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CNN Sunday Morning
The Final Stretch; Timing of Bin Laden Movie Questioned; Obama, Romney on Israel; Star Power on the Campaign Trail; Late Night Laughs
Aired November 04, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're liars. They're bearing false witness.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Election observers are descending on the polls. Why they're on high alert and igniting controversy.
St. Michael is among us, and he lives in Belmar, New Jersey. One man's quest to restore his community after Sandy's devastation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 a.m. in Los Angeles. Thanks so much for starting your morning with us.
Well, it is the final stretch, quite literally. There are just two days now left until Election Day. Millions of you have already voted, but the candidates are doing everything they can over these precious last couple of days to reach the rest of you, trying to get the voters energized and excited about the prospects for the next four years.
We have our correspondents spread out throughout the battleground states to bring you the latest on the election and the final push.
We start in New Hampshire. That's where President Obama is making his first campaign stop in just a couple of hours before heading to Florida, Ohio, and Colorado. Joining him on the trail again today is former President Bill Clinton.
Our White House correspondent Dan Lothian is live in New Hampshire this morning.
Dan, good morning.
So tell me, what is the message --
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
KAYE: -- from the president in these closing days of the campaign?
LOTHIAN: Right. And the message that we will hear today is one that we've heard on the last few days, and that is that the president is asking for four more years to finish what he has started. He says that he is a trustworthy candidate who has delivered and will continue to deliver on his promises, and he is pushing back very hard on Governor Mitt Romney who has been hitting the president saying that, yes, the president ran in 2008 on this notion of change, but the president's policies have failed.
The president turning back on Mitt Romney saying that he, in fact, is a, quote, "talented salesman." So, a real back and forth on who is the real change agent here.
President Obama, though, acknowledging that there are a lot of people across the country, including some in his own party who are completely satisfied on what he has been able to accomplish over the last four years, but, again, the president during his stump speech saying that he has been able to deliver on his promises and those things that he was not able to accomplish, he blames Congress for standing in the way, Randi.
KAYE: And the president has certainly had some star power out on the trail with him, some celebrities. But perhaps the man who can really help him hold on to the White House just might be Bill Clinton, right?
LOTHIAN: That's right. Former President Bill Clinton has been out there stumping for the president. He has been in various battleground states over the last few weeks. We'll continue to see him today here in New Hampshire, also in North Carolina, Minnesota. He heads to Pennsylvania tomorrow.
The campaign believes that he is an effective voice for the president's message, not only his vision for the future, but his accomplishments. And also former President Clinton has been hitting hard at Mitt Romney, has been able to sort of, they believe, really position the president's contrast between the president and Governor Romney. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Governor Romney has promised us 12 million jobs. We've all heard him. He says by just electing me, people will be so elated that you're going to get 12 million jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: He is losing his voice there. He has been pushing very hard for the president out there on the campaign trail.
Remember when President Obama pulled off the campaign trail for three days to focus on hurricane Sandy. It was former President Clinton out there, again, making the case to voters, trying to get them to sway those undecided voters and try to get folks to head out to the polls as well. The campaign believes that former President Clinton is an effective voice for -- effective messenger, rather, for President Obama's policies -- Randi. KAYE: As long as he can hold on to his voice, he certainly will be.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
KAYE: Dan Lothian, thank you very much.
LOTHIAN: OK.
KAYE: Well, Mitt Romney has a busy last few days as well. Today, he has four stops on the schedule. It all starts with a rally in Iowa three hours from now.
CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser joins me now from Washington.
Paul, certainly a hectic pace for Romney today.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: It certainly is. As the president has four stops, so does Mitt Romney. I guess you could say he is keeping pace. And yesterday was no different. He started in the east of New Hampshire and ended with a big rally in Colorado.
And Mitt Romney, just like the president, is hitting all these very important crucial battleground states. His message, Randi, has been one of change. Remember, President Obama, then-Senator Obama, ran on change four years ago.
Mitt Romney says if you are happy with the way things are, fine, but he is promising change if he is elected. He is also pointing out the contrast between himself and President Obama. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The only thing -- the only thing that stands between us and some of the best years we've ever known is lack of leadership, and that's why we have elections, and you saw the differences between President Obama and myself when we were side-by-side in our debates.
(APPLAUSE)
He says it has to be this way. I say it can't stay this way. He is offering excuse. I've got a plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Randi, you were talking about the schedule for today. Take a look at it. Here's the map.
You can see Mitt Romney starts in Iowa. He is also going to Ohio. So many stops there in Ohio, of course. Pennsylvania, very interesting stop, and then, of course, the battleground state of Virginia, Randi.
KAYE: Let's talk more about the planned stop in Pennsylvania. Do Republicans think that it really is a state that is still in play, that they might be able to steal?
STEINHAUSER: That's what they hope. No doubt about it. You know, I was yesterday in Pennsylvania as well covering the running mate Paul Ryan, he had a big rally in Harrisburg airport there in central Pennsylvania. So, you have Ryan there yesterday, and now today you're going to have Mitt Romney in suburban Philadelphia, a crucial swing part of the state.
Randi, no Republican has won Pennsylvania in a presidential election since 1988. But the polls have tightened. The Romney campaign is going up with a ton of ads. I turned on the TV while I was up there. That's all you saw on the commercial breaks were Romney ads, a lot more of them than the Obama ads, 20 electoral votes at stake. They may have a chance here, they think.
The Obama campaign is saying the opposite. They say the Romney move is a sign of desperation that Romney cannot win in other key battleground states like Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa. I guess we'll find out who is right on November 6th, right?
KAYE: We certainly will. So much to watch. Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much.
And a programming note: tonight, Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper take a closer look at the candidates' final push before the elections, in "America's Choice 2012: Countdown to Election Day," be sure to tune in tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Well, life is slowly returning to normal for those affected by superstorm Sandy. In New Jersey this morning, four more rail lines will be up and running and power is now being restored many more neighborhoods across the Northeast.
Listen to how people reacted when the lights came on in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That is cause to celebrate for sure. Mayor Bloomberg says 90 percent of New York's subways should be working by today.
But about 2 million people are still in the dark and becoming increasingly frustrated. Temperatures dipped into the 30s last night and a lot of people still don't have any heat.
Another problem from the power outages? Seventy percent of gas stations in some areas can't pump gas, despite New Jersey's gas rationing, people are waiting in very long lines, and some aren't finding gasoline at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing there. Well, the gas stations were open, but the lines were way around the corner, and the ones that were open, we got to, it was too late. They closed up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been staying in the line for eight hours. It's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lines are absurd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And in New Jersey, people who were displaced by the storm will be able to vote electronically. Governor Christie says people can submit their mail-in ballots through e-mail or fax, and he ordered early voting sites to extend hours through the weekend so people can vote. Later this hour, we'll have a live report from one of the hardest hit towns.
Dueling messages on the campaign trail. President Obama and Mitt Romney were attacking each other in state after state, but who are they really trying to reach? Maria Cardona and Ana Navarro are coming up to talk about that and the state by state battle heading into Tuesday.
But first -- a question for all of you political junkies watching this morning. In the last 100 years, which president won the White House with the smallest percentage of the vote? If you know the answer, tweet me @RandiKayeCNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Before the break, I asked if you knew the answer to this question. In the past 100 years, which president won the smallest percentage of the vote? Here's the answer. Woodrow Wilson, back in 1912 with less than 42 percent of the vote. That's just barely more than Richard Nixon in 1968. And Bill Clinton in 1992.
All three of them went on to win a second term after their close races. Our political junkie question of the day.
We are down to just two days left until Election Day, and the candidates are sprinting to the finish making stops in as many swing states as they can before Tuesday.
Joining me now are CNN contributors: Maria Cardona and Ana Navarro.
Good morning to both of you.
Maria --
ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
KAYE: Maria ], I want to ask you first, is this about reaching undecided or uncommitted voters, or is this just about making sure that the people turn out on Tuesday? MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, there's no question that at this point, Randi, the campaigns are focused on turning out their vote, turning out their bases, turning out all of those voters they've been in contact with for the past several months. Everyone that they've been identifying as somebody who is voting their way or who at least is leaning their way.
And, yes, it still is trying to get those two or three undecided voters who might still be out there, which is why you are seeing each of the candidates, in addition to making the strong contrast between themselves and their opponent, they're trying to keep it very positive. I have heard Romney do that. I have heard the president do that. In terms of what they would do in the next four years and what they believe they have done up until now. So it's very interesting because they are splitting that, but I do think that the focus is very much trying to turn out their base right now.
KAYE: Ana, you are in Miami this morning. Both of the candidates will be in Florida in the final two days. Who do you think has done a better job making their case in your state?
NAVARRO: You know, Randi, that's hard to tell. I don't think we'll know who has done a better job until Tuesday night. I hope on Tuesday night because it really is that close in Florida.
Today, I think Governor Romney has a slight advantage here in Florida. He's had a very good ground game. The economy in Florida has been very hard hit. We've been very hard hit by the housing crisis. There's a lot of disillusioned voters who voted for President Obama four years ago.
I think President Obama is just off enough with enough groups that were part of his coalition to win Florida four years ago that it could erase the margin he had four years ago.
He is off some with Hispanics from where he was four years ago. He is off some with the youth from where he was four years ago. He is off some with Jewish voters from where he was four years ago. He is off with white voters, and he is off with seniors from where he was four years ago.
I think it may just be enough to give Mitt Romney Florida on Tuesday night, but, again, it really is a very close race.
KAYE: Maria, let's talk about the states for a moment. On Monday, President Obama wraps up the campaign with stops in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Iowa. Is that the strategy? I mean, he wins those three, right, and the rest of the swing states don't even matter anymore?
CARDONA: Well, I think that that is certainly what the Obama campaign is focused on Randi, but what's so interesting about the slight lead and the slight edge that President Obama has going into these last two days is that it really gives him a various paths to getting to 270, much more so than Mitt Romney has, and that's why I think that President Obama goes into this nationally and focus on the swing states with a slight lead and a slight advantage, because, yes, he is ahead in Ohio.
If he wins Ohio, if he wins Wisconsin, if he wins Pennsylvania -- I mean, that certainly is really all that he needs. But in addition to that, he will probably win Nevada, and I agree with Ana. It's very, very close in Florida. I'm not ready to say that Romney will win it, but it is very close.
I still think -- you know I have been saying this for several weeks, that the Latino vote will give President Obama more than an edge in places like Florida and Nevada and Colorado and Arizona even possibly to be able to give him that win. But I do think, again, going into it, he has the lead in terms of the paths to get to 270 from an electoral standpoint. So I think the Obama campaign is feeling very good right now.
KAYE: Ana, let me ask you about this, because the Romney campaign is telling allies to sort of talk up the Republican chances in Democratic leaning states, forcing Obama on defense is what they're trying to do. Is this a strategy, do you think, that can work by just trying to send out that message?
NAVARRO: Well, look, momentum and the image of momentum is important for both camps, and there's people who like to vote for the winner. They like to say on Wednesday night, I voted for the guy on -- on Wednesday morning, I voted for the guy who won. There is some of that.
But, yes, you are also seeing that it's having an affect. You're seeing that it's not just an image. You're seeing it's a reality.
We saw, for example, last night and early this morning, "The Tribune", the biggest newspaper in Pennsylvania came out with its own poll. It's 47-47. That would have been unimaginable just a week ago. This is a state where the Democrats should not be on the defensive, where President Obama should not be on the defense this late out, and yet, he is.
And then the Latino vote in Florida, it's just not as helpful. It really is an anomaly. The Latino vote in Florida is an anomaly to what it is in the rest of the nation. President Obama has got a gigantic gap with the Cuban-American voters.
The Cuban-American voters are still the biggest voters on the Latino bloc in Florida. Yes, the demographics have diversified, but they're still by far the biggest bloc, and he has got a gigantic gap there with that Cuban-American vote. If Mitt Romney wins Florida, he is going to owe the Cuban-Americans big-time, and I hope he remembers.
KAYE: Ana Navarro, Maria Cardona, nice to see you both on this Sunday morning -- thank you.
CARDONA: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: A controversial film airs on national geographic tonight, but critics say its timing is a political move to help the president just two days before the election. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be the team that takes out Osama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A suspect in the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya is expected to be questioned by the FBI in the coming days. The U.S. first became aware of Ali Ani al Harzi when he apparently posted details of the attack on social media while it was happening. He is currently being held in Tunisia.
The September 11th attack killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to America Christopher Stevens.
A new movie about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden airs tonight on the National Geographic Channel. But critics say the timing is political, designed to help the president just two days now before the election.
Our Brian Todd takes a deeper look at the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be the team that takes out Osama.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's got the real life plot that can certainly draw viewers. The Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden. But can it also draw voters and is it designed to?
"SEAL Team Six," a new TV drama about the bin Laden mission, is set to air on the National Geographic Channel just two nights before the election. It's got some real news clips of President Obama in it, depicting the president in the days surrounding the raid.
And the film is backed by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, a big-time Democratic donor. All those factors have conservatives saying the movie is a political stunt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down!
NAVARRO: Any time you've got a movie coming out two nights before the election and being made by Harvey Weinstein, who is a prominent Democrat and a huge supporter of President Obama's, of course it raises eyebrows.
TODD: Director John Stockwell said it was Weinstein who suggested adding more actual news footage, including footage from the White House, after he saw an early version of the movie.
(on camera): It was not done to, I guess, play up the president's role or make him look particularly good?
JOHN STOCKWELL, DIRECTOR, "SEAL TEAM SIX": No, not at all. We don't pretend to sort of get inside the president's head.
Harvey Weinstein came in to the editing room very early on and his only questions to me were, how did you know this? Are you sure this happened? He was really attempting to get to the veracity of the story.
TODD (voice-over): Stockwell also says there's less footage of the president in the finished cut than there was in an earlier version.
Contacted by CNN, Harvey Weinstein rejected the idea that the film has a political agenda, saying it's about history.
Ken Robinson has been in both worlds. A former Special Forces officer, he was creator and writer of "E-Ring," an NBC Drama about the inner workings of the Pentagon.
(on camera): In the production of movies like this, is there often pressure to maybe put in a political slant, subtle, maybe?
KEN ROBINSON, CREATOR/WRITER, NBC'S "E-RING": I've never seen that. And I've been on the FOX lot, the Warner lot, the Paramount lot. I've not seen that. The creative process is pretty prized.
TODD (voice-over): But the timing of the film's release still rankles some conservatives, like media critic Brent Bozell, who has this suggestion.
BRENT BOZELL, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: If it doesn't have a political position, as they say it doesn't, if there aren't any political purposes behind this, as they say there aren't, then simply put it off by two days.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Our thanks to Brian Todd for that.
A spokesperson for National Geographic says they have to air the film today because they have to give it Netflix by November 5th. Both National Geographic, which is partnered with conservative mogul Rupert Murdoch's FOX Cable Network and director John Stockwell deny any political motivations in releasing the film two days before the election. And we should note that the National Geographic Channel is majority owned by News Corp., the parent company of FOX News Channel.
Thousands of volunteers will be monitoring the polls Tuesday, but the controversy over what they can say is already causing trouble. Why both parties are crying foul and putting their guys on high alert.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Randi Kaye. Bottom of the hour now. And here are some of the stories that we're watching this hour.
Yes, we are in the homestretch of the presidential elections. Just two days away and the candidates are going after every last vote, especially in those swing states. Today, President Obama heads to New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio, and Colorado. Mitt Romney courting the vote in Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Another big name endorsement for the president, he's now got the support of Israel's oldest newspaper, "Haaretz", which is liberal- leaning, says Obama is good for Israel. Quote, "The outcome of the elections will be determined by the voters' decision as to which of the two candidates is good for America, but if any of them are vacillating in their vote over whether Obama has been a good president for Israel, the answer is yes.
And you'll remember the two candidates have spent a lot of time both on the campaign trail and in the debates talking about their support for our allies in the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Mr. President, the reason I call it an apology tour is because you went to the Middle East and you flew to -- to Egypt and to Saudi Arabia and to Turkey and Iraq and -- and by the way, you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region, but you went to the other nations.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know if we're going to talk about trips that we've taken, you know, when he was a candidate for office, the first trip I took was to visit our troops. And when I went to Israel as a candidate I didn't take donors, I didn't attend fundraisers. I went to "Yad Vashem" the Holocaust museum there to remind myself the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Back here in the States the President is using all his star power to reach voters before Tuesday. Take a listen to Dave Matthews in Virginia this weekend.
(MUSIC)
KAYE: And on Monday the President can count on even more star- studded support. He is hitting Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa with The Boss, Bruce Springsteen and then Jay-Z is expected to join them in Ohio.
And CNL -- oh, my goodness there. "SNL" -- wow. I'm so used to saying CNN that's what it is. "SNL" had a good time with the political fall-out from the hurricane particularly Chris Christie's glowing review of the President. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also, I would like to give sincere thanks to President Obama for how he handled the situation. On Election Day I'm voting for Mitt Romney, but if I had to pick one guy to have my back in a crisis, it would be Barack Obama. He's been amazing. You know, so kind, such a leader, a true inspiration.
Again, being a good soldier, I'll vote for Romney, but I'm going to hate it. Do you hear me? I will hate --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Early voting has come to a close in many states, but Sandy-ravaged New Jersey is allowing registered voters to e-mail and fax in their ballots and with so many new rules on early voting, voter ID, and provisional ballots, the use of poll monitors is growing. But the new rules are also creating confusion over the role and responsibilities those monitors have.
CNN's crime and justice correspondent Joe Johns explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Long lines in South Florida and in Cincinnati, Ohio, as early voting comes to a close. And those aren't the only crowds this hotly contested election has attracted.
ERIC MARSHALL, ELECTION PROTECTION: 10,000 grassroots and legal volunteers across the country in Election Day.
CHRISTIAN ADAMS, TRUE THE VOTE: Everywhere, we're going to be everywhere. They've trained people in 50 states to legally poll watch.
JOHNS: Lawyers and poll watchers of all political stripes descending on Ohio and across the country in search of any issues that need to be challenged.
MARSHALL: We're looking for long lines that might be a result of machines breaking down, poll workers that might be asking the wrong questions, asking for ID when they shouldn't be.
JOHNS: Groups like the left-leaning Election Protection have been training for weeks so they're ready to respond to any problems at the polls in real-time.
ANDREW SCHLICHTER, ELECTION PROTECTION VOLUNTEER: With all the changes nationally in the voting laws I think you know we're prepared for there to be a significant amount of confusion on Election Day.
JOHNS: But controversy over how some of the organizations do their job. Poll watching has become a partisan business.
(on camera): What do you think of Election Protection people?
ADAMS: Look, they have problems. JOHNS (voice-over): Former Justice Department lawyer Christian Adams now represents "True the Vote", a Tea Party affiliated group with a simple goal.
ADAMS: Free and fair elections "True the Vote" stands for election integrity. Follow the law, period.
JOHNS: But "True the Vote" has real critics of their own from the left.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMING (D), MARYLAND: True to Vote has consistently challenged the -- the voting rights of legitimate voters. We must address anybody who tries to deny anybody that right to vote. And I consider it criminal. I can consider it unpatriotic, and highly offensive.
JOHNS: A claim Adams does not take lightly.
ADAMS: They're liars. They are baring false witness against law-abiding citizens who are doing no more than observing the process, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
JOHNS: Whatever the election watchers find, it may be up to super lawyers like Ted Olson to determine whether to go to court. Olson, a Romney advisor, led Republicans to victory in the Supreme Court battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000.
THEODORE OLSON, 2000 BUSH CAMPAIGN LAWYER: I'm clearing my calendar just in case I need to be ready for the next five weeks.
JOHNS: He says if election officials want to avoid litigation, they shouldn't change direction in the middle of the game.
OLSON: If you follow the rules that were in place on Election Day with respect to counting the ballots, then the presumptive outcome will be respected when the electoral college votes are counted.
JOHNS (on camera): But the truth is there could be other changes to the rules, especially as states affected by the superstorm get ready for the election.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Some towns flooded by Sandy had to bring in Katrina-style flood pumps. Now people in Belmar, New Jersey are determined to clean up and rebuild.
We'll take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Its 39 minutes past the hour now.
And here's the latest on Superstorm Sandy. Life is slowly returning to normal for those affected by the storm. In New Jersey four more rail lines will be up and running and power is being restored in more neighborhoods across the northeast. Mayor Bloomberg says 90 percent of New York's subways should be working by today, but 1.5 million people are still in the dark and becoming increasingly frustrated. Temperatures dipped into the 30s last night and a lot of people don't have any heat.
It's always remarkable how during times of tragedy so many people rise up and show their humanity. I'm met a man like that when I was in Belmar, New Jersey, covering the storm this week, and that town was hit hard. And many people were trapped in their homes. It was flooded.
But one man decided he was going to help and here's his story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE (voice-over): If ever this Belmar, New Jersey neighborhood needed an angel, they found one. They call him St. Michael here. His real name is Michael Irwin. For the last two days he has been boating people to and from their homes, working 12-hour shifts.
MICHAEL IRWIN, BELMAR, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: There's a couple of people that had to get out. Our neighbors -- a couple of our neighbors Ron and Pat, we got out and their dog. Chuck, we got out and his dog, Lucky. There are a couple other people we had to porters out and you know to other families. And make sure they got to dry land.
KAYE (voice-over): Lucky for his neighbors Michael is a surfer and a kayaker, so he had a wet suit. He was also a Boy Scout, so he says he's always prepared.
(on camera): This area is known as the Eighth Avenue neighborhood, and the water that we're in right now which is normally a street, an avenue, is about four feet deep, so luckily most of the residents, not all of them, but most of them did evacuate before Hurricane Sandy even hit.
(voice-over): Irene McCann evacuated to her son's house, but now that she's returned, she needs Michael's help to reach her home.
(on camera): How much damage is in your house?
IRENE MCCANN, FLOOD VICTIM: We're -- we're pretty high up. It's almost to our porch. We have a very tall high porch -- we're right down the corner here, the house with the red trim down there and it's right up. The cellar, forget it, it's gone. Hot water heater, furnace, everything is gone. My husband's tools, everything.
KAYE (voice-over): This is a tight-knit community where neighbors help neighbors. Even the Councilman Brian MaGovern came by in his kayak to see how everyone is doing.
BRIAN MAGOVERN, BELMAR CITY COUNCIL: The situation is the worst I've ever seen it. I've lived here in Belmar for 60 years. Nothing has ever come close.
At 8:00 I called to my wife and I said what's that white stuff in the lake and it was a wave, and then pretty soon within the next couple of minutes our house was inundated by the water.
KAYE: And Michael has his own troubles too.
IRWIN: When it came, like when it was 7:00 or something like that, within a half an hour we were flooded.
KAYE (voice-over): He took us by kayak to his house.
(on camera): This is your house here behind us.
IRWIN: Right there.
KAYE: Are we in your front lawn?
IRWIN: In my front lawn; we're in my driveway.
KAYE: So your -- you front lawn, your driveway is right -- you're standing in it?
IRWIN: Right.
KAYE: But you're also in about three feet of water.
IRWIN: I'm about four feet of water, yes.
KAYE (voice-over): Michael says he has about six feet of water in his house. No power or heat, which is no surprise considering the amount of water here. Ocean Avenue is just a few blocks away and the ocean dumped water into nearby Silver Lake, which overflowed into Michael's neighborhood. One look at this submerged car and you can see the water won't be receding any time soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That was quite an experience in that neighborhood, but everybody had such a great attitude, even though the water was everywhere, and it was completely in the dark. In fact, the only light in the neighborhood was the light top of our camera at night.
But the good news is they were planning in the last few days to bring in these giant pumps that could pump out about 40,000 to 60,000 gallons of water out of that Silver Lake, which then they were hoping would then let some of that water that was on the avenue recede from that area.
Well, CNN's Jim Clancy is also in Belmar, New Jersey. Jim, good morning to you. What kind of progress are you seeing there?
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, fantastic progress. You talk about that lake, Randi and you saw how high it was. This is Ocean Avenue. Lake Cuomo is over here. Lake Silver is over there. They're draining it down. They brought in some pumps that were used after Katrina. Fantastic pumps that can bring out to a million gallons an hour and put it back into the ocean where it came from.
The -- the situation here is that, as can you see, the trucks are there. This truck is taking debris is being loaded in. It may be a Sunday morning. The joggers have been out here. But the city of Belmar unlike so many others where, you know, we got to say a lot of the municipalities, the leadership there is uptight a little bit.
You know, small town mayors aren't used to -- they're used to dodging the bullet with some of these storms, but not having to deal head on with something like this. Mayor Doherty here came by, Matt Doherty, just a few moments ago and talked with us just about, you know, how they're going to need federal help, they're going to need state help.
This was a boardwalk, as you well know Randi that stretched more than a mile and in stretching more than a mile, it also was a big target for the hurricane. The hurricane literally ripped it up. I mean, that's all that is left. You see some of the pillars remain. The hurricane straps didn't hold. Nothing did. This town is going to have to be completely rebuilt, but already, already they brought that water level down three feet.
All of the streets and the city of Belmar, this Sunday morning are drying out, they're clear of water. That's tremendous progress, and a little bit later this morning just about an hour and a half or so there's going to be a mass to honor the first responders that put their lives on the line, for the people in their community and all over the Jersey coast, New York, this entire area that's been hit by the storm to honor them.
It's going to be an important moment. The mayor was on his way to that. We talked to a city councilwoman; she as well attending. So this is a community that's coming together in crisis.
KAYE: Yes.
CLANCY: A lot of sadness. A lot of sadness, but they're coming together -- Randi.
KAYE: Yes. I used to vacation there as a kid, Jim, and it's just heart breaking to see what happened there and in so many other areas.
Thank you very much.
Well, it's been considered a safe Obama state. Now some say it is a toss-up.
Candy Crowley tells us where it is and what prompted the shift.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: And welcome back.
We want to take you now to Concorde, New Hampshire. You're looking at live pictures there. President Obama should be speaking at that rally. You already see the crowd gathered. He should be speaking in our 10:00 Eastern time hour. He will also be joined by Bill Clinton, former president who has been campaigning on Obama's behalf.
We'll bring that to you when it happens later on this morning.
Well, just two more days, folks. The countdown to the election is on and it all may come down to just a handful of swing states. One of them, a left-leaning state considered safe for Obama may surprise long-time pundits and political junkies.
Host of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" Candy Crowley joins me now to talk about this. Candy good morning. So is Pennsylvania really up for grabs as the Republicans seem to think?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: I think "up for grabs" might be a little strong, but there is enough of an opportunity here for Republicans to take a look at it. Why? Because, first of all, the Romney campaign will tell you that they are satisfied with the resources they have in the swing states, both on the air where you can't get anymore campaigns ads on the air at this late date anyway -- they're already jammed in those swings -- and on the ground.
So having said that, they had money left over, as it were, and they took a look at Pennsylvania. And here's a couple of things that attracts them to Pennsylvania.
First, over 90 percent of the voting's actually going to be done on Election Day. Pennsylvania is not an early voting state. And you have to sort of qualify and have a good excuse to get an absentee ballot. So, more than 90 percent of the ballots are cast on Election Day.
There hasn't been a lot of activity on the air in terms of ads there, so they feel that Mitt Romney has not had a chance to be defined by President Obama and his allies and, of course, it's right next door to Ohio.
So those are a lot of the reasons that the campaign says, "Hey, look, this was something that we saw. There is possibly an opportunity. We decided to make a try for it." I think sending the candidate there, as they are going to do, is really interesting because the most valuable thing at this point in a race is what you do with your candidate's time.
So look -- and I will tell you the Obama people think they are day dreaming.
KAYE: Yes.
CROWLEY: So, you know, there you go. We're at that point of the campaign where everyone looks at numbers differently.
KAYE: Absolutely.
Well, let's talk about some of the closing arguments for the Obama campaign. Obama out there painting himself as a trusted leader, spinning Romney as a quote, "talented salesman"; how do you think that's going to play in these final days?
CROWLEY: Well, I think that actually is just, you know, same song second verse as what really the Obama campaign has done from the very beginning, and that is to say this election is about a choice. Remember? The Republicans wanted it to be about the economy, and the Democrats wanted it to be about a choice.
Yes, maybe you're disappointed, but here's your alternative, and your alternative as the President argues here is he is not trustworthy. You don't really know where he stands. He is a corporate raider. So, all of that has been the constant theme inside the Obama campaign because as they note, the Republicans are all about the economy.
They say the economy should be better, so that's Mitt Romney's closing argument. Look, he just didn't deliver what he promised. So in many respects despite all the changes that have happened over the past couple of years, they are very much ending on the message they began with, both of them.
KAYE: Yes. It's been an interesting ride, for sure. We have a couple of days left.
Candy Crowley, nice to see you; thank you very much.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
KAYE: And, of course, keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION"" with Candy Crowley. It starts in about 15 minutes at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time, 6:00 a.m. Pacific right here on CNN.
Are you someone that thinks that your vote doesn't really count in Tuesday's election? Dean Obeidallah explains why that opinion couldn't be more wrong. He'll join us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
You could call it the political equivalent of the Olympics, and if you haven't voted or maybe you think that you shouldn't vote in the presidential election, comedian Dean Obeidallah wants you to reconsider. He joins me now from New York to tell us why. Dean -- good morning. All right. So in --
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Good morning.
KAYE: In your new get out and vote opinion piece on CNN.com, you write about why people should be encouraged to vote on Tuesday. Here's your chance. Give me your strongest argument.
OBEIDALLAH: The article is entitled, "Vote Damn It". And I wanted to really channel my inner Samuel Jackson and use some more colorful words, but apparently CNN has these things called standards --
KAYE: Yes. We have.
OBEIDALLAH: -- and not allowed to curse. But look at it -- in 2010, this is how alarming voter turnout is dropping -- in 2010 only 41 percent of those eligible to vote voted. To put it in perspective, this year North Korea had an election for parliament -- 54 percent of the people voted. We have less of a voter turnout than a country that's not even considered a democracy. That's a problem in and of itself.
We have to get out and vote. It's more important -- not the cliche reasons anymore. They're actually concrete reasons why we should be voting.
KAYE: Yes. We had a guest on actually earlier this morning and talking about the electorate, and he told us that 100 million eligible voters here in the U.S. may not vote. So what do you say to those people who say that their vote doesn't matter and that all politicians are the same and they just don't care.
OBEIDALLAH: Because this is what it is really about -- all joking aside. This election is not about President Obama or Mitt Romney. It's not about Democrats or Republicans. It's about you and your family because the decisions these people make are going to affect your daily life.
I'm not talking about in theory. I mean your daily life. From Medicare, equal pay for women, taxes, to local issues like zoning, sewers, and, you know what, a little amount of votes change elections. In 2000 President Bush won Florida by 537 votes. That's it. He became president.
Al Franken, 2008 won the senate by 320 votes. There are more Kardashians with TV shows than that. So my point is a small number of people really can -- I hate to say, this is not cliche, you really can, your vote can make a huge difference in this election. It is so close. Everyone knows it.
KAYE: Yes. I think you're absolutely right. You just got back from Ohio last night.
OBEIDALLAH: Yes.
KAYE: I'm curious what the atmosphere there was like. Did you meet a lot of people that said that they weren't going to vote, or were they?
OBEIDALLAH: No. They were excited about voting. They hated all the phone calls. They didn't mind the TV commercials when I was there. Every single commercial was for the campaigns -- local and presidential. They hated the phone calls they were getting every day about push polls, polls, who are you going to vote for and campaigns calling them.
They were excited. They were actually excited. There was a lot of early voting out there -- a lot of students I met when I performed at a college out there. I think it was an exciting time. For me it was like the political Olympics. I like politics, so it was fun. It's like a carnival or Mardi Gras.
KAYE: I think you're going to be the first one in line Tuesday morning, aren't you, at your polling place?
OBEIDALLAH: I'm going to vote early, and I'm going to miss the elections. I'm addicted to politics. I'm going to have so much free time when this is over I can probably cure world hunger when this is. That's how much free time -- all the time I've been spending on this election.
KAYE: What will we talk about? What will we talk about, I wonder, on Sunday morning?
OBEIDALLAH: Fun things. Just like light stuff like that. Social media, tweeting, Honey Boo-Boo --
KAYE: Of course. There's always Honey Boo-Boo.
OBEIDALLAH: Honey Boo-Boo will be back. We can talk about my favorite.
KAYE: She is the gift that keeps on giving. Dean, thank you very much. And now --
OBEIDALLAH: Thanks. And vote, everyone. Vote. Vote, damn it.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Yes. Get out and vote. There you go. If you want to check out Dean's article, you can just head over to CNN.com. You'll find it there under CNN opinion.
Well, thank you, everybody, so much for watching today. You can always continue the conversation with me on Twitter @RandiKayeCNN.
"STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley starts right now.
