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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama, Palin Hit Campaign Trail to Boost Midterm Candidates; Online Terror Magazine Linked to U.S. Citizen
Aired October 17, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(LAUGHTER)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
We got two weeks to go now until those critical midterm elections you've been hearing an awful lot about and you will be seeing an awful lot of that guy, President Obama. He and other top names were out this weekend campaigning. They'll be out again today, and the rhetoric is heating up as we get closer and closer to Election Day.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, a mystery solved for a military family in Ohio. A soldier killed in World War II. His remains finally found. Hear from - hear from the family - a homecoming decades in the making.
HOLMES: Hello to you all. From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Six a.m. where we sit here in Atlanta, Georgia; 1 p.m. in Baghdad. Wherever you may be, glad you're right here; I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOLDUAN: I'm Kate Bolduan. We want to welcome our troops watching on the Armed Forces Network in Iraq and Afghanistan. Good morning, everybody.
HOLMES: Also coming up for you here over the next 90 minutes, we need to let you know about a big food recall. We're talking about vegetables these - this time. There could be glass in your vegetables. This stuff was sold at Kroger and Walmart. Some frozen veggies. We're going to have that update. You need to pay attention to that this morning.
Also over the next 90 minutes, a story of a police office in Baltimore - detectives who have been killed, but not in the line of duty. He was off-duty, and he was killed after an incident that you've probably been involved with yourself. Sad story, senseless story to bring you this morning. Stick around for that.
Also, a couple is kicked out of a mall in North Carolina. Why? They were hugging and kissing. But there's more to the story than that, and it's prompted a huge rally that's going to take place today. We'll explain.
But again, here - just past the top of the hour, 16 days away from the midterm elections. And overnight, we saw everything from a major Republican Party rally highlighting Sarah Palin to a - a gravel- voiced president who was defending his administration. He's been doing a lot out there, and the voice starts to go a little bit.
BOLDUAN: And there is a cold going - going around in D.C.
HOLMES: Just the D.C. cold.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: One person...
BOLDUAN: That's why he was (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: Good to have you here.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Anyway - and also, for many Americans, it is more than who wins, it's the direction the winners will take the country. It's shaping up to be another hectic week of campaigning. I'm sure that's no surprise to you.
And it's coming off a blistering Saturday. Let's start in Massachusetts, where the Democrats' dilemma mirrors the party's troubles nationwide.
The president campaigned for his friend Governor Deval Patrick who, like Obama, sees his popularity slipping. Polls show Patrick in a dead heat with Republican Charlie Baker. The president urged Democrats not to let Republicans take control of Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I understand that sometimes hope may have faded as we've grinded out this work over the last several years. I know it's hard to keep faith when a family member still hasn't found a job after months of try or another foreclosure sign's hung on the house down the street.
And - and you're watching TV, and - and all you see are politicians tearing each other down, pundits who treat politics like a sport. I know it can be discouraging. But don't ever let anybody tell you this fight isn't worth it. Don't ever let them tell you you're not making a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, he does sound a little scratchy there with the voice, the president.
Well, here - no scratchy voices here. You see Sarah Palin there on the screen, along with the RNC Chairman Michael Steele. They were part of a fundraiser last night in Anaheim. They spoke to a crowd of about 2,000. And listen to them. They sound pretty good about what's going to happen on Election Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: And the momentum is with us, but now is not the time to let up. You know, now is not the time to celebrate. Not quite yet. We've got 17 days to go. We can't be thinking that it's over yet and that we've got in the bag.
You know, as Yogi would have said, 'It ain't over till it's over.' We've got to leave the dancing to someone else for right about now.
But soon - son we'll all be dancing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: We don't need Obama to care for us. Therefore, we don't Obamacare. We don't need Harry Reid to figure out how our businesses work. Therefore, he can retire. We don't need Nancy Pelosi period.
This is your moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We probably should have turned the - warned you about the volume on that sound byte so early in the morning.
But here's a picture of Senator John McCain. He made the hop over from Arizona to San Diego last night. He is stumping for Carly Fiorina. She is running, of course, as the Republican there, up against Barbara Boxer for that Senate seat.
But listen to these attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Barbara Boxer is the most bitterly partisan, most anti-defense senator in the United States Senate today. I know that because I've had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And with just a little more than two weeks before the midterm elections, you can expect more fiery language just like that.
Today, the - quote - "Fire Pelosi" bus tours - tour pulls into Indianapolis. The GOP-sponsored bus is attempting to fire up Republicans to work against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Also, former President Bill Clinton - he will give a speech tonight at a rally in San Jose - at San Jose State University. He is campaigning for Jerry Brown's bid to become California's governor.
And a very busy Sarah Palin will rally the GOP in Reno, Nevada tomorrow. Polls show Republican challenger Sharron Angle neck and neck with a favorite Republican target, Senator Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid.
And President Obama - well, he speaks at a university - at the University of Southern California rally Friday. He'll be encouraging young voters to turn out for the midterm elections. They were a crucial group that helped him win the White House two years ago.
HOLMES: I want to turn to New York here for a moment. Sticking with politics, turn to the race for governor. It's been an interesting one, because there's a pretty interesting character who is running right now.
The GOP candidate, Carl Paladino, he is coming out - still trying to walk back from remarks he made last week about gays. Well, he's saying now he will be making no more disparaging remarks about gays. He's calling for no more remarks in this campaign.
Last week though, he said homosexuality is - quote - "not an equally valid option to heterosexuality." His opponent, the Democrat Anthony Cuomo, of course, has jumped all over him for his comments.
BOLDUAN: And some other political stories you may have missed, like an embarrassing snafu in an Illinois race.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL HUCKELBERRY, ILLINOIS GREEN PARTY CHAIRMAN: On the one hand, if the city of Chicago is a laughingstock, on the other hand, our candidate kind of, you know, has been tagged with a name that really isn't that nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: That was the chairman of the Green Party in Illinois complaining about a typo that lists the Green Party candidate as "Rich Whitey." Never mind the fact that Rich Whitney, which is his real name, barely registers in the polls - something like about 2 percent.
The Chicago Board of Elections publicly apologized for the error and is scrambling to fix thousands of voting machines, including those in heavily African-American precincts. The typo was spotted on Tuesday by an early voter.
And in Oregon - Oregon's gubernatorial race is notable because one of the candidates is former NBA player Chris Dudley. Dudley, a Republican, played professional basketball for 16 years. Among the teams he played - played with are the Portland Trailblazers.
Dudley is tied in the polls against former two-term Governor John Kitzhaber. The last time Oregon elected a Republican governor was 1982.
HOLMES: And we are hitting the road this week. The Election Express is going to be out and about, coming to your town more than likely - well, if you live on the East Coast. We're hitting a lot of places.
We're going to start with Charlotte, North Carolina, tomorrow. Coming down to Columbia, South Carolina, after that. Then Macon, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida; them Tampa, Florida. Hitting all those places.
And what I'd like for you to do this morning - do it right now, because I'm going to be heading out and hitting the road. I want to hear from you. Let us know what you want us to talk about in your town, what issues we should be covering.
Hit me at Twitter, @tjholmescnn, or on Facebook - Facebook.com/tjholmescnn. Want to hear from you before we hit the road.
BOLDUAN: Another interesting, interesting story. As the Pentagon prepares for the next round of military reports to be published by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is downplaying the significance of the group's July release that we've talked so much about. That related to thousands of secret military reports from the Afghanistan conflict.
Gates, in a private letter to Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Senator Carl Levin, says Wikileaks didn't compromise any sensitive intelligence sources or methods. But Gates does have security concerns for the Afghans named in the documents.
One Army private is charged as the suspected source of providing the classified information.
And in the coming days, Wikileaks is expected to publish an additional 400,000 military documents relating to the Iraq war.
HOLMES: Well, Iranian authorities have released an Iranian- American businessman detained for more than two years. Reza Taghavi has been locked up in one of Iran's most notorious prisons since May of 2008. He has been accused of supporting an anti-regime group trying to restore the monarchy in Iran.
His lawyer says he is suffering from diabetes and his health deteriorated while in prison.
BOLDUAN: And it is a homecoming more than 60 years in the making.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know what was going happen. (INAUDIBLE) that I didn't find out. So that was the biggest 'wow' (ph) in my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, missing in action in World War II. Now, finally, returning home.
BOLDUAN: But first, this morning's news quiz.
Today, we look at first ladies, starting with Michelle Obama. Where did she get her law degree? Loyola Law School, in her hometown Chicago; or was it Yale; or maybe Harvard?
The answer after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 12 minutes past the hour now.
Before the break, we asked: Where did first lady Michelle Obama get her law degree? Was it Loyola, Yale or Harvard?
Well, she is a Harvard woman. Mrs. Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1988; got her undergraduate degree from Princeton three years earlier. That is a pretty impressive educational resume.
BOLDUAN: Yes, not an underachiever, as you would say (ph).
(WEATHER REPORT)
BOLDUAN: So the passing of - of an American treasure from the 50s and 60s. The woman known simply as "the Beaver's wife" (sic), actress June Cleaver (sic), has died. Just ahead, a look back at her life.
HOLMES: Also, this woman and her companion were kicked out of a mall for holding hands and a quick kiss. There's a whole lot more to this story though, and we'll have it for you, coming up.
It's 15 minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, at 17 minutes past the hour now, I'll give you a look at some of the stories making headlines.
A food recall to tell you about. Specifically, a vegetable recall. Packages containing frozen vegetables sold nationally at Walmart stores and also Kroger stores could contain glass fragments. No reports of any injuries, but the supplier, a company out of Tennessee, says consumers should return them for a full refund.
You see some of the specific packages on your screen. Now, if you don't get a good note of those, we do have it on our website. If you want it even easier, you can go to Twitter, @tjholmescnn. I posted the link for you there, make it all easy for you.
Also, an update on those strikes in France that shut down parts of Paris yesterday. The central fuel line that supplied gas to airports, it's back online. That's great news. Most of the oil refineries shut down during the strikes. People are striking because the government proposed raising the national retirement age from 60 to 62. Also, actress Barbara Billingsley has died. She's best-known for her role as June Cleaver from the long-running sitcom "Leave It to Beaver." Billingsley was 94 years old.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it may be a surprise to you out there to learn that even terrorists have their own magazine. It's called, perhaps oddly enough, "Inspire."
BOLDUAN: And the man believed to be behind the magazine is an American living in Yemen. "Inspire" is al Qaeda's latest effort aimed at encouraging terrorism against Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Colorful, creative imagery promoting a deadly message. Chilling terror tips on how to wage violent jihad. The 74-page second edition of the al Qaeda online magazine called "Inspire" aims to recruit Americans to kill Americans.
"The Ultimate Mowing Machine," reads the title of one article, suggesting how to carry out individual attacks.
Quote: "The idea is to use a pickup truck as a mowing machine, not to mow grass, but to mow down the enemies of Allah."
TOM KEAN, FMR. CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: What al Qaeda is looking for right now is not their additional recruits that they used to do in places like Pakistan and other places in the Middle East. And that's a very dangerous figure for us and a very hard figure - figure for us to intercept, particularly if they have an American passport.
BOLDUAN: Another article takes direct aim at the nation's capital.
Quote: "A random hit at a crowded restaurant in Washington, D.C., at lunch hour, for example, might end up knocking out a few government employees."
Intelligence officials believe Samir Khan, an American citizen now living in Yemen, is a driving force behind the publication and pens his own essay in the new edition, "I am Proud to Be a Traitor to America."
Fran Townsend, former homeland- security adviser to President Bush, says while the magazine's message isn't new, the way they're getting it across is.
(on camera): So what is different here with this magazine?
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: These are guys who have either been born here or lived in the United States, who speak idiomatic colloquial English, who can appeal to Americans to join their cause. They know how to persuade them, they know how to speak to them and -- and they know how to really inspire them to become a part of it.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): And top U.S. officials like FBI Director Robert Mueller say the Internet acts as an accelerant for terrorist activity.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Consider the impact of someone like Anwar Awlaki, the American-born, Yemeni-based extremist.
Ten years ago, Awlaki would have operated in relative obscurity. Today, on the Internet, he has unlimited reach to individuals around the world, including those here at home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: A U.S. counterterrorism official tells CNN they're aware of the publication, saying it aims to provoke the murder of innocents, and hardly lives up to its name, "Inspire."
HOLMES: Well, you travelers out there, get on a plane. You know you've got the first class; you've got business class; you've got coach class.
How would you like flying in the "cuddle class"? It sounds good, right?
You're not going to want to miss this one. Stick around. It's after the break.
But first, before we got to the break, this morning's news quiz.
A recent poll ranks the popularity of all the first ladies of the past three decades. Which first lady would you say is at the top of the popularity list?
Would it be A, Michelle Obama; B, Hillary Clinton; or C, Nancy Reagan?
That answer for you after the break.
It's 24 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, before the break, we asked about these superwomen. A recent poll ranking the popularity of all the first ladies of the past three decades, which do you think of these first ladies was at the top of the list in popularity: Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton or Nancy Reagan?
The answer is a bit of a trick. The answer actually is a tie between those two ladies, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Reagan. They both got 19 percent when people asked who they liked most in that list of those first ladies.
Next came Michelle Obama at 15 percent, then Laura Bush at 12 percent. Also, we hear that Michelle Obama came in essentially third here on this list of popularity. But of all the first ladies on that list as well, she ranked highest in the favorability rating. I think it hovers around 65 percent.
So people still have a good opinion of her, even if she's not their favorite first lady.
Well, we told you about this a moment ago. People - you know, you can fly first class, business class, coach class. But there's a "cuddle class" coming out now. This is a cuddle class. And - and they call it this because you essentially can cuddle with the people you're flying with.
BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: You can book a row of seats.
Now some people do this on emptier - or - or lighter flights that aren't so full. If you have a row to yourself, you'll do this.
But this is planned by Air New Zealand for trans-Pacific flights. It's a sky couch. You see it there. Three seats designed to recreate a space for children to play or where you can lay flat, relax and do anything else with the person you might be smuggled up with.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: So basically, you're paying for an extra seat.
HOLMES: Well, you aren't paying for the extra seat.
LEVS: Oh, you don't have to pay for it
HOLMES: You're - you're paying for Seat 2. But you're getting half price on Seat 3...
LEVS: Wow.
HOLMES: ...is the way it goes. So - so yes, you would be still, if it's two of you flying, you're paying for your two seats. But you get - you don't have to sit next to a stranger. Which ain't bad.
BOLDUAN: And you know, on those - when the row is empty, and you lay down, it's not necessarily comfortable with all of the...
HOLMES: It's not great.
BOLDUAN: You know, because the seat belts and the (INAUDIBLE) - so....
LEVS: I know there's never enough room for me to lie down on any of those seats.
BOLDUAN: Right, you are quite tall.
LEVS: But it's nice to see - yes, I know. (LAUGHTER)
LEVS: That's all I keep hearing every time I get (INAUDIBLE)
BOLDUAN: You can't see this at home. He is quite tall.
LEVS: But here's the thing: It's nice to see any airline focusing on more comfort instead of, you know, the opposite, what we get these days. Like, hey, do you want to stand over by the bathroom for five hours, you can get on the plane.
BOLDUAN: Don't you remember, we did this story just a couple weeks ago, where they were, like, proposing the strangest seats, where you're basically doing like a - you know, like, you used to do wall sits..
HOLMES: Oh, where you don't sit down.
BOLDUAN: When we did sports in college.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Yes, I think they're going the other direction.
LEVS: So at least we got someone out there saying, 'Let's give fliers more comfort. We could use more of that.'
BOLDUAN: There you go. Yay for New Zealand.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And next time we're flying to New Zealand, we'll have that option.
BOLDUAN: Wait, but I want to make sure we get to this one.
This is one possibly for one of the record books. We'll have to look a little further into that.
A New York father launches an iPhone and video camera into space...
LEVS: Oh yes.
BOLDUAN: ...and captures some pretty amazing footage of the experiment. He calls it the "Brooklyn space program." He built a space capsule - you're seeing it right there - and strapped it to a weather balloon in August of this year.
He used the GPS in the iPhone to track its journey into space. The capsule survived 100 mile-an-hour winds, temperatures 60 degrees below zero and speeds of over 150 miles an hour.
The weather balloon will get...
(CROSSTALK) BOLDUAN: The weather balloon soared to a height, we're told, of 100,000 feet. That's 19 miles above the Earth. And you can actually see the curvature of the planet, as you saw, as it was coming - as it was coming down.
Eventually, as you can probably guess, the lack of atmospheric pressure caused the balloon to burst and fall back to the Earth on a parachute, hence why we have the video.
LEVS: But as I recall, it was a 102-minute flight. And it's really cool-looking. And it's pretty amazing that you can put your own camera up there, it still works perfectly fine.
And then they put a note with it, so when it landed, someone knew to get it back to them.
BOLDUAN: Well, and just - I mean, it sounds like an experiment that would clearly have failed. Oh, let's put an iPhone with a video camera and see where it goes.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: And it goes into space.
LEVS: I love that video.
HOLMES: He expects to get his iPhone back?
BOLDUAN: Yes. I actually don't know...
HOLMES: He expects to get it back.
BOLDUAN: I think he actually did.
LEVS: As I recall, they put a note with this, and someone found it, and believe it or not, you know, the goodness of mankind, they got that one back to him. That's how they got the video.
BOLDUAN: But here's the question: Does the iPhone still work?
LEVS: Oh, I haven't asked that.
BOLDUAN: I mean, after...
LEVS: After it's near (ph) atmospheric pressure.
BOLDUAN: Right. If iPhone can survive that, that's...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Well, does iPhone work in the first place?
Does it really make that good (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Everybody knows I'm a Droid guy. It's out there.
BOLDUAN: I'm a Droid guy.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right. Well, we got one more here for you.
A - a skydiver missed his mark. You see this every now and again. But kind of adding insult to injury here. He ended up hanging - hanging in a tree for hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): We're going to add further insult to injury.
HOLMES (voice-over): This is bad enough and embarrassing enough. This is a 35-year-old guy, grown man, Andrew Stack. He crash landed Monday into a bunch of trees. This is in Dunstable, Massachusetts.
All right, again, it looks bad enough. Poor guy, he's up there for a couple of hours. They finally get him out. He says he wants to do it again. He wants to jump. This is not going to stop him.
The problem here, though, the insult part, he may have to pay for his rescue. According to our Boston affiliate, WBZ, the city of Dunstable is debating whether or not to charge him for the cost of the rescue.
You see this every once in a while. Certainly with the economic times, cities and towns are strapped as well and they don't like for somebody doing something stupid. They have to come rescue from your stupidity, and it's costing time and money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: How long was he in the tree? Did you say?
HOLMES: A few hours.
BOLDUAN: Just enough time for the camera crew to get there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. This is the problem. Sometimes you hear like the authorities are saying don't go out onto this lake. It's very dangerous. And people go out in icy conditions anyway, and they want to make you pay for that. Here in a case like this, the guy didn't aim to get stuck exactly there. It's a little subjective. I feel bad for the guy.
BOLDUAN: Jury's out on that one, Dunstable. All right.
President Obama, he gets an earful as he stumps for the Democratic governor in Massachusetts. Here what the hecklers said and the president's response. He didn't ignore them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: It's 34 minutes past the hour. Hello to you all. Welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOLDUAN: And I'm Kate bolduan. Thanks for staying with us this morning.
HOLMES: And as you know, 16 days is now left until the midterm elections. Control of Capitol Hill hanging in the balance. So much so that the president and first lady are out there hitting the road on the campaign trail once again. Sarah Palin is out in a big way too. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, he is in Washington at our Political Desk.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Kate and T.J. a busy day and a busy week ahead in politics. Let's start today and let's start with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
They go to Ohio. They will be the main attractions at a Democratic National Committee party rally in Columbus, Ohio this evening. The whole idea here, just as you saw with the president's events in Wisconsin and in Philadelphia, is to try to energize Democratic voters.
Polls suggested Democratic voters are a lot less energized to cast ballots than Republicans. A busy week ahead for the president, he will be out west. He will be in Washington State helping Patty Murray.
He'll be in California helping Barbara Boxer and in Nevada helping Harry Reid. What do all - three of those centers have in common? They all three face challenging reelections.
Michelle Obama also continues campaigning this week for Democratic candidates. Busy week on the other side as well, the Tea Party Express tomorrow kicks off their fourth cross-country caravan.
It starts in Reno, Nevada, and it's going to head all east and end up in New Hampshire the day before the election. Tomorrow at that event in Reno, who's going to be there with the Tea Party Express?
Sarah Palin, that's right. The former Alaska governor and John McCain's running mate in 2008 will be helping out in Reno. Remember, she keynoted their big kickoff event in Searchlight, Nevada, back in March when they started their third cross-country tour.
And talking about Palin, next Saturday, she's going to be teaming up with Michael Steele again. We saw it yesterday in California. They're doing it again next week in Orlando.
The idea here is to raise some big bucks for Republican candidates as we close in, 2-1/2 weeks left until the midterms. Kate, T.J., back to you.
BOLDUAN: A president who came into office with a sizable mandate from the people now finds himself in unfamiliar territory, slumping poll numbers and hecklers.
The crowd in Boston last night gave him a rousing welcome. You can see right there, but midway through his speech, you'll hear hecklers in the distance taking President Obama off message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If they take over Congress, the other side has promised to roll back health reform so that insurance companies can go back to denying you coverage because you're sick.
They want to roll back Wall Street reform so that taxpayers are on the hook for Wall Street bailouts and credit card companies can hit you --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: We're told that -- while you're probably not able to hear exactly what the hecklers are saying, they're holding signs that read keep the promise and fight global aids, which is what they've been chanting.
Now the president unable to ignore them, decided to answer them in their criticism that he hasn't done enough to fight aids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: One of the great things about being a Democrat is we like arguing with each other. I would suggest to the folks who are concerned about aids funding, take a look at what the Republican leadership has to say about aids funding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So kind of called them out there, point to go them directly. You can hear the noise in the background, but you couldn't hear exactly what they were saying.
BOLDUAN: You know, heckling happens. It happens on the campaign trail, especially when you're running, but it seems that there comes a point where do you ignore them, or do you have to respond to them?
HOLMES: And he felt the need to respond.
BOLDUAN: Exactly.
HOLMES: Well, Kate, I feel bad for women oftentimes.
BOLDUAN: Why is that?
HOLMES: When you all go out, you have to be cute.
BOLDUAN: We don't have to. We are, T.J.
HOLMES: You have to be. The heels are a big part of it. Women love to wear their heels.
BOLDUAN: I do love my shoes.
HOLMES: When you go out for a night of partying and clubbing and dancing, you don't need to be in five-inch heels. Well, now a student has come up with a way to relieve the high heel misery after a night of - yes.
BOLDUAN: It's practical, cheap, and surprisingly simple, and it's helping to redefine the nightclub experience in Germany.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Taking a look at top stories this hour, the Baltimore City Maryland Police department is now identifying the off-duty detective killed last night in a dispute that apparently began over a parking space.
Police say 18-year veteran Brian Stevenson died shortly after he was hit in the head with a piece of concrete. Stevenson was out celebrating his 38th birthday at the time. Police say a suspect is in custody, but has not yet been charged.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, apologies for mall management after a security guard asked a lesbian couple to leave after the two women kissed. The couple says they appreciate management acknowledging what happened, but don't want anyone losing their job. They'd prefer anti- discrimination training instead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAITLIN BREEDLOVE, KICKED OUT OF MALL: You have to leave because your behavior is inappropriate. It's because you're same sex, and it's inappropriate behavior. Quote, "nobody wants to see that here at Cameron Village." It bothers me that it's 2010 and I have to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And in the Mexican border town of Juarez, gunmen stormed a family reunion, fatally shooting six people early Saturday. Police there are uncertain whether the incident is related to the ongoing war between drug cartels.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 43 minutes past the hour. I have a story that all you ladies can identify with. You go out whether you're going to a club, a nice dinner, an evening out. At some point you want to go out and wear your nice heels.
At end of the night, those dogs are barking, and you've got to do something with your feet. What's a girl to do? Well, one girl in Germany came up with an idea.
Look at this, a practical solution to ending the terror of those killer heels. This is a vending machine that goes inside nightclubs and it dispenses disposable flat shoes. Nadia, this is ingenious.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Absolutely, Isabel Fend, who is a German student, said, why do we have to be in such pain? She's invented ballerinas to go, and what happens is you put your seven euros or $12 into the vending machine, and out comes ballet flats.
They're in silver or purple or black and so much more comfortable than wearing high shoes. Yesterday, T.J., I went out to see, you know, what else was available.
Dr. Scholl's at drug stores in America, you can get a Dr. Scholl's, which is a ballerina flat, and it comes in a little gold bag.
But the thing is you have to remember to go and buy it. What's ingenious about this is that it's in the nightclub.
HOLMES: We call them disposable there. They're really only good for one use?
BILCHIK: No, absolutely not. You can reuse them. But the idea is that they're easily accessible. Do you know what high shoes actually do to you?
High heels, what they do is, they shorten the calf muscle by 13 percent. They also thicken the Achilles heel. So I went out yesterday to what they call comfort shoe stores to see what is the alternative to something like this?
First of all, there are a couple of things. You can put a padding in the back and you can put a padding over here, which means you don't crush the toes as much.
HOLMES: You do have that?
BILCHIK: Yes, I got these yesterday.
HOLMES: Now, what inch heels are those?
BILCHIK: These are probably six or seven. They make such a difference. Can you imagine the hard feel at the end of the night? I went to the comfort shoe store. I said, what alternative do you have to sexy high heels?
HOLMES: And that's what you came up with.
BILCHIK: And this is what the comfort shoe store said would be the alternative because there's no pressure on the toes, which are the very tiny muscles.
HOLMES: That's not sexy, Nadia.
BILCHIK: Well, what can I say? This is what would be the alternative. So I think wear your high heels like this and then go to the vending machine and get your flats or go and get your Dr. Scholl's in a bag or barefoot.
HOLMES: Let me ask this, why do you all have to have five, six- inch heels? Why is that a must when you go out even if you go partying, clubbing? You know you're going to be on your feet all night. Why do you have to have this?
BILCHIK: Because there is such a difference in how you feel. I'll demonstrate between being - perhaps I'll do it for you. So look at the difference between standing like that and doing that.
HOLMES: You're still the same adorable little lady.
BILCHIK: No, no, but look at difference in the legs.
HOLMES: In the legs?
BILCHIK: Of the high heels. It changes your whole demeanor, but long term it is not good for you. Because long term what's happening is eventually I might get even some kind of knee issues or foot problems or calf problems.
HOLMELS: But it's worth it to you, clearly.
BILCHIK: Clearly worth it. However, I may just be putting my ballerina flats in my purse.
HOLMES: This is why we love Nadia, folks.
BILCHIK: Going for it, but I will probably not be wearing those.
HOLMES: Yes, I certainly hope not. We learned a little something this morning, didn't we, fellas? All right, quick break here, 47 past the hour. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's now 10 minutes to the top of the hour. Now, two weeks until Election Day. You know by now, we could be seeing a swing in the balance of power up on Capitol Hill.
BOLDUAN: And the stakes in the midterms are especially high this year partly because of the unusual number of races. Josh Levs is here to explain that. Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hi, guys. I want to show everyone some maps that we have at cnn.com/elections. It's our elections center and the reason I want to do this is we've been talking a lot about the individual races.
You're hearing about the battles. You're hearing about some of the back and forth. But the fact is, just in terms of the raw numbers, big picture this year. We in this country have an exceptionally large number of races and the stakes partly for that reason so unusually high.
Take a look at this map. This is the Senate race, everywhere where there's color, there's a Senate race this year. Usually, there would be 34. This year there are 37. You have special elections going on in New York, West Virginia, and Delaware. The race we keep hearing about in Delaware.
Let's do this. I don't want tackle you too numbers this early in the morning, so I'm just going to show you these charts that'll give you the sense of what's going in the Senate and in the House.
Here's the Senate, here's what we know, all right. Obviously, you got a hundred. Well, take a look here. There are 40 seats on the Democratic side that are not up, 23 seats on the Republican side that are not up.
And everything else in here, these 37 seats that are up in here will determine the balance of power in the Senate and as I said, this right here, unusually large number.
Let's jump over to the House, where obviously seats come up all the time every couple of years. Well, you have a lot more Democrats that are up this year than Republicans probably because there are more Democrats in there.
But look here, 237 Democratic incumbents up, 157 Republican incumbents up and then you have a series of open races in there. All these information at the CNN Election Center and before we go, there's another way we have an exceptionally large number of races this year, and that is in the gubernatorial races all over the country.
Take a look here. Every place you're seeing a red or blue, again, you have an open race that's going on. We have 37 of those this year instead of 36 because of a special election over in Utah.
Now, you want specifics on what's going on in your area. This is pretty cool. At this new site we have set up here, just click on your state and watch what it does. It gives you a breakdown of every state inside your district and the battle for that district inside your state. All of it right there.
And one more thing to show you before I disappear, the new CNN Election Center mobile app. Very cool. It works on whichever kind of Smartphone you're operating.
It gives you up to the minute details, including for whatever specific race you guys want. So, you know, T.J. and Kate, we're all revving up right now for these final two weeks.
We'll be following every little twist and hundreds and hundreds of races every step of the way.
BOLDUAN: It is all about the election maps.
LEVS: It is. It is from here on out, yes.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Josh.
So more than 60 years after his death, an Ohio airman is coming home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know it was going to happen in my lifetime that I would ever find out. That was the biggest wow in my life.
BOLDUAN: The emotional homecoming next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: In Ohio, a grieving family welcomes home a soldier killed in war, not in Afghanistan or Iraq, but the Philippines. His plane vanished during World War II, and the discovery of the wreckage solves a mystery that has haunted his loved ones for decades. We get the story from reporter Chris Seranelo, a CNN affiliate WKEF in Dayton, Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS SERANELO (voice-over): Judson Parkhurst can't remember the last time he talked to his brother Arthur, the last letter they exchanged, but he does remember the last thing he said to him.
JUDSON PARKHURST, ARTHUR PARKHURTS BROTHER: Fruit cake and we put it in the mailbox, sent it to Oklahoma. It never did catch up with him.
SERANELO: Both served their country in the Army Air Corps, but at just 20 years old, Arthur died when his cargo plane went down in the Philippines in March 1945.
PARKHURTS: I was a junior in high school when mom got the telegram. Mom opened it and read it. I can't remember the words she said. She read it out loud. Memory doesn't tell me that.
But I do remember her saying or praying that she would rather Arthur be killed in a crash than to be taken prisoner of the Japanese, who at that time had a real bad rap on cruel torturing.
SERANELO: For the next 65 years, the Parkhurst family in the Miami Valley and in Evansville, Indiana knew next to nothing about Arthur's fate.
Then in 2002, a farmer in the Philippines discovered the wreckage and what turned out to be Arthur's remains. The joint POW MIA personnel accounting command took over from there.
PARKHURST: I didn't know it was going to happen in my lifetime that I'd ever find out. So that was our biggest wow in my life.
SERANELO: And with family from Indiana here in town, Arthur's story will live on through the new generations of Parkhursts. STEVE PARKHURST, ARTHUR PARKHURST'S NEPHEW: It's just a legacy event for the family. It's a historic moment where we can look at a person in our family that served above and beyond the call of duty and sacrifices in a way that none of us can really relate to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Courting the youth vote. We'll tell you about the increasing efforts to woo young voters for this year's midterm elections.
Plus a live conversation with representatives from the college Republicans and college Democrats.
HOLMES: Also, President Obama heckled. He was trying to get his message out, but he had to go off script to respond to people who are essentially yelling at him. We'll tell you what they had to say and what he had to say in response
From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING, top of the hour here on this Sunday, October 17th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOLDUAN: I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for joining us this morning, everybody.
In 16 days -- it's 16 days to the midterm elections, and President Obama is hoping to tap into the base that helped him get into office two years ago.
HOLMES: Yes. But as CNN's Jeanne Meserve now reports, the Republicans are also hoping to cash in on the youth vote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHANTING)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Young people put the oomph in the Obama presidential campaign two years ago, and with midterm elections now just weeks away, the president is trying to reignite their passion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.
MESERVE: But as Obama appeared on MTV, young Republicans countered on Twitter -- part of an aggressive GOP push for young voters.
DOUG HEYE, RNC SPOKESMAN: In this election cycle, certainly, there are going to be a lot more students wearing "Fire Pelosi" buttons and pins and stickers on campus than there were last cycle. We welcome that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt that this is a game-changer congressional election. MESERVE: At American University in Washington, a forum on the midterms. On this campus, college Republicans believe they are making inroads.
STEPHEN LAUDONE, PRES., AMERICAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: Several people I know who are going to at the very least split their ticket this year, whereas 2008, it was all Democrat. So I, definitely, think there's a shift.
MESERVE: Plenty of the students at this gathering identify as conservative and Republican, and say the economy is the reason why.
JOSH KAIB, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT: When we look at the economy, we're going to be graduating in a few years. Can we get a job? Are our taxes going to go up?
MESERVE: FreedomWorks, an activist group influential in the Tea Party movement, credits tech savvy young people for its success and says its focus on fiscal issues like government deficits and debt continues to draw them in.
BRENDAN STEINHAUSER, FREEDOMWORKS: This idea of kind of leave us alone and let us live our lives. And I think that appeals to young people.
MESERVE: But polling tells a different story. It shows the Tea Party is weakest among young people. And Republicans?
KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: We've not seen any evidence that Republicans are making a lot of inroads among young voters.
MESERVE: Polls indicate about 40 percent of voters, 18 to 29, intend to vote Republican in the midterms, about 50 percent Democratic. And young voters are one of the few groups who still give President Obama a thumbs-up.
OBAMA: Thank you, sir.
MESERVE (on camera): The effort to woo young voters this year may be of little value. They vote in presidential elections, but historically, their turnout in midterms is lousy, accounting for only 6 percent or 7 percent of the vote.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Sticking with politics -- the president who came into office with a sizable mandate from the people finds himself in unfamiliar territory, slumping poll numbers and hecklers.
The crowd in Boston last night, largely gave him a rousing welcome. But midway through his speech, you'll hear hecklers in the distance taking him off message. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If they take over Congress, the other side has promised to roll back health reform so that insurance companies can go back to denying you coverage before -- because you're sick. They want to roll back Wall Street reform so that taxpayers are on the hook for Wall Street bailouts and credit card companies can hit you with hidden fees and penalties. And if they win in Congress, they will cut AIDS funding right here in the United States of America and all across the world.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: As you hear right there, the president was unable to ignore the hecklers and deciding to answer them and their criticism that they said that he hasn't done enough to fight AIDS. He says they are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: One of the great things about being a Democrat is we -- we -- we like arguing with each other. But I would suggest to the folks who are concerned about AIDS funding, take a look at what the Republican leadership has to say about AIDS funding.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. You hear him responding to hecklers there.
I want to bring in two people now who would never heckle the president. From the College National Republicans Committee, Rob Lockwood -- he's the communications director for that group. And also, Michael Worley is the communications director for the College Democrats of America.
Look at those two guys. They would never be yelling at the president. I know.
Gentlemen, good morning. Thank you both for being here.
Michael, let me start with you and the Democrats. We keep hearing about this enthusiasm gap. Republicans are just more enthused about going to the polls this time around, and the young folks as well on the Republican side.
Would you concede that point that Republicans right now, including young Republicans, are more excited than you, young Democrats?
MICHAEL WORLEY, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, COLLEGE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA: Well, it's difficult to see that enthusiasm gap amongst the 300 people that attended the first meeting of the college Democrats at my university, American University in Washington, D.C. It's difficult to detect an enthusiasm gap amongst the 26,000 students that we had at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, rallying with the president just a few weeks ago.
I think that students understand the difference in this election. They understand the risks that we're facing with the Republican control that wants to cut 20 percent of higher education funding. We don't need to go back to the days where students that are being hit with higher tuition also have further cuts.
HOLMES: Michael --
WORLEY: So, they understand the difference, and they're excited for this election.
HOLMES: Now, Michael, you sound like you're on your talking points. And, Michael, it sounds like you threw out a few numbers at me, 300 at one meeting, 26,000 at a rally at a college campus. But you are telling me, despite those two numbers you just named, that you don't believe it at all, despite whatever poll might be out there, that Democrats, even young Democrats, don't share the same enthusiasm right now as Republicans?
WORLEY: What I'm saying is that from my personal experience, that's what I've seen.
HOLMES: OK.
WORLEY: What I've seen is these large numbers being turning out. I mean, I think that just last weekend, 120 college Democrats in the D.C. area got on two buses, even during midterms, and went up to work for an entire weekend for Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania.
College Democrats are enthusiastic. College students are enthusiastic about these midterms. So, from personal experience, I can tell you that we have seen that enthusiasm.
HOLMES: Well, Rob -- Rob, you tell me what your personal experience has been among the Republicans. He can tell me there, sure, we've got 120 to go up to work, 300 a meeting here, 26,000, a rally there.
Can you match those numbers, and can you exceed the enthusiasm that he says exists on the Democratic side?
ROB LOCKWOOD, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Yes, absolutely. I mean, starts off we have a program called Operation Red November, which means that we have 25 full-time field reps who are paid by the College Republican National Committee to be in five battleground states. And we've recruited over 25,000 new college Republicans along, which is an unprecedented level. And those volunteers thus far have turned out 30,000-plus volunteer hours for statewide victory. And that's a level the college Democrats can't compete on right now.
HOLMES: Can't compete. I want to ask you about something else here, Rob, that you guys have up on your Web site. And it's a direct quote. It says, "The ground has never been more fertile to win the generational allegiance of America's youth."
What do you guys mean by that?
LOCKWOOD: Well, the young vote is up for grabs for true this time. I mean, recent polling is showing that 66 percent of kids in 2008 voted for President Obama and the Democrats. Right now, his approval rating is at 44 percent -- which means that 20-plus percent of independent voters who are truly looking to realize the power of ideas, not just the power of personality when it comes to politicians and their policy that they're in favor of.
And so, when you win the generational attitude for college students, because those are the most formative years in terms of shaping a political opinion, so if you win their allegiance now, and they believe in the ideas, it's relevant for 2010, it's relevant for 2012, 2014, and 2016 at least. And then, it's everything's up for grabs again. And so, that's why we say it's fertile because right now, kids are looking for the power of ideas.
HOLMES: Well, Michael and Rob, I want you both to listen to something. This is part of a campaign that the Republicans are doing right now, essentially calling for the youth who may have supported Obama the last time around, to essentially break up with him.
And, Michael, I'm going to ask you about it after we take a look at it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We met on Facebook. He had me at hope and change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He hung out with Ashton Kutcher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had an entourage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Madonna.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My parents warned us about this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way he drove (INAUDIBLE), it sent a chill down my leg.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then it just occurred to us, he lied to us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he started spending all my money and telling me what to do all the time.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wanted to be my doctor, my banker.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not (INAUDIBLE). It's definitely you (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hot shot (ph), it's over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK, Michael, let me bring you in. I guess, no matter what, you can probably say it's pretty funny and kind of creative. But it's essentially playing into what a lot of young people can relate to, relationships where you're promised one thing, be it a college sweetheart or whoever it may be, and then you end up breaking up with them when you really find out about them.
Do you find some truth to that? Or in your experience, some of the young Democrats you deal with, that, yes, we thought we were getting one thing with this hope and change, and we got something else?
WORLEY: What college students got out of this commitment to President Obama and his policies has been the highest investment in higher education in U.S. history. We have seen over the course of two years the amount of student aid double in the United States, for Pell grants, for loans across the board. We have seen an increase for students during a time when tuitions are on the rise.
Just a few years ago, during the Bush administration and during a Republican-controlled Congress, we saw a $200 to $300 cut in Pell grants per student.
HOLMES: Oh, Michael --
WORLEY: Ninety thousand students lost their coverage.
HOLMES: -- I expected more from you this morning. You're more on your talking points than most of these politicians I talk to on the air here.
WORLEY: No.
HOLMES: I am talking about real stuff here and real emotion out there.
WORLEY: And I'm talking about --
HOLMES: -- because people say "don't ask, don't tell." A lot of people are not happy with health care, a lot of people not happy with the spending.
WORLEY: T.J., I'm talking about the real problem with debt.
HOLMES: You're talking more talking points to me and numbers you're rolling out to me. You talked about your experience out there. What is your experience? WORLEY: My experience as a student that has to carry student debt. And because of the progress that has been made by this administration, that now becomes easier on me than it would be two years ago. For the first time in my life, I had to get a private loan when I transferred universities this time. Two years ago, the credit market was so frozen that it would have been difficult for me to have done that.
Now, with this president and this Congress making such an incredible investment in students, students like me have the ability to go to the college and universities that we want to, to get the education that we need to be competitive in an equalized work force.
HOLMES: That's what I'm -- that's what I'm talking about, Michael, that real experience as a real student. That's what I was wanting to go hear from you.
And, Rob, how do you respond to that? You're trying to get people to break up with the president. Some young people want to give him more time.
But some would have the same experience you hear from Michael right there. You know what? I had an easier time a few years ago with getting loans and dealing with things. Now there's stuff added to me. And they think this president is helping out.
How do you combat that and try to get people to break up with the president they think may be helping them out?
LOCKWOOD: First of all, the president, like I said, was very popular in 2008. He won 66 percent. This poll from the "A.P." on Monday shows he's at 44 percent of favorability.
Why is the question that people are breaking up with him, like our ad suggests? It's because of debt. Debt and financial responsibility are things that everybody can relate to. And, right now, current kids will owe over $120,000 to the debt alone, or because of the debt, due to the fact that the Obama administration, the Democrats in Congress increased the debt by 54 percent since they've taken office.
And if you want to talk about educational -- what they've done for education, we can talk about wasteful spending, which is where Republicans get really upset. Two of the earmarks alone in the stimulus bill, one gave $700,000, I believe it was to Georgia Tech University, to study music improvisation. How does that create jobs?
HOLMES: OK. Rob, you're on your talking points too here like m man, Michael. But, Rob, let me ask you, just to wrap it up here. You wrap it up.
Do you not have an experience or talk to young Republicans who have kind of the same experience as Michael, where they do believe they need help because they're young people? You talk about debt and adding to the deficit and so on and so forth. But on a personal level with these young people who may be getting some help with those college loans, they think this president can provide it. What is your experience like Michael's?
LOCKWOOD: Yes. No, absolutely. And I will tell you this, I know you're going to think it's a talking point. I was on Penn State's campus two weekends ago.
And right now, like I said, it's going to be $120,000 that everybody is going to owe to the debt, and there's 20 percent unemployment. So, kids can't find a job, and they were promised a job. And that's the broken promise.
And so, what they're saying is, if I can't find a job and I'm going to owe this money, where's the money to pay into the system going to come? And if I can't ever produce, what happens then?
And it's a scary thought for kids to think, if they can't find work, that they can't pay into a debt. And it's, like I said, a very scary process.
And this is what kids are talking about nationwide. And that's why they're looking to the power of ideas. They're reading about policies, and that's why they're going to vote Republican.
HOLMES: Well, Rob and Michael, guys, I appreciate having you on. This has been fun. Actually, I want to look into possibly having you guys back. Certainly giving you a hard time about your talking points and those are things you certainly want to get out there. So, I just give -- giving you a tough time there.
But, still, Michael, appreciate you sharing that experience especially. But that's certainly what we want to hear about. Young people and exactly what they're going through and what's going to happen here in a couple of weeks.
So, gentlemen, thank you both for being here. Hope to talk to you again soon, all right?
LOCKWOOD: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Whew.
HOLMES: I like those guys. I like talking to young folks about stuff like that.
BOLDUAN: The big question is, going into the midterms are -- is the youth vote going to be motivated to turn out?
HOLMES: To even show up.
BOLDUAN: Jeanne Meserve said in her piece. They turn out for presidential elections.
HOLMES: We shall see. They might surprise us this time around.
BOLDUAN: That's right.
Well, this morning's news quiz about America's first ladies. Which first lady was the first to get her graduate degree? Eleanor Roosevelt? Pat Nixon? Hillary Clinton? Think about it. We'll have the answer when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Seventeen minutes past the hour.
Before the break, we asked you a question from our news quiz about America's first ladies. Which first lady was the first to get a graduate degree -- Eleanor Roosevelt, Pat Nixon, or Hillary Clinton? Well, B, Pat Nixon graduated cum laude from University of Southern California and then went on to become a high school teacher.
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: Checking your top stories.
An argument over a parking space led to a deadly attack in Baltimore last night. One man picked up a piece of concrete and bashed the other in the head, killing him. The dead man was an 18- year veteran of the police department celebrating his birthday. Police arrested the attacker but haven't charged him yet, they say. The mayor says this attack has really affected the entire community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE MAYOR: This is an utterly senseless act. We have lost an officer who meant a lot to his family, to his community, and certainly to his brothers and sisters in blue who are devastated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: We also have a vegetable recall to tell you about this morning. Packages of frozen vegetables sold at Walmart and Kroger stores in the Southeast may contain glass fragments. There are no reports of injuries, but the Tennessee company that supplies the vegetables says consumers should return them for a full refund.
And a beloved TV mother has passed away. Actress Barbara Billingsley is dead. Billingsley is best known for her role as June Cleaver from the long-running sitcom, "Leave It to Beaver." Billingsley was 94 years old.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA DAWN JOHNSON, MORNING MOTIVATIONAL MINUTE: Good morning and welcome to another beautiful day. It's Melissa Dawn Johnson here with your morning motivation.
Well, if you haven't noticed, we've started our own Facebook group called Morning Motivation. There, people all around the world are sharing their story about how to stay motivated in very difficult times. One writer says, "You know what, I find motivation from studying success from those who have done it before me."
And I couldn't agree more. In difficult times, often we feel like we have to create our own path when in reality all we have to do is reach out to someone else who's gone before us in order to help us stay on track and continue to pursue our goals.
So, this week, I challenge you to reach out to someone who's beat defeat. Find someone who is able to provide a perspective that will help you stay motivated along the path of success.
Until next time, visit us at Facebook now on our morning motivation page. We'd love to hear how you're staying motivated each and every day. I'll speak to you soon. Make every single day brand- tastic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Storms and strong winds and a monster storm in the Philippines. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider has really covering it all.
What's going on, Bonnie?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kate and T.J., tropical cyclones in the Atlantic are referred to as hurricanes. In the western Pacific, they're called typhoons. And when they grow to monster size and strength, they become super typhoons.
And the storm you see here is called Megi, which is actually a South Korean word meaning catfish. It doesn't sound menacing, but it may be the most devastating storm of the year, likely. And the outer rain bands are already hitting the Philippines.
Now because this storm is so intense, the maximum winds are already at 269 kilometers per hour, that's already 160-mile-per-hour winds. And evacuations are certainly underway.
Let's show you what's going on right now. We have pictures of some of the prep because this is a pretty populated area. You can see the rain coming in right now. So, hundreds of people evacuated, and there's a lot of agriculture that's being protected as well. So, it's a dangerous situation as this monster storm bears down on the Philippines.
Luckily for us, so far, we're doing well here in terms of the Atlantic hurricane season. We don't have a huge storm like this. In terms of U.S. weather, we do have some areas that will be affected by travel delays. And I'll have more on that in the next hour.
Back to you.
BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HOLMES: All right. Quick break. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: Within the next two years, it may be actually possible to fly into space.
HOLMES: Yes, had a successful flight last weekend. Billionaire Richard Branson wants to speed up tours into space.
But, Josh, this is going to cost a pretty penny. So, if you can't even afford the upgrade to first class now, ain't no way you're getting on this flight.
BOLDUAN: You can just stop listening. I'm just kidding.
JOSH LEVS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a good way to think about it. But it's interesting that they're seeing enough of a market that experts are saying right now there's this huge expansion in what will be space tourism. And actually, in the next 18 months, we're going to start to see it.
We have some photos behind me and some renderings of what various types of spacecraft are going to be looking like. And take a look at this video, just the other day, the VSS Enterprise from Virgin Galactic, which is the world's first manned commercial spacecraft took off. And you can see a little video of it there. I know it looks like a wide sort of triple plane there, but from a mother ship at 45,000 feet to a landing in Mojave, California, two pilots on board.
Richard Branson put out a statement saying this sky is no longer the limit. His company is going to start pushing more and more people up the final frontier of space.
And I'll tell you this that, you know, we've heard in the past about millions of dollars to try to get out into space. Now, anyone who wants to get on this Virgin Galactic flights next couple of years, there's already hundreds in line. And they're saying $200,000. And there's one confidant (ph) saying $100,000.
So, the idea is, if they keep spiraling downward, maybe over the next decade, it actually will be more and more affordable to more and more Americans. More details guys at CNN.com.
I've got to get back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Josh, we do appreciate it kind, sir.
Well, we're all going to be back here at the top of the hour with more live news for you as CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues. Quick break, though, and "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." is going to be coming your way. We'll you see here shortly.
