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CNN Saturday Morning News
Kidnapped Boy Still in Danger: Possible Link to Mexican Drug Cartel; Presidential Candidates Spending Time in Battleground States; Discussions with Undecided Voters; Children and Stress
Aired October 18, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, on this October 18th. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We do want to thank you for starting your day with us.
But we do have some breaking news for you, because overnight, the kidnapping of a six-year-old Las Vegas boy, there's been a new development. That man right there, his grandfather, has been found. But the question is where is Cole Puffinburger? We're still asking.
HOLMES: Also, on the campaign trail, you'll only have about -- what? A couple of weeks until you have to make up your mind.
NGUYEN: Yes, can you believe it?
HOLMES: Two and a half weeks, we're almost there, but would you believe, one candidate playing offense right now, the other playing defense. Traditionally, red states right now, not so safe with the GOP. We'll tell you where the candidates are and what that means for the campaign, moving forward.
NGUYEN: And speaking of politics, this is a great story. You know, they could have voted back in 1940. But they waited until this year to vote for the first time. We're going to introduce you to some twins casting ballots. A great, great story, stay tuned for that one.
But in the meantime, back to that breaking news this morning, a kidnapped boy still in danger, and now, his father is in custody. Authorities say the abduction of six-year-old Cole Puffinburger, you see him right there behind us, is linked to a Mexican drug cartel.
HOLMES: Yes, a very strange story here, a lot of twists and turns. But Cole was abducted Wednesday when three armed men broke into his Las Vegas home and tied up his mother, tied up his mother's fiance, and the boy's grandfather is the one who's now in custody. Not exactly arrested or charged just yet with anything.
This is Clemens Tinnemeyer. He is taken into custody last night in Riverside, California. He had been missing and was wanted for questioning. It is believed that Tinnemeyer owes millions of dollars to a Mexican drug cartel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CAPT. VINCENT CANNITO, LAS VEGAS POLICE: Tinnemeyer has stolen a large sum of money. All proceeds from illegal drug activity. The reason Cole was kidnapped was the result of trying to get back -- the drug dealers trying to get back their money, their property, what have you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, CNN's Kara Finnstrom is following the story from Las Vegas and she joins us now by phone.
What are the latest developments you're seeing where you are, Kara?
VOICE OF KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, as you mentioned, a major development overnight. Fifty-one-year-old Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, the grandfather who was wanted for questioning in the drug-related kidnapping of his six-year-old grandson, now in custody.
We just speak this morning with the dispatcher for the San Bernardino County Jail in California. She confirms to us that Tinnemeyer was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal and Los Angeles police just before midnight near Riverside, California. Riverside, by the way, is just about a four-hour drive away from Las Vegas, which is where six-year-old Cole Puffinburger was kidnapped on Wednesday.
Now, Las Vegas police have been saying all along that they wanted to talk with Tinnemeyer, because they believe, as you mentioned, he'd stolen millions of dollars from Mexican national drug traffickers before disappearing a few months ago. And they say, they believe the grandson's kidnapping was in direct retaliation.
Investigators say, earlier Wednesday, two or three men dressed as police officers, ransacked the home of Cole Puffinburger's mother, tied up her and her fiance, and then, kidnapped Cole. Right now, police are still looking for six-year-old Cole and for those kidnappers. But again, at this hour, the big news is they've taken his grandfather into custody for questioning -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And, of course, it's going to take a little time before we know if he has any information. So, sort all this out because it's quite a story. The boy was kidnapped but the grandfather was missing. Now, they found the grandfather but the boy is still missing. Don't know if there was any connection between the two being missing?
FINNSTROM: That's exactly right. Well, the grandfather went missing a few months back. The family says they hadn't really seen him since May, they reported him missing in September.
The feeling that we get from police is that -- is because he owed these drug traffickers millions of dollars, that he disappeared. And that this was in direct retaliation. They couldn't get the money. When they ransacked the home, they said they were looking for money. And instead, they took his grandson, they kidnapped him.
NGUYEN: Yes, so now his grandson is gone, he has turned up. And we'll find out if there's any information that he can provide.
All right. Kara Finnstrom, sorting this really interesting story with us, as T.J. said, lots of twists and turns. And we'll be following it as well. So, stay tuned for the latest.
Thank you, Kara.
We're also going to talk about this case with CNN security analyst, Mike Brooks a little bit later this morning. So, stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, though, 17 days -- that is it, folks -- until Election Day. And there is a lot of campaigning to do between now and then. The candidates -- they're spending time in battleground states where the race is still very close.
HOLMES: Still close. That's some endorsements to show you. These are newspaper endorsements, however. But the "Washington Post" and "Chicago Sun-Times" both are backing Senator Barack Obama. The "Los Angeles Times," also doing the same. That's the first time that that paper has supported a candidate since 1972. Also, the "Chicago Tribune" which has never backed a Democrat before is now backing Obama. But still, these newspaper endorsements not really said to sway the voters one way or the other. So, take them for what they're worth.
Well, John McCain is campaigning today in North Carolina and Virginia; those are two southern states that are traditionally red. We want to head now to our Mark Preston, covering a rally that will happen a little later today in Woodbridge, Virginia. There he is. A friend of our show on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING.
Sir, good to see you. Tell us what this tells us, that John McCain is having to go to, at this late hour, usually reliably Republican states. What does that mean?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, no doubt, T.J. I'm here at the election express. We were just hours away from John McCain arriving here in Virginia. As you said, he is in North Carolina this morning. He is playing defense right now, as well as a little bit of offense. He is not devoting all his time to trying to pick up some of the Democratic states.
He is having to spend sometime defending states that are reliably Republican. Here in Virginia, a Democrat, T.J., has not won the state since 1964. And in North Carolina, a Democrat has not won that state since 1976. So, John McCain is really trying to shore up his base in these final 17 days.
HOLMES: Shore up the base there. We talked about strategy in these last 17 days. Has he essentially given up on -- you say maybe some of these Democratic states, but if he loses Virginia and states that are reliably Republican, he's going to have to make some kind of inroads and pick up some ground somewhere else. Can he do that? Is he even trying to do that? PRESTON: Yes, well absolutely, he is trying to do that. We know that Sarah Palin is hitting some of those states as well. Look, John McCain is down 10 points right now in Virginia. He needs to win Virginia. He needs to win North Carolina to win the election.
We know Barack Obama was here yesterday. They're spending a lot of money here in this state, as well as in North Carolina and some of these other battleground states.
He's also having to play defense in the Midwest. We've seen Indiana start to shift a little bit towards the Democratic column right now, T.J. And right now, John McCain really needs to give a full-out effort in order to win this election.
HOLMES: That full-out effort. Again, he likes to say they've counted him out before, and sure enough, it looked like he was out several times before, several elections he's had and certainly in the primary season. What's the feeling, I guess, in that camp? And, I guess, are we seeing anything with these polls?
I know it's a national election. But at the same time, we've got 50 smaller elections going on. And those smaller state polls what really matters. But the national polls, some of them show maybe one or two-point tightening. Is that any reason for giving the McCain camp any hope? Do we see any change in those polls?
PRESTON: Well, when you talk to the McCain camp, T.J., they say that they're still actively campaigning very hard in the battleground states. And they say that this election is not over. And they're absolutely right.
John McCain was left for dead back in 2000 and in the summer of 2007. And he came back. And they say that he has the fighting spirit. John McCain himself says that he is an underdog in this race. And that he seems to relish that role.
But I'll tell you what, T.J., it is a hard fight right now. He is having to deal with this big financial deficit now that Barack Obama has not accepted public financing. John McCain only has $85 million, T.J., to spend. Barack Obama could have two to three times that amount in these closing days.
HOLMES: You know, it's weird to hear you say "only $85 million." That's a lot of money. But when you compared it to $200-plus million that Obama has to spend, it's not really much.
Mark Preston for us this morning at Woodbridge, Virginia. He's going to be at a rally there. Always good to see you. We'll be talking to you again soon, buddy.
PRESTON: Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And our Suzanne Malveaux in St. Louis for there will be an Obama rally. You can catch her and the rest of the best political team on television today, 2:00 Eastern for our "BALLOT BOWL." And for all the freshest news from the campaign trail, and analysis from the best political team I just mentioned, you can check out your home for politics online: CNNPolitics.com.
NGUYEN: Well, the former CEO at Lehman Brothers slapped with -- not one but three subpoenas. Richard Fuld testified before a congressional committee earlier this month about the investment bank's record bankruptcy, and a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy-filing tells CNN, he is among several people being called to testify. The grand jury is in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey are investigating the bankruptcy. Fuld was paid more than $45 million in salary and bonuses last year.
President Bush has the U.S. and global economy at the top of his agenda today. He's at the presidential retreat in the Maryland woods to meet with two European leaders.
CNN White House correspondent, Elaine Quijano has a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Camp David, President Bush will sit down with the presidents of France and the European Commission, tackling not only the immediate financial crisis, but looking at how to prevent another one.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we work to resolve the current crisis, we must also work to ensure that this situation never happens again.
QUIJANO: Aides say top Bush administration officials will be on hand for the talks, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, and National Security adviser, Stephen Hadley.
BUSH: Our European partners are taking bold steps. They show the world that we're determined to overcome this challenge together.
QUIJANO: Some European leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, have signaled they want major reforms of the global financial system. A point Sarkozy will likely raise at the Camp David meeting.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What we'll do is accept for consideration, all recommendations, and all good ideas that come to us. And then, it won't just be the United States, and it won't just be Europe.
QUIJANO: Even a as his administration carries out unprecedented government intervention, President Bush insists any reforms must preserve the free-market system.
BUSH: Despite corrections in the marketplace, and instances of abuse, democratic capitalism remains the greatest system ever devised.
QUIJANO (on camera): The Camp David meeting comes just days after leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations agreed to meet in the near future to discuss the financial crisis. So far, no date has been set.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The candidates say they both support free trade. But is that really the case?
NGUYEN: We've been trying to do this, get to the truth of the matter. And our Josh Levs brings out his truth-o-meter this morning.
Hey there, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I need a truth-o-meter. That is exactly what we're going to breakdown for you. John McCain is suggesting that it could be hard to sell goods overseas under an Obama administration. Is that true?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: That's the sound of thousands as they marched in Baghdad today, to protest a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that is still in its early stages. The draft agreement calls for U.S. forces to be out of Iraqi cities by next June, and out of the country by the end of 2011, unless Iraq asks them to stay.
Now, protesters want an end to what they call the occupation of their land. This demonstration was organized by cleric Muqtada al- Sadr and was mostly peaceful.
HOLMES: Now, we'll turn back to the presidential race now in the homestretch. And Barack Obama and John McCain, they are trying to slow each other down, and they're doing is by lobbing attacks at each other. They're doing it fairly often, kind of like...
NGUYEN: Everyday?
HOLMES: Everyday, yes.
NGUYEN: And that is keeping the CNN truth squad so busy these days. In fact, busy both day and night.
LEVS: Yes.
NGUYEN: And, Josh, I don't know if you've had any sleep lately because of all of it.
LEVS: I'm not really planning on sleeping again until November 5th.
NGUYEN: That's a good thing (ph).
LEVS: But for our purposes, I am kind of hoping the election is actually decided on November 4th. And a lot of us... NGUYEN: Yes, (INAUDIBLE).
LEVS: But who knows, right? We've been there. We've been there, so let's see what happens. Here's the thing. So, one of the biggest attacks going on right now is about this whole idea of free trade.
Let's look at what John McCain said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I'm elected president, I won't make it harder to sell our goods overseas and kill more jobs as Senator Obama proposes. I'll open new markets to goods made in America and make sure our trade is free and fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So the truth squad looked at that question, whether Obama would really make it harder to sell goods overseas.
Now, I will tell you that on CNN.com, we have a pretty good summary of where they stand on free trade. And the basic idea here is that they both say they support it. But McCain is a stronger defender of free trade deals. Obama is a much more vocal critic.
I have a graphic here for you, with a couple of key facts on their votes and where they stand on some important ones. Obama does support a pact with Peru, but he opposes CAFTA and a deal with Colombia. And now, I just tell you, McCain supports all of those, in general, supports these trade deals.
Now you might remember, during the Democratic primary, we kept hearing a lot about NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, because key Democratic voting blocs opposed that. Now, Obama at one point called it "devastating and a big mistake."
But let's zoom in on the board here, not a lot of people might realize this -- there was a story we had on CNN Money, this came from "Fortune" magazine, Obama: NAFTA not so bad after all. This came out in June. And I want to show you a quote here from him. This is Obama saying, "Sometimes during campaigns, the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he conceded after this reporter reminded him some of things he had said about NAFTA.
Now, over here on this Web site, Obama does say he supports free trade. He vows that he will fight for free trade. And he says he's going to fight to bring about deals that will ultimately benefit the United States.
And, you know, here's the deal -- he does, still, oppose some major trade deals. And those deals do factually expand opportunities for U.S. exporters to sell some products overseas. So that backs up what John McCain is saying.
To be fair, I'm also going to tell you -- Barack Obama has argued that some trade deals don't always make it as easy as it should be for businesses to export their products. So, you put all that together, you mix it together, what's the CNN truth squad verdict -- Betty, T.J., I know you guys always like the verdicts including...
NGUYEN: And we like a real one.
LEVS: You like a real one.
NGUYEN: True-false, that's all we need.
LEVS: All you guys wanted the true or false, I'm going to give you what we did, true is in this word, OK? The verdict, here's the verdict -- true, but incomplete.
NGUYEN: I knew that was coming.
LEVS: We've got to be fair. Let's zoom in, true but incomplete. Obama's opposition to certain free trade agreements would make it harder for some U.S. exporters to sell their products, but only in some countries covered by those deals. You can read a lot more details at CNN.com.
And coming up, we're going to take a look at attacks from the other side. We're going to be taking a look at what Barack Obama is saying over John McCain and Medicare.
And one more thing to tell you guys -- it's pretty cool, we have an e-mail question for all you viewers this morning, especially you the undecided viewers. What have you not heard from the candidates that you want answered? What do you want to know that you haven't heard yet? Just write to us this morning at: Weekends@CNN.com. We're going to share some of these with you. And we're going to do our best throughout this weekend to actually answer them.
NGUYEN: Yes, we'd appreciate a real answer. We want, you know, the truth squad, not the true but incomplete squad.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: We should change the name of the squad.
NGUYEN: Yes, we should.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: The various levels of truth squad.
NGUYEN: We'll see you shortly.
LEVS: OK. Thanks guys.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, the debates -- they are over but that clock is still ticking down.
HOLMES: Yes, but some people don't seem to be aware of the clock. Let me show you... NGUYEN: Even though we put it up on the screen very often?
HOLMES: Yes. Let me show you three people who don't seem to be aware of the time that they have left. People -- this has been going on for two years, you don't know who you're voting for yet?
NGUYEN: And what' holding you back?
HOLMES: Yes. That's Cynthia, that's Andy, that's Hope, and we're going to talk to them and figure out why in the world they cannot make up their minds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There's always a first time for everyone. Check it out, 86-year-old twins, Stella and Marcella John plan vote for the first time next month. A neighbor, in fact, encouraged the twins to register.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCELLA JOHN, FIRST-TIME VOTER: I told Craig, OK. I'll do anything now at 86.
STELLA JOHN, FIRST-TIME VOTER: We like -- Obama is young. And John McCain, he's nice and all, but he's 72-years-old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Are they really playing the age card? All right. They're 86-years-old, again, voting for the first time. The sisters said they were motivated to vote because of the economy -- T.J.
HOLMES: I don't know what that means, Betty. Eighty-six-years- old tell him he's too old.
All right. Well, right now, we talked to this group I'm going to show you here. We talked to them back in August. They came back to visit with us again in September. Now, two weeks until the election, our panel of undecided voters returns.
First, want to show you some of the latest polls. There they are -- the undecideds.
Let's show you poll numbers, first, a bit different from what we saw a week ago. Barack Obama was up eight points at that time. He's up by six now. So, maybe, some of these polls are showing maybe a point or two difference and it's starting to narrow a bit.
But has there been any shift in our panel?
Meet first, the registered Democrat, Cynthia Hudson. Libertarian, Andy Hurst, there in the middle. And also, there on the far right, independent Hope Demps; Tony Chung, another -- he's a registered Republican, he couldn't join us but we do know where he stands. He's made up his mind, at least, even though you all have not. Now, I got that right? Everybody here still undecided?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ANDY HURST, UNDECIDED VOTER: Right.
HOLMES: You all know the election is two weeks away, right? All right. Are you leaning?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, definitely.
HOLMES: Everybody's leaning. Not leaning yet?
HURST: No.
HOLMES: Come on, Andy.
All right. Let me ask you this as well before I'll show a couple of clips here. Did the last debate help you start to lean one way or another?
HOPE DEMPS, UNDECIDED VOTER: It definitely did. I think the most poignant moment was when McCain turned to Obama and said, why would you want to tax anybody in this economy? And that sort of hit to my root issues as to what I think the federal government should be about, is responsible use of taxes and gaining taxes. A lot of the social issues I think should be left up to the states.
HOLMES: So, he hit a good policy issue there that helped you as well. But, Andy, you said you're not leaning yet. What did the last debate do for you then?
HURST: The last debate helped me start to gain a little more confidence in McCain. I don't -- I don't really know that I support him yet. But he definitely started to do what he needed to do.
HOLMES: And Cynthia, let me ask as well about that last debate, what it did for you. a lot of people talked about it, and they just kind of hit on, McCain was a little more fiery, showed a little more energy, and kind of -- was out there fighting a bit.
CYNTHIA HUDSON, UNDECIDED VOTER: Yes, he was.
HOLMES: How did the last debate help you at all?
HUDSON: Well, it made me lean more to Obama because he seemed steady and not erratic.
HOLMES: OK.
HUDSON: He seemed steady, on the course, and it made me lean more to him.
HOLMES: All right. Well, let's show something here. I want to show one clip from that particular debate, the last one we saw, a moment that McCain was given some credit for, certainly got a lot of play in the press. Let's take a look at and I'll ask you all about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A lot of people pointed that out. Of course, Obama has been trying to link McCain to Bush as much as he can. Do you think that moment right there helped you at all or tried to clear anything up? Or do you really see McCain and Bush as pretty much the same thing?
HUDSON: I do. I do, he's voted 95 percent of the time Bush's way. He voted on Bush's budget. So I do see him as continuing Bush's platform.
HOLMES: You sound like you got some of the Democratic talking points there.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Andy, what about you -- do you see him as the same as well?
HURST: I think that they do have some differences and I think that it's really important for McCain to start to highlight those differences because Bush doesn't have a high approval rating and, you know, McCain doesn't want to be linked to that.
HOLMES: And, Hope, you as well, you said you've got some policy issues (INAUDIBLE)?
DEMPS: I mean, actually, I think the tone of McCain's campaign is a lot different. I think it's become a lot more hateful in the last few weeks. So, that statement, I am not, you know, Bush, didn't really resonate with me at all because of that, I thought, at this time it would be better for you in some ways, at least during the campaign trail, to be more, to have the image more of a compassionate conservative, because right now, he's been pretty harsh and hateful, I think, at least, at his rallies.
HOLMES: You know, you've brought up a point. We're going to go into in next clip here of a little civility we have seen. Let's roll this and we'll talk about that tone you just mentioned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: First of all, I want to be president of United States, and obviously, I do not want Senator Obama to be. But I have to tell you, I have to tell you -- he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the United States. Now ...
(CROWD BOOING) MCCAIN: I just -- I just -- now, look.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That is McCain there, Hope, injecting some civility, some calm, some respect into a race that you've noticed has gotten nasty. And what happened? He got booed at his rally, for speaking favorably about the other candidate. Did you, at least, like that little respite that we did get for a moment, where both sides kind of playing nice and saying something nice about each other?
DEMPS: I definitely did. I appreciate that. Sometimes I think, there was some (ph) insincerity behind it because it's really been the voters of McCain, those who are coming to the rally, that made me push away from him. I mean, I think many times because I am independent, many times I think, OK, what is really the key points for me.
And for McCain -- there's a lot of his policy ideas that I like. But it's like, how could I support a person who is going to be so divisive in our nation? So those opportunities I need to see more of and more sincere backing.
HOLMES: Andy...
DEMPS: With Palin, too.
HOLMES: Andy, did you as well? Did you -- I mean, again, we saw a little, they played nice for a little while. But did some of the tone turn you off?
HURST: I actually think, you know, it's politics these days are very partisan, very polarizing. And I think it's important for these guys to be able to, you know, make sure that the race is professional and not necessarily personal.
HOLMES: What do you see out there as well, Cynthia?
HUDSON: I appreciated what he did say. But I would have liked to have seen Governor Palin say it, it seems that most of her followers and her rallies is where all of this happens. So we haven't heard from her yet.
HOLMES: Do you all think that candidates are trying to or are we talking about the Republicans here, are trying to fire the base up in that way, or just they're playing politics? And you have some people out there, you can't control your voters, you can't control what everybody says or what they do.
HUDSON: Well, I think that they actually kind of played into that. And I think that Governor Palin really pulled that out of the crowd. I don't think that they just came and said -- but the way she talks and how she -- is against Obama and her rhetoric kind of pulls that out of the crowd.
HOLMES: All right... DEMPS: I would disagree with that. I mean, I would also say that a lot of people are rallying strongly behind (AUDIO BREAK) those sentiments, but they felt free to speak them, when she continued to be negative. But I would say, I don't think it's necessarily her rhetoric that caused it.
But I do think just as we look at the supporters and who's endorsing different candidates and saying, why are they endorsing them? Is that the kind of America I want? We should also look at, you know, in determining who we're going to support, who's really going to be behind the platforms that they're going to really roll out.
HOLMES: Right. And to wrap up here, we got 2 1/2 weeks, you all don't have much time left. Is there a possibility, and just quickly, I'll go down the line, that you will walk into that booth in a couple of weeks and still not know who you're going to vote for until you get in there?
HUDSON: No. I'm leaning very strongly to Senator Obama.
HOLMES: You're leaning now. What about you?
HURST: Yes, it could happen.
HOLMES: Is it possible you'll get there and not know what you're going to do until you walk in?
HURST: Yes.
HOLMES: You're not going to write in Mickey Mouse or anything, right?
HURST: No.
HOLMES: OK. All right.
DEMPS: No, I probably will have to make a decision next week.
HOLMES: Before you get in there?
DEMPS: Yes.
HOLMES: All right, well, Hope, Andy, Cynthia, this has been great, it's been great having you all on. If you still haven't made up your minds in about a week or so, maybe we'll have you back, all right?
HURST: It seems good.
HOLMES: We'll have you back on Election Day maybe.
All right. Well, thank you all. And also, our Tony Chung, another guy we had here, a Republican, he couldn't make it here, he's actually out of town, but he was a Republican we've had on our panel. We do know he has made up his mind. He is going to vote for Obama, Betty. This registered Republican has now decided he's going to vote for Obama this time around.
NGUYEN: And switching it up. All right. Well, you know, this election has a lot of people scratching their heads, still not knowing which way to go. But time is ticking and someone will definitely have to make a decision, all of us will, in fact.
In the meantime, though, preparing for the holiday shopping season? Retailers -- they are hanging out the signs, but are you going to show up? Holiday headaches.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the candidates out there on the trail and for good reason. The clock is ticking on them. John McCain is in North Carolina and Virginia today. His running mate, Sarah Palin, is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. But you know where she'll be tonight?
NGUYEN: I do.
HOLMES: She's in New York.
NGUYEN: "SNL."
HOLMES: Yes, she is doing "Saturday Night Live." We don't know if she knows Fey.
NGUYEN: I wonder what she's going to do.
HOLMES: You must see both of them tonight.
NGUYEN: Do you think you'll see both of them side by side?
HOLMES: I hope so. I'd love to see these two next to each other because Tina Fey, no word on what Tina Fey will be doing, or even if she'll be there, but looking forward to that.
Joe Biden, Barack Obama, his running mate, they're both in Missouri, actually, their transition team meeting about post-election plans.
NGUYEN: Oh, they are moving forward and quickly, apparently.
HOLMES: And measuring the drapes, as some have said. The election nears, the candidates are certainly firing more attacks at each other.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: And yesterday, John McCain criticized Obama's plan to raise taxes for people making more than $250,000. Obama meanwhile accused McCain of planning to cut Medicare funding to pay for his healthcare proposal.
NGUYEN: And it's going down to the wire for those two, I'll tell you, really going at it until the very end.
HOLMES: That should be the new -- it shouldn't be -
NGUYEN: Yes, just two boxing gloves, right?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: The rounds are not over, folks, by any means. Well, Barack Obama came forward with a new attack ad speaking of, yesterday, saying John McCain would take hundreds of billions of dollars away from Medicare.
HOLMES: OK. We want a verdict on this one, Josh Levs.
NGUYEN: A real one, Josh.
HOLMES: A member of -- what did you call the squad?
NGUYEN: The "true but incomplete" squad.
HOLMES: The "true but incomplete" squad.
LEVS: The various levels of truth squad.
NGUYEN: You know, we joke with you about it. But it is hard to sort out because you have to be honest about it. Some of it is true, but it's not telling the whole story.
LEVS: That's right, exactly. And sometimes it depends on how they put it. You know, let's take a look at exactly what Obama said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The "Wall Street Journal" recently reported that it was actually worse than we thought. It turns out Senator McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare -- $882 billion worth. It would mean a cut of more than 20 percent in Medicare benefits next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Well, this is the "Wall Street Journal" article behind me and it doesn't say anything at all about $882 billion. So, I've got a graphic for you to trace you through where he's coming up with this.
Here's the deal, forget about the article for a second. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has estimated and we've reported this, that McCain's plan would cost $1.3 trillion, his health plan over 10 years. And that Obama's would cost about $1.6 trillion. Now, both campaigns are saying their plans are revenue-neutral, that they will not ultimately cost anything.
Here's what the "Wall Street Journal" is doing. They're saying that McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid. And you can look at the lead here. The article does cite that $1.3 trillion figure. So, the article suggests that McCain would need to save $1.3 trillion over 10 years from Medicare and Medicaid. That's not something that they're saying from the McCain campaign.
And then there's this -- and this is the key, here, really where this whole thing come from. This is a liberal group called the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Let's zoom in on it. I want you to see what they have.
They, on their own, this liberal group saw that article and they did some calculations. And they decided that would mean pulling $882 billion from Medicare. Now, Obama on the stump is not referring to this group at all. He is making it sound like the "Wall Street Journal" said this.
The McCain campaign, no shock here, is slamming Obama. Take a look at what they're saying, "Just Words: Barack Obama's Medicare Malpractice and Lies." And what they're saying is that both campaigns have talked about saving billions of dollars in the Medicare program, and that both want to do that.
One thing the McCain campaign says they want to do is cut back on Medicare fraud, which they say could save billions. And they dispute that $1.3 trillion figure, anyway. They say McCain will not cut any Medicare benefits for people who rely on them.
So, as Betty was just saying, we had to kind of mix this all together, come up with a big verdict. Here it is -- you guys might be OK with this one. The verdict -- zoom in -- misleading.
We're saying the figure that Obama cites came from analysis by a liberal group, not the "Wall Street Journal" and the McCain campaign says the changes he's calling for would reduce costs, not cut benefits.
Now, I can't tell you officially and technically, what will happen if either of their plans get there. I can tell you that that's the actual source for that figure and the McCain campaign says that's not the deal.
And one more thing to tell you, because we're already getting these e-mails, which is great, this morning's e-mail question: What have you not heard from the candidates that you want answered? e-mail us this morning at: Weekends@CNN.com. I'm going to be reading some of the e-mails that we got next hour. And then, guys, we'll get to the process of answering those questions as concretely and truthfully as possible.
NGUYEN: Oh, OK, good. So, we'll find some answers this morning, love it. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Got it. Thanks, guys.'
HOLMES: Well, the economy is hitting everybody pretty hard, including maybe some of your favorite sports leagues. Could any of them go under? Some changes out there on the sports landscape.
NGUYEN: It's not good.
HOLMES: We'll get into that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Sports leagues feeling the pinch of the downturn in the economy, whether it's fans no longer being able to afford those expensive tickets, or companies rethinking their sponsorship commitments.
Our business and sports analyst, Rick Horrow, joins us this week. He talked about, you know, some of this going on. He talked to us this week actually from London. He's over there doing a little business.
Take a listen on what he had to say on this particular topic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Tell us why you're talking sports in London and also, are they talking about the same things they're talking about here in the U.S. as far as concerns with the sports world and the economy?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: They are desperate enough in this international sports summit, about the economic crisis to make me co-chair of this group. And one of the things we've been talking about is, obviously, the impact on the sports leagues in both places across the pond and in the U.S.
The NBA laying off 80 staff members, clearly. NASCAR, may have eight less teams next year than they do now. Over here, Formula One has said, if we don't cut costs, we may not be around next year. The English premiere league says, we may not have some extra games after this year. The PGA tour has 13 events sponsored by corporations that are in financial trouble. So, go figure.
HOLMES: Go figure. You talk about some of those sports teams, the racing teams we might lose and some of the racing leagues, they certainly depend on sponsors. So, are sponsors now, corporate sponsors, they're holding on to their cash a little tighter these days?
HORROW: Well, we all know that and we've had about 60 deals with naming since 2000 and nine of them have gone bankrupt. And 15 others, stocks have dropped 30 percent. And that was before last week.
Take RBS, for example, the parent company of Citizens Bank, who names the Philadelphia Phillies stadium where the World Series going to be played. They're having some issues quite clearly. They're being nationalized, or part of them are.
And what about AIG, by the way? Manchester United's principal sponsor in the premiere league over here is AIG. We might as well put USA on their jersey, because of the $73 billion bailout first and the $123 billion bailout later.
HOLMES: All right. There are some things -- I mean, that's some dire straits you describe, but are there some things, some events, even some sports, maybe they are immune from some of this stuff who are just going to be doing fine through it all, no matter what?
HORROW: Well, let me give you the takeaway from the conference in the end comments. First, the premium events, the Olympics, the London, so to Russia and Vancouver, sellouts, corporate sponsorship is there, Super Bowl, 90 percent of the ads are sold out at $3 million a pop over in the U.S. The other piece of this, inevitably, a shakeout leads to a spring cleaning, they call it, where the entrepreneurs produce a better business model.
So, whenever this is over, whether it's next week or next year, the sports business will be back stronger as a consequence.
HOLMES: Stronger? Well, that is a good positive note to end on.
Rick Horrow, over in London, I'm sure they can't wait to get rid of you, so I'm sure we'll see you back here soon. Rick, always a pleasure.
HORROW: I'll see you back here next week.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Rick.
HORROW: All right, man (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Next, we want to turn to our Reynolds Wolf who recently got a lesson in science...
NGUYEN: Take a look.
HOLMES: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're experiencing 1.18, which is actually almost double your body weight. Right now, I'm feeling like a heavy dude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: He's joining middle school science teachers for a ride aboard the vomit comet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: I do believe that was our Reynolds Wolf that just was flying by there.
HOLMES: You know, a lot of people say he looks like Superman, anyway.
And that was the first time I actually you've seen you fly.
WOLF: Who are those people, T.J.?
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: We just kind of made it up on the fly.
WOLF: It was a good time. It's crazy time.
NGUYEN: What were you doing on the vomit comet?
WOLF: Basically, Northrop Grumman, this wonderful company had a plane especially-designed 727 aircraft that was actually hollowed out on the inside. And it is basically the same procedure that astronauts go through when they're training to go up in the space shuttle or going into launch.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: And that's what we dealt with. And you'll get a chance to take a peek at it.
NGUYEN: I don't know if we want to.
WOLF: I think you do. You throw the vomit comment (ph). That's what I'm saying.
HOLMES: Let's see this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): Thirty Georgia middle school teachers is learning firsthand what it's like to be weightless.
Aboard the modified and heavily-padded 727, there were games of "toss the teacher" and simulated "Superman" flights. But in between the fun and hilarity, the educators conduct an experiment testing Newton's laws of motion.
The flight is courtesy of the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Northrop, an aerospace and defense company, hopes the experience of these teachers will inspire students to pursue careers in science, math, and engineering. Northrop Grumman says most of the teachers surveyed on past flights report their students became more excited about science.
TOM HENSON, NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP.: It's important that they do this. Our country faces significant shortage in the future of mathematicians, scientists, engineers, people in technology fields. So, we've targeted their teachers to try to illustrate for their students, how math and science can be cool and relevant and applied to their daily lives -- and just fun.
WOLF: Fun for the teachers, and yours truly.
(on camera): Hi, there, how you doing?
TRACEY HEFFELFINGER, LITTLE MILL MIDDLE SCHOOL: You know as a science teacher, you're told what all effects how you move. And that gravity is a great portion of that. That it's a whole other thing to get up there and experience it. I would try things like, you know, I want to just hover off the ground a little bit. Well, the problem is that if you push enough to get off the ground, there's nothing to stop you and you keep going until you hit the ceiling.
WOLF (voice-over): The plane uses the same technique that NASA uses to train astronauts. See, it flies a series of parabolas, or peaks and valleys to create periods of weightlessness, that last about 30 seconds. But each parabola also has a period of increased gravity.
(on camera): We're experiencing 1.18, which is actually almost double your body weight. Right now, I'm feeling like a heavy dude.
(voice-over): Now, a handful of teachers did experience motion sickness. But after all, they don't call the NASA training jet the "vomit comet" for nothing. But thankfully, most of the teachers were just fine.
HEFFELFINGER: I'm very proud of the fact that I will be able to show them my unused barf bag.
WOLF: Nearly 1,000 teachers from California to Washington, D.C., have taken part in Northrop zero gravity flights, hoping at least, that some of their students will flip over careers in science.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Guys...
NGUYEN: That is really cool.
WOLF: It was unreal. It was like people flying all over. There were screams, there's laughter, there are some throwing -- people throwing up. It was kind of like a party at T.J.'s house. Basically, it was the same experience, only about 34,000 feet up in the sky. Other than that, the same as...
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: OK. So, how many people of the group threw up?
WOLF: At least half.
NGUYEN: Really?
WOLF: At least half. And the thing that was so weird, you kind of sizing up people before you went up. And there were some people, you were thinking, that guy over there...
NGUYEN: This burly guy.
WOLF: He's going to be able to take it. But I don't think she will. And you know what? It would be just the opposite...
NGUYEN: The opposite. WOLF: The complete opposite, yes. And about half of them, the third time we went up -- again, these were periods of about 30 to 40 seconds of sheer weightlessness. But in the third time that we experienced it, half of them were down.
NGUYEN: And you? Did you throw up?
WOLF: I was fine.
NGUYEN: Really?
HOLMES: Where is your unused barf bag?
NGUYEN: Yes --
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: You know what? I probably ate it. That was probably kept me from going. But it was a good time. You see the video.
NGUYEN: It is great.
HOLMES: That's great video (ph).
NGUYEN: And what's so funny is that it looks like fun and games to begin with...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ... and all of a sudden you see these people with their barf bags.
WOLF: It was really separation of, you know, one to another. It was a very, very interesting experience. There's nothing like it. Nothing at all...
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Listen to you. Glad you got to do that.
NGUYEN: Yes, I'm going to take your word on it. I don't think I could make it up there up. I would be one of those barfing in the bag, unfortunately. Well...
HOLMES: Reynolds, thanks, buddy.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
NGUYEN: On to something that is very important these days, especially with what? Two weeks to go.
HOLMES: Yes, it is (ph).
NGUYEN: The presidential candidates take a break, though. Two weeks to go, they're going to take a break from the campaign trail? HOLMES: Yes. Yes, to actually be nice to each other, throw a few jokes at the other's way. We got -- this was nice to see, a nice break. And it was really funny to see.
NGUYEN: It was really great to see their humor because they stuck it to each other.
HOLMES: They have been. We will show you the nice things and the funny things they're saying about each other, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. John McCain and Barack Obama, they are used to being the butt of jokes from, you know, the likes of David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien, all those guys.
NGUYEN: "SNL" and all those things.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Yes, but at charity dinner in Washington, those guys actually offered up a few humorous lines of their own. Here's John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: He even has a pet name for me, George Bush.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: To spend that kind of contest and I come here tonight to the Al Smith dinner knowing I'm the underdog in these final weeks, but if you know where to look, there are signs of hope. There are signs of hope. Even in the most unexpected places, even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats, I can't -- I can't shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: Where's Bill, by the way? Can't he take one night off from his tireless quest to make the man who defeated his wife the next president? The man is a relentless advocate for the Obama campaign, and he has a subtle approach to making the case. When a reporter asked him if Senator Obama was qualified to be president, Bill Clinton pointed out, "Sure. He's over 35 years of age and a U.S. citizen."
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: He was pandering to the strict constructionist crowd.
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: He's also been hammering away at me, with epitaphs like "American Hero" and "Great Man." And with all the cameras running, he warmly embraced me at that global initiative of his. My friends, this is nothing but a brazen attempt to suppress turnout among anti-Clinton conservatives.
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: Finally, when Larry King asked President Clinton a couple weeks ago, what was the delay? And why he wasn't out there on the trail for Barack? Bill said his hands were tied until the end of the Jewish high holidays. Now, you got to admire that ecumenical spirit. I just know Bill would like to be out there now, stomping for Barack until the last hour of the last day. Unfortunately, he is constrained by his respect for any voters who might be observing the Zoroastrian New Year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. If you think that's good...
HOLMES: That's great.
NGUYEN: Let's listen to what Barack Obama had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Lately, things have been getting a bit tougher. In the last few weeks, John's been out on the campaign trail and asked the question: Who is Barack Obama? I have to admit I was a little surprised by this question. The answer is right there on my Facebook page.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: But, look, I don't want to be coy about this. We're a couple weeks from an important election. Americans have a big choice to make, and if anybody feels like they don't know me by now, let me try to give you some answers. Who is Barack Obama?
Contrary to the rumors that you've heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton, and sent here by my father, Jorel, to save the planet earth.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Many of you --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Many of you know that I got my name, Barack, from my father. What you may not know is Barack is actually Swahili for "That One." (LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn't think I'd ever run for president.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And to name my greatest strength, I guess it would be my humility. Greatest weakness, it's possible that I'm a little too awesome.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: One other thing, I have never, not once, put lipstick on a pig -- or a pit bull or myself. Rudy Giuliani, that's one for you. I mean --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Who would have thought that a cross-dressing mayor from New York City would have a tough time running the Republican nomination? It's shocking. That was a tough, tough primary you had there, John. Anyway, anyway, that's who I really am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, from CNN center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, start off with a little humor there on both sides. But hello, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
We have a breaking story we've been keeping an eye on in what's really turned out to be a scary situation here. The details of this story, we have now the six-year-old boy who has been kidnapped. This is out in Las Vegas. His grandfather was wanted in questioning, is now in custody, is being questioned, but still no idea where the child is.
You want to hear the details of this, has to do with Mexican drug cartel and millions and millions of dollars in stolen money and drugs. Just a scary story, but still don't know where the young man is. But some breaking details.
NGUYEN: Also going to be talking about the economy and how it's affecting your children. A child psychologist joins us to offer some remedies that are really going to help ease the stress level, especially when you're talking to your kids about what you can't afford these days due to the financial crisis.
HOLMES: Also, you work too much?
NGUYEN: Always. HOLMES: All right. Well, some people who work too much don't have enough time to exercise.
NGUYEN: Can't you tell? No comment on that one.
HOLMES: I don't know what to say now. No, but a lot of people now -- a lot of companies are now -- we've seen this -- they're combining work and the exercise, allowing people to give them both options, so we'll get into that.
NGUYEN: Maybe we'll get some treadmills around here. We can do it while we're doing the show perhaps, who knows.
In the meantime though, something very breaking for us this morning, that six-year-old boy in a pawn perhaps, dealing with his grandfather's alleged dealings with the Mexican cartel. Could he be a pawn in that whole situation?
HOLMES: And the man we're talking about you see behind us here, his name is Cole Puffinburger. He was kidnapped Wednesday from his home in Las Vegas. His grandfather now has been taken into custody for questioning. That happened late last night in Riverside, California. That's the grandfather you're seeing there. That's Clemens Tinnemeyer. Police believe that he owes a drug cartel millions of dollars.
Now, the missing boy's aunt spoke about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER MOORE, MISSING BOY'S AUNT: It's really hard to have one of our babies out there, with strangers because he's a very, very good boy. He's very shy. Please, bring him home safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Our Kara Finnstrom has been following this story. A lot of strange twists and turns to this story Kara on the phone with us here now. Tell us, what connection do police believe the grandfather has? Do they believe he's actually involved in any way in this kidnapping or do they just believe he could possibly provide information that could help them track the young man down?
FINNSTROM: Well, at this point, they're just saying they want him for questioning. They believe, you know, as you said, that the young man that's missing, the six-year-old, may be a pawn in all of this. The major break that police got overnight is that 51-year-old Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, the grandfather in all of this, who was wanted for questioning in the drug-related kidnapping of his six-year- old grandson is now in custody.
We spoke with a dispatcher for San Bernardino County jail in California this morning who confirmed that Tinnemeyer was taken into custody by the U.S. marshal and Los Angeles police just before midnight. He was actually arrested near Riverside, California. That's about four hours away, drive time, from Las Vegas and that's where six-year-old Cole Puffinburger was kidnapped on Wednesday. Now, Las Vegas police have long said that they wanted to talk with Tinnemeyer because they believe he stole millions of dollars from a Mexican national drug trafficking ring before he disappeared a few months ago. He simply disappeared from the scene. No one had seen him in months. Now they believe his grandson's kidnapping was in direct retaliation for the theft of those millions of dollars.
Right now, though, we should stress that Cole is still missing, a six-year-old boy. Police looking for him. Kidnappers are still missing. What they're hoping is that they may get a break by taking this grandfather into custody, that he may be able to provide some information and perhaps some leads and put them on the right path.
HOLMES: And Kara, I want to ask you this as well. A lot of people, we hear this story, this is some hard core stuff that people are only used to seeing in movies. This may go on down there, but a lot of people here just aren't exposed to this kind of thing. Do police believe, though, that the boy -- there's a possibility he will be held for some kind of ransom? They kidnapped the boy in hopes of getting their money back? Or this was in retaliation and this boy, God forbid, is in a direct danger and they -- they took him not necessarily with hopes of giving him back?
FINNSTROM: Well, they stress that the people who have this young boy are very dangerous. They just don't know what might happen next. But they also say that the home was ransacked, that the mother and her fiance were looking for money, that they took the boy for ransom. So that's the hope. That's certainly the hope here. But at this point, not much else has been released. And police may not be releasing everything they know because this is still under investigation.
HOLMES: All right, some scary stuff out there in Las Vegas. Kara Finnstrom, we appreciate you being on the story. We will check in with you again as this story continues to develop. Thank you.
NGUYEN: In fact, we are going to go deeper into this case now with CNN security analyst Mike Brooks. He is on the phone with us. Mike, sounds like, as T.J. mentioned, a plot from a movie but with your law enforcement background, looking at all the different facts in this case, does it sound legit to you?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely, Betty. It's as bad as it gets. These drug cartels in Mexico are extremely dangerous. We don't hear a lot about it here in the United States, but a lot of this happens back and forth across the U.S./Mexican border on a regular basis. As I said, it's as bad as it gets. The U.S. marshals were able to take him into custody and hopefully be able to get some information about his friends and associates and maybe other family members that law enforcement believe may be involved in this whole drug ring.
NGUYEN: What I would like to know, and we're probably still waiting on it, they've taken him into custody, they arrested him, but on what charges? This is a guy who disappeared because he owed a lot of money. Now his grandson is missing. He turns up. Is it a coincidence, or was he simply arrested at the right time by the police? Or did he show up as some way as providing a bargaining tool with this cartel?
BROOKS: That's a good question because he was last seen in August (INAUDIBLE). They took him into custody. I was just on the Web site for San Bernardino. Under the inmate information, it has bail that says ineligible. So if you're -- usually Betty, if you're involved in drugs, you're usually wanted for something. That sounds like he was very, very heavily involved in the narcotics business, if you will. And the police at Las Vegas are saying that other members of the family were also possibly involved in drug activity.
So, right now we've got the Las Vegas police, you've got the FBI, the DEA and there's -- they were thinking that they might try to go back to Mexico so you've also got the border patrol, immigration and custom enforcement looking out to try to find this boy and get him back.
NGUYEN: It is a widespread area and T.J. brought up a very good point. When you look at cases like this -- and we're going to look to you for your judgment with your law enforcement background, is it a case where the child was kidnapped for ransom or retaliation and the chances of getting him back may not be so good?
BROOKS: I would say it's both. He was captured out of retaliation and they want some money. But the law enforcement's not saying if any ransom demand had been made. And in investigations like this, you probably won't hear about that until after they get Cole Puffinburger back because they don't want to jeopardize the investigation whatsoever.
NGUYEN: Is the case different because we're dealing with a drug cartel? Because usually when a child is missing for, what, three days now, was missing on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, it's now Saturday, going on the third day, it's always not a good sign when a child goes missing for days on end. But when you're dealing with a drug cartel, is there a little leeway if they want some money from you?
BROOKS: There's a possibility, but as I said, these are vicious, vicious, dangerous people, Betty, very, very unpredictable. But, you know, I think law enforcement right now -- now that they have the grandfather in custody, he could hold a treasure trove of information on who may have his grandson and you know, if this guy has any heart at all, he'll cooperate with law enforcement.
NGUYEN: All right. Mike Brooks joining us live by phone. We do appreciate it, Mike and of course, we'll be checking with you throughout the day as we get more developments on this story. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. We will turn it back to the campaign trail now. Seventeen days, that's it. Here's what the presidential candidates are up to today. John McCain in North Carolina and Virginia. Those are two usually reliably red states but he's having to defend them right now because polls there are really tight. His running mate meanwhile, Sarah Palin in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. But where will she be, Betty, tonight?
NGUYEN: "Saturday Night Live." HOLMES: Yes, she will make that appearance tonight. Also, Barack Obama, his running mate, Joe Biden are in Missouri, also where polls are really close.
NGUYEN: OK, so check out the major newspaper endorsements that are coming out. Some of them are historic. "The Washington Post" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" both backing Obama. So, is the "Los Angeles Times." It is the first time that that paper has supported a candidate since 1972. And the "Chicago Tribune" which has never backed a Democrat before.
HOLMES: The Obama campaign wants a special prosecutor in the investigation into alleged voter registration fraud. These allegations are against a grassroots community organization known as ACORN. Election officials say that group turned in thousands of fake voter applications. Now information was leaked Thursday that the FBI is already conducting a preliminary investigation into that voter registration fraud. The Obama campaign's lawyer says partisan politics were behind that particular leak.
Well, CNN is keeping them honest. If you have trouble at the polls, call the CNN voter hot line. We will help keep track of the problems and we'll report that trouble in real time. You can call 1- 877-GOCNN08. So you can see the numbers down there, right below 1877- 462-6608, keeping them honest all the way through the election. Hopefully we'll know the answer to who won this election on Election Day.
NGUYEN: Yeah, hopefully it won't drag out.
Well, in the meantime, President Bush focusing on the economy today. He's meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European commission President Jose Manuel Baroso (ph). Those meetings being held at the Camp David presidential retreat in the Maryland woods. The White House says it doesn't expect any new policy decisions to come out of the meetings.
But we are all about answers here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We know you're worried about paying your bills, concerned about where the economy is headed, lots of things on the plate.
HOLMES: If you're worried, there's a good thing (sic) that chance your kids might be worried as well and might notice that you're frustrated. We've lined up some advice coming up that will help you cope, help your kids cope as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. October 18th, is it?
NGUYEN: You're already seeing Christmas trees.
HOLMES: Have you seen some?
NGUYEN: Yeah, already in stores. It's not even Halloween yet. HOLMES: I haven't seen it yet, but I hear they're going up because retailers, no doubt, know they're going to be facing a pretty tough holiday selling season.
NGUYEN: Might as well start early, right? But as CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff reports, just about everyone is going to feel the economy's pinch.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Moving merchandise at bargain prices through an auction at a Manhattan children's boutique.
NATALIE MAYER, NATALIE & FRIENDS: You need to do this to clean out, to go forward.
CHERNOFF: Big department stores will soon be offering bargains of their own to holiday shoppers, relying not on auctioneers but on pressuring their suppliers.
RICHARD S'OAO, SILLIE PHILLIE CREATIONS: It's a very scary time.
CHERNOFF: Richard xxx has manufactured baby clothing and gifts through several recessions so he knows retailers in the next two months will be playing holiday hard ball.
S'OAO: It's going to be tougher to deal with them, to get re- orders, to get paid.
CHERNOFF: Retailers were expecting a tough holiday season when they placed orders back in July. Now that the stock market has tanked and credit is tight, stores may cancel some orders. And even after delivery, suppliers are at risk. When big department stores can't sell all the merchandise they've ordered, suppliers say sometimes the retailer will turn around to them and say, take it back.
WILLIAM SUSMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FINANCO: Suppliers are going to get squeezed. We're in touch with one major department store retailer who sent out a message to all their vendors saying we need 10 percent back.
CHERNOFF: It happened to Richard S'Oao during the last recession.
S'OAO: You may have $100,000 order but may only get paid $70,000. So, it may not even cover your costs.
CHERNOFF: Richard responded by moving the bulk of his business online. He now sells directly to consumers at babygiftcreations.com and supplies other Web sites. Retailers, both small and large, surviving this holiday season will be a matter of offering value to shoppers. The only unknown, how deep will they have to discount and how much pain will they and their suppliers endure?
Allan Chernoff, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: Despite the bailout, a lot of financial experts say it will take months, even years before the economy is back on track. And that kind of stress shows up in places never intended. For example, children can sense things when they're wrong. That's why we've asked clinical child psychologist and author Steven Curtis to join us this morning.
Dr. Curtis, thanks for being here.
STEVEN E. CURTIS, PH.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST & AUTHOR: Oh, it's great to be here.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get right down to it. What do parents need to do right now to help re-assure their children that everything is OK even though the finances may be strapped?
CURTIS: Well, as you know, we're all worried about the economy and parents are worried about the economy. And when children see their parents worried, they become worried as well. And, you know, kids react to stress in varied ways, just like adults. Some may become shy or anxious. Some may become more acting out, externalized. There's a number of things that parents can do. They can be aware that kids experience the effects of stress just like adults do. They may not show it the same way.
But there's a number of other things they can do as well. They can hang out with their kids and spend more time. They need to talk with kids and be honest with what's going on. They don't need to necessarily get into extended detail. But they need to just be honest with what's going on. Parents need to tell the children that they'll be there and be there for them when the kids talk to them. Parents need to be good listeners and, you know, show support. And when there are a lot of transitions, I recommend that parents keep the routine pretty much the same with their kids.
NGUYEN: So, if you do see your child acting out, you really want to start talking, maybe even before then hopefully, so that you don't see the child react in that kind of way. But is there a particular age where children are most vulnerable in situations like this?
CURTIS: Well, I think when kids are super young, they may not feel the effects of stress, but as they get older, elementary years, they don't necessarily have the verbal skills or coping strategies to deal with the stress. So, I would say the middle years are probably the most vulnerable. As kids become older, into adolescence and young adulthood, they do have more coping strategies and verbal skills to deal with the stress that is upon them.
NGUYEN: And so when parents do see that this is truly affecting their children, I mean, it's one thing to talk to them because you have to prepare them for the reality of the situation, but should you bring it up in a formal family meeting, or should you just have one- on-one time? What's the best way to go about it?
CURTIS: Well, I think it really depends on your family structure. I mean some people do have formal meetings and that's a good time to bring it up. I would just, you know, be proactive and no matter what -- if your family meets, you know, regularly at dinnertime, that's a good time to bring it up.
But if you don't do that, then pull your child aside and say, you know, there's a lot of things happening in our world. I just want to know how you're doing. Many times, the kids will say, well, I don't know what you mean, but just explain a little bit about what's going on, and then tell them that I'd love to be there for you if you have any questions.
NGUYEN: Yeah, one of your tips says be honest with your children. But sometimes honesty can be scary for children, especially when you're talking about the possibility of losing your home. Should you get into those types of details?
CURTIS: Well, I think honesty doesn't necessarily mean you have to go into every single detail with your child, but I don't believe in hiding things from kids. So just say, you know, we're going through some tough times. And, you know, the kids -- if you are going to have to change your home, they're going to find that out eventually so you may have to say, you know, we may have to change our home. But, you know, you don't have to go through every single detail.
NGUYEN: And try to, if you can, find some silver lining, some positivity in the discussion?
CURTIS: Right. I really believe in stressing the importance of resilience. It's important for people to know that we've been through lots of challenges in our country throughout time and, you know, families have been through challenges throughout the history of the world. And there's, you know, majority of people make it through quite well. And you have to stay positive. You have to keep hanging on. And you have to know that eventually the good times will come back.
NGUYEN: Sometimes positivity is what, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
CURTIS: It is important to be very positive. The people that are positive tend to be most resilient.
NGUYEN: You know what, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Dr. Steven Curtis. We do appreciate it. There's a look at your book, "Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior." All right, T.J., we got to stay positive today.
HOLMES: You got to stay positive. It's difficult sometimes because you get worked up.
NGUYEN: Yes. Me? What are you talking about?
HOLMES: All right. We'll go back to some politics here. John McCain is saying that he will, in fact, cut taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Now's not the time to raise anybody's taxes except yours and I guarantee you when I'm president, I'll do it.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, FROM CBS WORLDWIDE PANTS: Now, what exactly happened? I -- see, here -- I thought I was doing my part to save the economy. And then later I got to think, maybe I'm just not important enough.
MCCAIN: Can I give you an answer?
LETTERMAN: Please.
MCCAIN: I screwed up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Oh, but he's not off the hook by any means. John McCain telling Dave Letterman why he canceled on him last month.
HOLMES: A lot of people will remember Letterman was a little upset.
NGUYEN: A little?
HOLMES: A little bit.
NGUYEN: Hot under the collar.
HOLMES: And even though he was making jokes at McCain's expense, you could see he was a little fired up and a little perturbed that he canceled on him. But they made up for the most part last night so that was fun to see.
NGUYEN: Always.
HOLMES: The candidates you heard, a lot of things are saying out there but what have you not heard that you want to hear?
NGUYEN: Well, this morning we are reading your e-mails about what you still need to know, want to know, have to know in order to decide how to vote come November 4th.
HOLMES: Some people still haven't decided as we saw from our undecided voters.
NGUYEN: Are you decided?
HOLMES: I'm not.
NGUYEN: I'm not either. See?
HOLMES: Isn't that something? NGUYEN: We're not decided either. So, Josh, help us decide.
HOLMES: The decider, Josh Levs.
LEVS: How come when people cancel on our show they don't come on and say they screwed up? What's that about?
NGUYEN: Can you just get to the true or false of it?
LEVS: OK. Fine. Here's the deal. We have this e-mail question to you this morning, what do you want to know? What have you not heard from the candidates? We have a super technical system where we just pulled some up some of the ones that just came in.
Let's zoom in. I want to show you. These are really interesting. Someone writing us, what is their position regarding science and innovation? The next, are both candidates going to push SBA to provide more money for working and expansion funds for small businesses to help us with our debt and run our businesses?
Let's look at a couple more. I would like them to say anything about immigration. That's from Donald. Let's end with this one. What I haven't heard in this entire election campaign is anything truthful that would apply to the average American. That's from Linda.
You can write us your thoughts and what you want to know at weekends@cnn.com. Just say, look, this is what I want to hear. What have you not heard from the candidates that you want answered? We will keep going through them. We're going to keep sharing some of them with you throughout this morning and tomorrow, we actually going to try to answer some of these or you guys.
NGUYEN: Just like the viewer said, wants to hear something true from the candidates. In fact, you remember that truth squad. So we will be looking to you for that as well throughout the morning.
LEVS: More of that coming up, you got it.
HOLMES: All right, thanks Josh. Of course a lot of people do actually walk to their job. Some people, once they get to the job, they just keep on walking.
NGUYEN: Really? We're going to take you to a workplace where you can get a workout even without a gym.
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NGUYEN: "Beautiful Stranger".
HOLMES: The reason we're playing a little Madonna, her husband's about to become a stranger to her.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: In case you didn't know, it's a done deal. NGUYEN: Yep, over, kaput. Pop star Madonna and her director husband, Guy Ritchie, filed for divorce after more than seven years of marriage.
HOLMES: She's 50.
NGUYEN: Looks good for 50, doesn't she?
HOLMES: She just looks really good. Some people say, she looks good for this.
NGUYEN: You're right about it. She does look fabulous.
HOLMES: Forty-year-old husband Guy Ritchie, well, he's not looking so good these days.
NGUYEN: He's 45.
HOLMES: They do have two children together, also have a daughter from a previous relationship.
NGUYEN: All right. So, in order to look good as Madonna you may want to head to the gym. But a lot of us just don't have time for it.
HOLMES: So, the gym is coming to office, to the office. And one Minnesota office in particular. The company's put treadmills at work stations and in the conference rooms. Machines are set up just two miles an hour.
NGUYEN: What's that going to do?
HOLMES: That's not very -- oh, it's something. The workers have been able to lose weight and cut their bad cholesterol. So, there you go.
NGUYEN: That's good. Yes.
HOLMES: I'm sure Dr. Sanjay Gupta would approve of something like that.
NGUYEN: Well, "HOUSE CALL" is coming up next. Take a look.
