, of course, has served in Republican administration for Barack Obama. Powell, of course, has served in Republican administration. This is a man who has always seen as above politics, certainly a respected person out there who has served in several different, again, different Republican administrations, but certainly expressed some admiration for, but still, no one thought he would jump into the political fray, if you will.
He has always stayed, I guess, in you will, kind of neutral, even though he had served in some Republican administrations, he's still, not necessarily been seen as political, but this former secretary of state, war hero, General Powell, now endorsing Barack Obama.
He has said he will campaign, even, for Barack Obama out there in the next couple weeks. Of course, we only have a couple weeks right now left in this campaign. Also said that Barack Obama has demonstrated that he is, in fact, presidential and, word this morning, Colin Powell, a major endorsement, for -- a major figure in American politics, if you will, even though a man who is not really seen as being political. Colin Powell has endorsed.
NGUYEN: What he said this morning, though, and I'm quoting here, "Obama displayed a steadiness, showed intellectual vigor, he has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well." Again, Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama. And, as T.J. has mentioned, he's going to be campaigning for him in the next few weeks, so this is a major development, today. And of course you'll be hearing a whole lot more as the day continues and the week begins.
In the meantime, though, another issue we've been talking about, as well, that being voter registration allegations, some calling it fraud. A lot of people saying it's speculative and questionable, nonetheless, and that is a topic that isn't going away.
Rick Hasen is a professor at Loyola law school in Los Angeles and he joins us this morning. He's a nationally recognized authority on election law and campaign finance regulation.
And Rick, let me just right in towards ACORN accused of committing thousands of voter forms. But as we pointed out before this breaking news that Colin Powell came out, you know, Mickey Mouse's name was on one of the forms, and the Dallas Cowboys. But the truth of the matter is this, unless someone posing as Mickey Mouse shows up in the polls, what are the chances this translates to voter fraud?
RICHARD L HASEN, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL, LOS ANGELES: Well, we've had a long history of people committing this kind of voter registration fraud, not just from ACORN, because we conduct our voter registration privately in this country. So, if you're going to send people out and pay them to collect voter registration forms, some people won't be able to do it or will be lazy or will be criminal and will fill in wrong information, but turns out those people don't turn up to vote on Election Day. We don't have any good evidence that voter registration fraud translates into actual impersonation fraud at the polls that could affect the outcome of an elections, much less a presidential election.
NGUYEN: But the fact that it's happening, we're seeing these names and we're seeing it more than one time, we're seeing thousands of questionable voter registration cards out there. But in the final debate, you know, this has been an issue, as well, because John McCain said this: ACORN Now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe even destroying the fabric of democracy. Are these concerns warranted? I mean, after all, the FBI has even started an investigation into ACORN's activities.
HASEN: I think you hear a lot of heated rhetoric in the weeks before the campaign, and there's been a lot of talk about voter fraud and voter suppressions. The fact of the matter is, this kind of registration fraud, there's really not much that organizers can do about it because they have to take those forms, whatever forms they collect, and in most states, they have to pass all the forms along. But you know, our registration officials are pretty good at culling out the fake forms. They're not going to be putting Mickey Mouse on the polls on Election Day. So, I think the concern that this is tearing at the fabric of democracy is really overblown.
NGUYEN: All right, but in the meantime, that investigation is underway. And I have to ask you the details of it in the sense that if a nonprofit like ACORN is under a federal investigation, is its federal funding automatically frozen? How is this going to affect how it registers voters?
HASEN: Well, you know, in the short-term, this is not going to have any effect. And as I understand it, there was a leak to the "AP" from someone in the FBI (INAUDIBLE), we don't know what the investigation is, we don't know how far it goes and so, I don't think before the election we're going to hear any more about that.
NGUYEN: Yeah, also, Republicans in Congress calling for this investigation, as well. All right, let's move to something else that is really heating up -- a battle in Ohio. The state there has been told -- the secretary of state -- to hand over the names of, what, some 200,000 new registrants whose personal information doesn't match their driver's license or their social security information. So, what happens to folks on Election Day in that state?
HASEN: Well, there's a lot of confusion, not just in Ohio, but all over the country, because one of the things we tried to do after Florida 2000, when we had that debacle with the voting there, was to create stateside databases of voters and the problem is there's so much error in these, a lot of times the data entry by government employees who are typing in names, it's very easy for there to be a mismatch.
In fact, I just read a report last night that four of six election judges in one Ohio county were mismatches themselves because one letter is transposed or a Joe and Joseph, and so there's a concern that these voters in some places might be forced to cast provision nal ballots, which are ballots that are stuck to the side and then someone's going to have to decide later whether or not those ballots count. And so the real concern we have, if we have a razor thin election in a place like Ohio is that someone's going to be standing there after the fact looking at these ballots and figuring out which ones should count and which ones don't, and that reminds me a little bit too much of what we saw in Florida in 2000.
NGUYEN: So, does this seem like -- because, you know, these problems could be an easy solution in the sense that, you know, there's a technology problem and a technical glitch or maybe something was entered incorrectly, it's not the fault of the voter that you're going to have these voters coming out and challenging just to have their vote counted.
HASEN: Yeah, well it's not only that, you know, we're talking about the possibility of record turnout, and so I expect that there are going to be long lines in some places. And you know, a lot of places since 2000 have changed their voting machines. Some places have changed their voting machines two or three times because the public lost confidence in some of those electronic voting machines. And so we could see glitches on Election Day. We just have to hope it doesn't take place in a jurisdiction where the margin is so close that it could affect the outcome of the election.
NGUYEN: All right, Rick Hasen, professor at Loyola Law School, there in Los Angeles. We appreciate you getting up early to speak with us today. Thank you.
HASEN: My pleasure.
HOLMES: And if you're just joining us, news we just got minutes ago, in fact, a major endorsement for Barack Obama, maybe the biggest he has gotten so far, and that is from Colin Powell, the Republican, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the former secretary of state under Republican administrations has come out and said he will, in fact, endorse Barack Obama for president. We're just getting that minutes ago with an appearance he made on "Meet the Press," telling Tom Brokaw that, yes, he has decided to endorse Barack Obama. A lot more to come on that to come this morning.
Also, to come this morning, we're going to be talking about those key battleground states that have been crushed really by this ailing economy. How will it affect people walking into those voting booths? Stay here, a lot going on this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And a major endorsement this morning for Barack Obama, that endorsement coming from a Republican. That man right there, you recognize him, you know him well. That is Colin Powell, who was the former secretary of state under George W. Bush, also served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under the first President Bush. He has come out and endorsed Barack Obama, saying that Obama has shown that he is ready to lead and shown that he is presidential. He had expressed some adoration for Barack Obama in the past few months, but never really said he would come out and endorse anyone in this race. This is the man who, even though he is a Republican, has pretty much stayed above the fray when it comes to politics, a lot of times. But he has said he does want to endorse in fact want to endorse Obama.
We will continue to follow this story and see if, in fact, we'll see him out on the campaign trail, see if we'll see the together, possibly, out there at some point during a rally. But again, Colin Powell this morning on "Meet the Press" telling Tom Brokaw that he is, in fact, endorsing Barack Obama for president. Stay here, we got a lot more to come on this story and others right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Don't you go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Breaking news today. Senator Barack Obama has just received a major endorsement. Former secretary of state, under the Bush administration, Colin Powell is endorsing Obama, saying, quote, today, on "Meet the Press," that Obama displayed a "steadiness, showed intellectual vigor, he has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well." He went on to say that he was concerned about McCain's choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate, saying, "I was concerned with the election, our selection of Governor Palin. I don't think she is ready to be the president of the United States."
So, Powell today endorsing Barack Obama for president. In fact, he will be on the campaign trail in the coming weeks as part of that endorsement.
HOLMES: All right, let's get some reaction to this endorsement, now. Bring in the communications director for the Republican National Committee, Danny Diaz joins us again from Washington.
Good morning again, sir. Good to see you. You tell me. A lot of people will say endorsements don't mean a lot at the end of the day, but this one's got to hurt a little bit.
DANNY DIAZ, COMM DIR, RNC: Well, good morning, T.J. You know, as you said, I think at the end of the day, the choice is based on the candidates at the top of the ticket, endorsements are great, but that's not what people base their decision on. They base their decisions on leadership, on qualifications and on values. And I think at the end of the day, the majority of the American people are going to recognize that John McCain shares their values with regard to economic policy, keeping taxes low, railing in spending.
He understands that, you know, that we need to move this country in a direction that benefits the hardworking, everyday Joe. I think that's what the decisions will be based on.
HOLMES: Yeah but Danny, I know you say that and that often happens, people will base it on the candidate and their leadership abilities, but sometimes people will listen to people that they also respect, and there are not too many out that there that people respect like Colin Powell, also Republican, also many consider a war hero, secretary of state. This man has a lot of experience, and he has also come out and said he doesn't believe that Sarah Palin is ready to be president.
DIAZ: Well, you know, people also respect...
HOLMES: And Danny, we're going to take poll -- you hold on there one second. We actually have Colin Powell coming out. I think he might be coming to the microphones here, we're going to listen to him. I'll get right back to you, Danny.
COLIN POWELL (R), FRM SECY OF STATE: ...Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, fresh set of ideas to the table. I think that Senator McCain, as gifted as he is, is essentially going to execute the Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and a maverick approach to it and he'd be quite good at it.
But, I think we need more than that. I think we need a generational change. And I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society.
QUESTION: Could you talk to us about when your decision was made final? When did you finally set your heart on Senator Obama?
POWELL: I have been watching, as I said in there, for a long time, and then, within the past couple of months, I really said, you know, you just can't keep watching, you got to kind of settle down. And frankly, it was in the period leading up to the conventions, and then the decisions that came out of the conventions and then just sort of watching the responses of the two individuals on the economic crisis gives me an opportunity to evaluate their judgment, to evaluate their way of approaching a problem, to evaluate the steadiness of their actions and it was at that point that I realized that in my mind, anyway, that Senator Obama has demonstrated the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem solving that I think we need in this country. QUESTION: Secretary, there were a number of chinks in your own armor, actually, because of the lead-up to the Iraq war and the events. How much did this -- did that play into your decision about this, and will it be taken perhaps by some, because of your previous high-profile position, will it be taken by some as a repudiation of the Iraq war?
POWELL: I don't know why. The Iraq war is the Iraq war. We now see that things are a lot better in Iraq. Maybe if we had put a surge in at the beginning it would have been a lot better years ago. But, it's a lot better now, and we can see ahead where U.S. forces will start to come out. And so, my concern was not my past or what happened in Iraq, but where we're going in the future.
My sole concern was where are we going after January 20 of 2009, not what happened in 2003. I'm well aware of the role I played. My role has been very, very straightforward. I wanted to avoid a war, the president agreed with me. We tried to do that, we couldn't get it through the U.N. and when the president made the decision, I supported that decision and I have never blinked from that. I never said I didn't support a decision to go to war.
And the war looked great until the 9th of April when the statue fell, everybody thought it was terrific. And it was terrific. We had done a -- the troops had done a great job. But then we failed to understand that the war really was not over, that a new phase of the war was beginning, and we weren't ready for it and we didn't respond to it well enough, and things went very, very -- very, very south, very bad.
And now it's starting to turn around through the work of General Petraeus and the troops, through the work of the Iraqi government, through our diplomatic efforts, and I hope now that this war will be brought to an end, at least as far as American involvement is concerned, and the Iraqis are going to have to be responsible for their own security and for their own political future. One more, then I do have to go.
QUESTION: Sir, what did McCain's negativity play in the decision, the negative...
POWELL: It troubled me. I, you know, we have two wars. We have economic problems, we have health problems, we have education problems, we have infrastructure problems, we have problems around the world with our allies. And, so those are the problems the American people wanted to hear about, not about Mr. Ayers, not about who's a Muslim or who's not a Muslim.
Those kinds of images going out on "al Jazeera" are killing us around the world and we have got to stay to the world, it doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are, if you're an American, you're an American.
And this business, for example, of the congressman from Minnesota who's going around saying let's examine all congressmen to see who's pro-America or not pro-America, we have got to stop this kind of nonsense, pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity. And so, that really was driving me. And to focus on people like Mr. Ayers, these trivial issues for the purposes of suggesting that somehow Mr. Obama would have some kind of terrorist inclinations, I thought that was over the top. It was beyond just good political fighting back and forth. I think it went beyond.
And the sort of throw in this little Muslim connection, you know, he's a Muslim and, a terrorist, it was taking root and we can't judge our people and we can't hold our elections on that kind of basis. And so, yes, that kind of negativity troubled me, and the constant shifting of the argument.
I was troubled a couple of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis, the campaign said we're going to go negative and they announced it, we're going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayres. And now, I guess, the message this week is we're going to call him a socialist, Mr. Obama is now a socialist, because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have.
Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay them in roads and airports, and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there's nothing with examine what our tax structure is or who should be paying more, who should be paying less. And for us to say that that makes you a socialist, I think, is an unfortunate -- an unfortunate characterization that isn't accurate.
And I don't want my taxes raised, I don't want anybody else's taxes raised. But, I also want to see our infrastructure fixed, I don't want to have a $12 trillion national debt, and I don't want to see an annual deficit that's over $500 billion heading toward a trillion. So, how do we deal with that is all of this?
QUESTION: Are you still a Republican?
POWELL: Yes.
QUESTION: Have you conveyed your decision to Senator Obama?
POWELL: Calls are being made. Thank you.
QUESTION: Thank you, when did you...
HOLMES: All right. There you have it. That is General Colin Powell, former secretary of state, Republican, as you just heard there at the end, still a Republican, but endorsing a Democrat, Barack Obama, for president, this time around. Talking about the calm, the steadiness that Obama has displayed and also saying that he was turned off by the negative campaigning that he has seen from the McCain campaign.
I was speaking with Danny Diaz, the RNC communications director, before Powell came in there, and Danny, he's still with me, here. Danny, we'll get you to react to this. Before I get you to react so to some of what you heard, you tell me, how did the McCain campaign and how actively did the McCain go after possibly the endorsement of General Powell.
DIAZ: You know, I'm not aware of how much communication took place between the campaign and General Powell. You know, certainly, what I can tell you is this -- because Senator Obama has received general Powell's endorsement, that doesn't mean that Senator Obama has the foreign policy credentials, qualifications and experience to serve as president.
HOLMES: But, Danny, it means that a guy who people really, really respect on a lot of those issues does think that Obama has the foreign policy credentials, has the calm, has what it takes to be president.
DIAZ: I understand, and his vote counts as much as the next person's. And at the end of the day, it's an accumulation of votes on Election Day that decides who the president is. And John McCain has led on the important issues. I think that's what people are beginning to focus on as they focus on that choice.
Certainly, we recognize General Powell is well recognized and well respected, he's admired, but at the end of the day, endorsements aren't what voters base their decisions on, it's on the candidate at the top of the ticket, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Want to hear as well, to hear this voice, this man, this again, Colin Powell, really his -- that name has so much gravitas that goes along with it and so much respect that does, no matter which side of the aisle you are on really, but to hear him say that he was turned off and really upset by the negative tone, kind of the negative direction, bringing up Bill Ayres and things like that, had on this campaign that really pushed him more towards Obama, more so, let me get you to react to that. I mean, he is saying he didn't like the direction the McCain campaign went.
DIAZ: Well, you know, I can't react any different than Senator McCain did, I think, when this came up in the debate. And the reality is Barack Obama has spent tens of millions of dollars more on negative advertising. The Democrats ran the first negative ads in this campaign. The percentage of money he is spending on negative ads is significantly more than our campaign. And at the end of the day, once again, voters are going to base their decision not on endorsement or not what someone says on a TV show, but based on the qualifications and leadership experience of the candidates.
One person has reached across the aisle, helped solve some of the issues we had with Iraq, ensures that taxes will remain low, helped move the discussion forward on global warming, has fought pork barrel less spending. Another guy has written some books, he has given some eloquent speeches, but has no discernible accomplishments that have his name on it. That's what the decision is going to be based on. Who can get things done an in conjunction and concert with their record and who simply delivers great rhetoric that has no proof of every having done the hard things.
HOLMES: All right, well Danny Diaz, again, RNC communications director. Sir, I'm glad we could get you back on, glad we had you here when all this was going on to get your reaction to it. We appreciate you and I know we'll be seeing you plenty in the next couple weeks, 16 days specifically.
DIAZ: That's right, 16. Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: We will turn now to the Democratic side. We're going to bring in now Mr. Brad Woodhouse, he's a senior DNC adviser.
Sir, I will, again, we got this fast-moving story about this endorsement. Don't know if you knew it was coming or not, but you tell me, what does this mean for the Obama campaign to gets the endorsement of this man, General Powell?
BRAD WOODHOUSE, SR DNC ADVISOR: Right. Good morning and thanks for having me. Let me tell you, T.J., around my dinner table when I was growing up, when we got good news, we said, "praise the Lord and pass the potato salad," and I couldn't say that more this morning. I mean, you know, General Powell's endorsement is really the gold standard. He is one of the most respected voices in America, he's got an approval rating of 75 percent, 80 percent. Americans really respect him. And, you know, I wish instead of talking to me you could play his clip again because he said it so much better than even I can.
Senator Obama has showed calm, steady leadership, an intellectual grasp of the issues. And as General Powell said, you know, he was quite disappointed in the tone of the McCain campaign. But make no doubt about it, this is a huge, huge day for the Obama campaign.
HOLMES: And told us, you wish we could just listen to him and I guess we will hear him for a second. Let's replay it for our viewers, of many who just might just be joining us, about this endorsement. You sir, they can probably hear it in your voice. You certainly do sound like you want to praise the Lord and pass the potatoes right now. Well, let's listen in. I'll talk to you about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: I have been watching, as I said in there, for a long time, and then, within the past couple of months, I really said, you know, you just can't keep watching, you got to kind of settle down. And frankly, it was in the period leading up to the conventions, and then the decisions that came out of the conventions and then just sort of watching the responses of the two individuals on the economic crisis gives me an opportunity to evaluate their judgment, to evaluate their way of approaching a problem, to evaluate the steadiness of their actions and it was at that point that I realized that in my mind, anyway, that Senator Obama has demonstrated the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem solving that I think we need in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: All right. We hear him again, there. And Mr. Woodhouse, endorsements are what they are. I don't know if you just heard Danny Diaz from the Republican side. You know, if Powell would have come out today and endorsed McCain, I would have talking to you and this conversation would have probably been a lot like I just heard Mr. Diaz. You would have said oh, endorsements just are what they are, they're just one more vote. But why do you think this endorsement is different from the endorsement of maybe a sitting senator, maybe from Al Gore, maybe from whoever else out there? How do you think this one is different?
WOODHOUSE: Well, you know, General Powell has a long track record. I mean, people see him as an honest broker, I mean, someone who's worked for Republican presidents, for Democratic president, Bill Clinton, but who is a Republican and who, after his service in the military, came out, registered as a Republican, worked for George W. Bush, but who, looking towards the future, sees Senator Obama as the person that's most ready to change America, move it forward. And so, I think in that respect it's -- like I said, it really is the -- a gold standard. A U.S. senator can be an important endorsement in a state, General Powell is an important endorsement nationally.
HOLMES: Can you tell me, Mr. Woodhouse, how aggressively did the Obama campaign go after possibly this endorsement or did they go after it at all?
WOODHOUSE: I honestly don't know the question to that -- the answer to that question. I don't know how much contact there was between General Powell and the campaign or if there was any contact. It certainly appears from what he said and from what we just heard, this was something that he thought about a long time and he came to this decision on his own, it sounds like.
HOLMES: Would you imagine, over the next 16 days somewhere, we are going to see some rally, some big gathering where we see these two men on stage together?
WOODHOUSE: Well, I would certainly hope so. I can't speak for General Powell, but I think that would be -- I think that would clearly be welcome. And I think you could hear in the intensity of his voice he thinks this is very important. So, this is not a casual endorsement by any respect. So, I think you'll see him out there, at least I would hope so.
HOLMES: And I wanted to ask you this, because I planned on asking you before all this news about the Colin Powell endorsement, and Colin Powell certainly, this morning, hitting on it a little bit, talking about tax policy and redistribution of wealth, if you will, talking about how taxes are dispersed out there, we all pay in and we all get something out of it.
WOODHOUSE: Right.
HOLMES: But, does Barack Obama wish he had not said the words "spread the wealth around?" WOODHOUSE: I don't think so, because I think that's been taken out of context. And what he was talking about was providing a tax cut to 95 percent of working Americans. And, you know, there is a point in this country where working Americans deserve a tax cut. I mean, in the past eight years, we've seen all the wealth accrue to the top one or two percent, and we've seen, you know, that that doesn't work. I mean, they call it trickle-down economics, except it never trickles down, T.J. and so...
HOLMES: But, you know, some of that scares people. When you hear some of that wealth taken from people who make a little more, but some people who don't make enough to pay income tax are going to get relief, if you will, through what are going to be called, tax credits, so people who don't even pay into the system are going to be getting money from people who are going to be taxed a little more. So, you see where the word "socialism" comes up and that part scares people a little bit.
WOODHOUSE: Well, first of all, they do pay taxes, they do pay payroll taxes, but what people should really be scared about is what Senator McCain wants to do with tax dollars. He wants to give a $3 Billion bailout to banks who made bad business decisions. He wants to give $200 billion in corporate tax breaks to the CEOs that got us into this financial problem to begin with. So, that's really what they should be worried about, not getting the tax cut from Senator Obama.
HOLMES: All right, well, Brad Woodhouse, sir, I'm glad we could get you in that chair this morning, and here for the news that has been breaking about a major endorsement. Again, Brad Woodhouse with the DNC, a senior adviser for the DNC. Sir, thank you so much. We'll see you plenty over the next couple of weeks.
WOODHOUSE: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, this was a major endorsement with plenty of implications. Let's talk now to CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider; he joins us by phone from D.C.
Bill, as we just heard Brad Woodhouse say, this was the gold standard to get General Powell's endorsement. How big of a coup, if you will, is this for the Dems?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's an important breakthrough for Barack Obama, for one simple reason, one of the biggest question marks hanging over Barack Obama and his campaign is whether he is ready to be commander in chief, because he has no military experience, nor did Hillary Clinton and the result is that people wonder, you hear it all the time, he's young, he's inexperienced, is he prepared to run the world's most powerful military?
Well, Colin Powell has done that, and has expressed his confidence in Barack Obama as someone who is ready and who is qualified to be commander in chief. So, that speaks a great deal to what has been a big issue hanging over the Obama campaign.
NGUYEN: Yeah, he mentioned that he really evaluated the judgment and the steadiness of the actions of these candidates and felt that Barack Obama displayed that steadiness and intellectual vigor. But, he also said something I found interesting, as well, today on "Meet the Press," where he made this announcement, this endorsement. He also mentioned how he was concerned about Governor Palin being John McCain's selection as vice president, going on to say that he doesn't think that she's ready to be president of the United States. It seems like they have been attacked by this endorsement on all ends.
SCHNEIDER: Yeah, the endorsement wasn't just a vote of confidence in Barack Obama, it was also clearly, definitively, a statement of no confidence in the McCain/Palin campaign. He said he was dispressed by the nature of the McCain campaign, its negative nature, he mentioned the Bill Ayres situation, that's the '60s radical that McCain has been criticizing for Barack Obama's later association with him, the robocalls, the very nasty calls that the Republican Party has been putting out, promoting McCain and attacking Obama.
And he criticized Sarah Palin. He said, "I was concern with her selection, I don't think she's ready to be president of the United States." So, you know, this is very clearly an expression of no confidence in the Republican ticket. And, remember, Colin Powell is a Republican and high confidence in Barack Obama.
NGUYEN: And in fact, he was asked if he was still a Republican following his announcement today and he said definitively, yes. One other thing that he mentioned as well, and this goes right in the face of what the McCain camp has really been hitting hard on lately and that is Barack Obama and what he's been saying about share and spread the wealth. He has been called a socialist and Colin Powell today said, you know, being called a socialist because he dares to look at the tax structure it seems like he was ready with all the punches today, to really counter everything the Republicans were going after in regards to the Obama campaign.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. He even talked about the charges of Obama's economic record and his economic policies. He called Obama a "transformational figure," a very important phrase and I'm sure both Obama and maybe Powell will be using that phrase again, a "transformational figure" in a country that is desperate for change. He says that Powell will restore his sense of confidence in the international community that's desperately needed and he has a unique ability to address that issue because he was once secretary of state. So, this is really, this announcement is a really a very critical breakthrough.
NGUYEN: It is a big blow. And very quickly, what do the Republicans do now to get back on track and really come up from an endorsement like this and try to get their campaign ready to go, there's only about a little over two weeks left.
SCHNEIDER: They do not want to get into it with Colin Powell, he was Bush's secretary of state, I think they ignore the endorsement, they promote McCain's credentials and they got to talk about the one thing most important. Everyone knows that McCain has good national security credentials, they've got to talk about his economic ideas, his economic policies. How will McCain get us out of this mess? That's something people aren't clear about.
NGUYEN: All right, CNN senior Political analyst, Bill Schneider, joining us by phone from Washington. Thank you for that.
As we have been talking about a political bombshell. Barack Obama scores a big endorsement. General Colin Powell endorses he senator. So, what is next in this election? We're going to take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Breaking news today, a major announcement for the Obama campaign. Former secretary of state, Colin Powell under the Bush administration, now endorsing Barack Obama, saying that he displayed a steadiness and showed international vigor.
HOLMES: This is, of course, a Republican, who served under Republican presidents, who said at his end -- at this press conference today, that he is still a Republican, but needs to be a generational shift and that Obama has brought in excitement and young people and vigor and new ideas to this campaign that simply, John McCain has not. Even though he said, he praised John McCain for being a good leader and saying he could bring new things to the Republican platform, could bring new things to the Republican platform, but still saying, no, it's going to be Obama for him this time around. He made that announcement a little while ago on NBC's "Meet the Press."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, in case you haven't heard, Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama. We are following this breaking news, today. So, what kind of effect will have it have on the former secretary of state's endorsement on this race will this endorsement have? Well, that's the hot topic this morning for political analysts on CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES.
HOLMES: And you know Wolf Blitzer will be all over this story tackling the endorsement and the impact with former Republican presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, but, first, we do have a check of the morning's top developments.
NGUYEN: Well, as we've been reporting, breaking news on the political front this morning. Colin Powell endorses Barack Obama for president and making his announcement this morning Powell says Obama is better suited to address the nation's economic problems and improve its the standing in the world.
Powell a retired U.S. general and a Republican was once seen as a possible presidential candidate, himself.
And we are getting word this morning that Senator John McCain is reacting to this saying, "it doesn't come as a surprise." Going on to say, "I'm also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former secretaries of state," that being Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger, and Alexander Haig and "I'm proud to have the endorsement of 200 retired Army generals and admirals." That coming from Senator John McCain, today, following the announcement that Colin Powell is endorsing Barack Obama.
In other news, safe and found. The 6-year-old Nevada boy abducted from his Las Vegas home on Wednesday, was found walking down a neighborhood sidewalk last night. Police say the boy is in extremely good condition. Vegas police believe this was a drug- related kidnapping.
Well, the Taliban being blamed for a deadly attack on a passenger bus in Afghanistan. It happened Thursday in the providence of Kandahar. Officials there saying as many as 40 people were killed. Afghan officials say the victims were civilians and the Taliban says it killed soldiers.
We're going to have more stories at the top of the hour, RELIABLE SOURCES begins right now.
