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CNN Saturday Morning News
It's the Last Weekend for Candidates to Campaign; Following the Asian Vote; Where the Candidates Stand on Foreign Policy; Some People are Choosing to Vote Early
Aired November 01, 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: Hey. Good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center, it's CNN SATURDAY MORNING you're tuned in to. It is already, you know, Thanksgiving is this month.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Can you believe it's November?
HOLMES: It's November. We're already here. Hey, you, there. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes. Hopefully, you made it through Halloween night.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: All is well in your world. We made it through.
HOLMES: We've made it through.
NGUYEN: So far so good.
HOLMES: Where were you for Halloween last night?
NGUYEN: Asleep.
HOLMES: OK.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for joining us today.
HOLMES: All right. We are going to get out to the campaign trail. OK. The candidates cannot take the weekend off because it's the last weekend. McCain, Obama, Palin, Biden, they're all out there and we are tracking them down. A couple of live events happening this morning as well we can check it in with all candidates.
NGUYEN: We're also following the Asian vote because no longer is it a lock for the GOP. In fact, we went to Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Saigon, out in California where the most Asians on the mainland live. We gauged their vote. We'll tell you where they're looking and what they're going to be voting in for come Tuesday.
HOLMES: I know you were out there the past few days this week and I'm looking forward to seeing what you brought back from there.
Also, take a look. Live shot, I believe we have. This is a polling station. This is in Florida, Betty. This is Plantation, Florida.
NGUYEN: And this is live.
HOLMES: This is live, folks. It is 7:00. Some of these folks have been in line since 6:15 to vote. But it doesn't open, this polling place, until 10:00.
NGUYEN: Yikes.
HOLMES: These folks lining up four hours early, trying to get their vote in. We will be checking in of some of these polling stations -- and that one as well. But yes, these folks, three hours from now, the polling station is going to open, they're already there in line. So, a lot of people excited about that, to get a chance to vote this time around.
NGUYEN: All right. So, let's see where the candidates are today. John McCain, he starts out in Virginia before heading to Pennsylvania. His running mate, Governor Sarah Palin is in Florida, then travels to North Carolina as well as Virginia.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Barack Obama begins his day in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. There's the map for you. And from there, it is off to Colorado and Missouri. And his running mate, Joe Biden, well, he is in Indiana and Ohio.
HOLMES: All right. Well, our team is busy because they're trying to keep up with all of these candidates today. Dan Lothian is going to be in Newport News, Virginia. McCain will hold a rally there just about two hours from now. There he is. We'll say good morning to him.
Well, also, Sean Callebs. We'll be checking in with him in Plantation, Florida. That's where we just saw that early voting line. There he is, up early as well.
But we do want to start with you, Dan, there in Newport News, Virginia. Not supposed to be a state that Democrats are supposed to be contending for. But certainly the case now. McCain trying to keep that state red. Is he going to be able to do it?
Go ahead, Dan. Dan is not with me anymore.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.
HOLMES: There he is. All right. Good morning to you.
LOTHIAN: Yes, good morning. I lost you there for a second.
Yes, Senator John McCain will be having an event here at Christopher Newport University later this morning. This is a city that is within a key region of Hampton Roads. It's the second most populous region in the state and it's a place that John McCain would really like to win. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN (voice-over): Hampton Roads is not really a roadway but it's one path to victory in Virginia, a region with about a half dozen big cities, a diverse population, and a river, a bay, and an ocean. It's also home to the Atlantic Fleet.
PROF. JOSHUA BEHR, OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY: It's critical to do well in two parts of the state. One is Northern Virginia and here in Hampton Roads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hampton (ph) McCain-Palin 2008.
LOTHIAN: In this swing region of Virginia, John McCain and Barack Obama are in high gear, trying to snag every last voter still sitting on the fence. For McCain supporters, wooing this area's heavy military and veteran population is part of the game plan.
BOB MCDONNELL, (R) VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think he does well there because of his clear legacy as a naval aviator, a veteran, a prisoner of war -- truly, an American hero.
LOTHIAN: George Bush won twice here, but voters helped re-elect Bill Clinton in 1996. This once solidly Republican corner of the state has been moving to the left. Governor Tim Kaine and Senator Jim Webb, both Democrats, carried Hampton Roads.
BEHR: You look at these counties (ph) up here.
LOTHIAN: Old Dominion political science professor Joshua Behr says this became a swing area when the population started changing as new industry attracted new people.
BEHR: I think we got an increasing number of white collar professionals which tend to be leaning towards the Democrat ticket. In addition, there's an increased percentage of African-American community.
LOTHIAN: Obama seems to have a slight edge. While his campaign says they're not necessarily prioritizing one region of the state over the other, they do admit this is a rich target.
MITCH STEWART, VIRGINIA DIRECTOR, OBAMA CAMPAIGN: We think that, you know, basically, the coalition that we're trying to build here to be successful is representative in Hampton Roads.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Now, Senator Barack Obama, overall in the state of Virginia, is leading in the polls. Numbers are anywhere from seven to nine points. But Barack Obama has spent a lot of time in this Hampton Roads region. He spent more than 48 hours this week. He was here twice.
So, it gives you a sense of how important both of these candidates think this region is in winning not only the swing region but also the state of Virginia, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Dan Lothian there for us. Dan, we appreciate you.
We want to swing over now to Plantation, Florida, to Sean Callebs. We just saw that live shot a second ago of people early voting on this Saturday. Thirty states allow early voting.
Sean, how early did people start lining up there? Do I have it right? The poll doesn't open there until 10:00 o'clock.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's actually a bit of a problem here because the polls earlier in the week had been opening between 9:00 and 10:00. And then the governor stepped in because the lines were so huge here and actually extended the hours that they were supposed to be open.
People here, a lot of them just found out a short while ago that this polling site doesn't open until 10:00 a.m. because there is that confusion out there. A lot of these folks came here, thinking it was going to open at 7:00. They want to knock it out, get it out of the way. A huge interest in this race, obviously.
Right now, including absentee ballots, about two million people have already voted here in the state of Florida. Now, the way that early voting works, kind of break this down a bit. There's only a handful, a very small percentage of the polling precincts are open right now.
Here in Broward County, on November 4th, there will be 300 polling sites open. Right now, there are only 17. So, that's the reason we're seeing such long lines here.
We heard Dan talked about the poll numbers where he is. Here, they've got somewhat more tight. The most recent one that I saw showed between three and four percentage points.
I want to bring you John Johnson. He's somebody who came in.
You got up early this morning. You came in. You thought the polling site was going to be open when?
JOHN JOHNSON, VOTER: 7:00 p.m. -- I mean, 7:00 a.m., yes.
CALLEBS: Why did you come in so early?
JOHNSON: To vote early and vote for my candidate.
CALLEBS: And what do you think about the way the state has handled this? Do you have any frustration because it's moved, it's changed -- even once early voting began?
JOHNSON: I'm glad they changed it to 7:00 a.m. because a couple of my friends sat in lines for so long they're going to wait for Tuesday. I'm going to wait until Tuesday morning to go in and vote now. CALLEBS: Really? You're not going to try early voting?
JOHNSON: No, not at all.
CALLEBS: Frustrated?
JOHNSON: Yes. I made a special trip to vote for my candidate. Am I allowed to say it?
CALLEBS: Sure.
JOHNSON: McCain -- and Palin. And I'll wait for Tuesday morning. I'll make sure that I know the exact time they open early in the morning and I'll be right there early in the morning on Tuesday.
CALLEBS: OK, great. John, thanks very much.
JOHNSON: You're welcome.
CALLEBS: Appreciate you coming out. Sorry to break the bad news to you.
He moved down here from Pennsylvania back in '91, enjoys the area. We heard him talked about his candidate. All this people -- are you all still going to wait the three-plus hours in line?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't open at 7:00?
CALLEBS: No, they don't open at 7:00, ma'am.
So, that's it. The confusion that's out here. It's Florida. It's election year. So, stay tuned.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: It's Florida, yes. That's ominous there. So, a lot of people -- it sounds like you're breaking the news to them right now that the place doesn't open at 7:00.
CALLEBS: Yes.
HOLMES: You're the one that has to bear that bad news. And also, it's a Saturday. Can you tell us, is this normal for them to have a polling place open on a Saturday?
CALLEBS: Yes. The way -- and even this has changed because the way the early voting is worked, the governor told all the polling sites, you must be open 12 hours on weekends, not 12 hours in one day, 12 hours total. So, apparently some of the polling sites even had discretion when they were going to open. This one here, Plantation, is going to be a big one, is set to open at 10:00 a.m. Some are closed on Sunday. Some will actually be open 12 hours today.
So, you know, you really have to pay attention if you're going vote in Florida.
HOLMES: Yes, you better. And even after you vote sometimes, you might still want to pay a little attention.
CALLEBS: Exactly.
HOLMES: Sean Callebs for us. We'll be checking in with you again. Good to see you this morning, buddy.
And to our viewers out there, we want to hear from you. Have you voted? We know a lot of you have voted early. E-mail us at Weekends@CNN.com, let us know how that experience was for you.
NGUYEN: Well, putting campaign cash to work these last few days. Some of it is going to build new battlegrounds.
Our Paul Steinhauser joins us live for a closer look. That's in about 20 minutes from now. And as you know, the clock is ticking as the decision day draws near.
In three days, watch history unfold with the best political team on television. And you can watch it on CNN Worldwide Network. That, of course, is November 4th.
HOLMES: And, Betty, you and I just talked about this next story.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: It's just so horrible. A lot of kids out. It's supposed to be a fun night.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Parents have a lot to worry about with the candy sometimes even, don't eat that, eat this and worried about...
NGUYEN: Right, checking all of that.
HOLMES: This is not something you want to hear about. A 12- year-old kid trick or treating -- shot and killed. This happened there in Sumter, South Carolina. His father and his brother were also wounded in this shooting.
NGUYEN: Police say the family decided to stop at a few houses on the way home from a Halloween event and then someone fired on them from inside a home. A 22-year-old man is in custody.
Also this: Chicago police say that they have found the gun used to kill actress Jennifer Hudson's seven-year-old nephew, her brother and her mother. So far, no one, though, has been charged in the killings. But police have questioned Hudson's brother-in-law in the case. A public memorial is scheduled for tomorrow. The funeral services will be held on Monday.
HOLMES: All right. We are tackling the 10 issues in 10 days leading up to the campaign. We are down to just a few days left, well, we got three now.
NGUYEN: Can you believe it, it's almost here? It feels like years that we've been watching these campaigns play out.
HOLMES: We have. I think it's been at least two since they've been running. But the issue we're tackling this time around, today, is going to be foreign relations. We'll tell you where both of these presidential candidates fit in on this issue. Don't you go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Ten issues, 10 days. Today, we are focusing on foreign policy, where the candidates stand, and the challenges that they face, especially the winner, once that person is elected on Tuesday.
Well, Gary Samore from the Council on Foreign Relations joins us this morning from Washington.
Good morning to you, Gary.
GARY SAMORE, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Good morning.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get right down to it. What are the main challenges for this next administration when it comes to foreign policy?
SAMORE: Well, whoever is elected president is going to face a real catalog of challenges. There's global recession. We have wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is still a threat. Countries like Iran, North Korea, of selling (ph) nuclear weapons. There has been changes in the balance of power among the big powers, including Russia and China.
And facing -- dealing with those all of those threats, the president is going to have fewer resources and options. So, I think it's going to be quite a challenging time for the United States in the next couple of years.
NGUYEN: Let's specifically talk about Iraq and the future of a U.S. withdrawal. How feasible is that?
SAMORE: Well, right now, there's relative stability. The surge and other changes has created a situation where I think some drawdown of forces is possible. So, the next president will come in with some options, in terms of pulling out some U.S. forces. But the underlying political tensions among the various ethnic and sectarian groups really hasn't been resolved. And the more the U.S. pulls down its forces, the greater the danger it is that those kinds of underlying tensions will erupt.
NGUYEN: So, do you see us being there for a long time to come?
SAMORE: I'm afraid so. I think it's unlikely that we'll be able to completely withdraw our combat forces within a year and a half or two years. Unfortunately, we're probably stuck there with at least some significant combat forces until the Iraqi state is able to takeover. And that could last a few years, easily.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get to the debate over whether the next president should sit down for discussions with major leaders, including the president of Iran. Is that something that should be on the table? Does it make sense? Is it smart?
SAMORE: Well, I think both candidates are likely to pursue diplomacy in trying to deal with countries like Iran. But, of course, diplomacy doesn't always work. And I think the danger we'll face in trying to negotiate with Iran is that right now, Iran is feeling very strong. They think they're close to achieving their objective of acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
And until that underlying balance of power changes, all the diplomacy in the world may not be successful. The only good news is the collapse in the price of oil has weakened Iran's position. And that may very well put us in a better position to engage in tough diplomacy with Iran.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's an interesting point there.
Let's talk about something that we don't hear a whole lot about. And that is image. Regardless of who is going to be the next president, will it change the way the world looks at the U.S.?
SAMORE: I think there will be a honeymoon period for either president just because they're not George Bush. And President Bush's brand is damaged around the world.
So, either Obama or McCain, I think, will come in and have at least some period of prestige. People will be interested in a fresh face, new policies. And that, of course, can be very valuable in terms...
NGUYEN: Yes.
SAMORE: ... of lining up support from friends and allies. But it doesn't last forever.
NGUYEN: That's true. And, very quickly, the one lesson, the biggest lesson learned from the Bush administration?
SAMORE: I think it's the importance of working with friends and allies. There was a period of time after the end of the Cold War where the U.S. had such a dominant position that we had the freedom to operate on our own. I think those days are over. We now need to work with other countries. And both candidates have emphasized that.
NGUYEN: All right. Gary Samore of Council of Foreign Relations -- thanks so much for talking to us today. We do appreciate it.
SAMORE: Thank you, Betty.
NGUYEN: T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, Betty. Well, a lot of early voting, a lot of you have done it. We've seen a whole lot of long lines around the country. So, will that translate to long lines on Election Day? We'll take a look at this trend. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: It's very nice.
NGUYEN: He's talking about who made the clock graphic there.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Hey, and it's for good reason because you don't want to forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed tonight. Ah, extra sleep.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're excited. T.J. is especially excited.
HOLMES: I'm so excited. I need that hour so bad.
NGUYEN: Well, I need it so I can watch the game tonight.
WOLF: Yes.
NGUYEN: Texas Longhorns versus Texas Tech.
WOLF: You know, maybe this should be the start of something. In every Saturday night, let's just roll the clocks back.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Let's be honest. I mean, (INAUDIBLE) but by the time February runs around, we'll be starting the morning show at 3:00 in the morning.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: So, who will be watching the morning show at all? So, maybe not the best of ideas.
Hey, do you want to see a great idea? You want to see some great costume ideas?
NGUYEN: Yes, bring it on.
HOLMES: All right.
WOLF: Let's go to the Big Apple. We've got some video for you. Yes, it's freaky, it's fun, but it's Halloween. This is what happened, John McCain and...
NGUYEN: Oh.
WOLF: Gutsy (ph), it's the morning show.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: And, oh, Senator Obama is having a great time there. All kinds of creative costumes. Always in New York, always have a great time. Certainly, last night was no exception. People making their way up in (INAUDIBLE). That's a pretty good look alike there. But a lot of candy, a lot of great times.
I'll tell you. Right now in New York, it's going to be a pretty nice day. Let's show you the current temperatures that we have right now. Currently, 53 degrees. Same story up in Boston. Washington, D.C., a little bit cooler, with 43 degrees. Other temperature around the nation: Minneapolis, Twin Cities with 40, currently at 56 in Billings, and 63 in San Francisco.
But take a look at what's going to happen later on today. High temperatures going up to 83 degrees in Dallas, 73 in Nashville, 70 in Washington, D.C., and 83 in Las Vegas. Now, in terms of sky conditions today, we got to start things off with Detroit with some fog. Same story in Ann Arbor up by the Big House, but as you get to about 9:00 o'clock, 10:00 o'clock, the fog should begin to dissipate and plenty of sunshine.
Partly cloudy and chance of scattered showers to Arkansas and north of Louisiana. California is still a mess, looks like a lot of rain there, from San Francisco northward to Portland and even into Seattle. And then as we fast forward from Sunday, it looks we're going to see some chance of snow showers into parts of the Rockies and back into portions of, say, the Cascades.
But let's go even farther to Election Day. I know a lot of people wondering what kind of weather you can expect. A sneak peek, it looks like it's going to be pretty dry, partly cloudy for much of the northeast, including much of the Rustbelt, we're talking Ohio. It looks pretty good there. Chance of scattered showers in the Carolinas. Coastal showers in Florida, back into the nation's midsection. So, a rain, chance of thunderstorms for parts of Ohio, and then back to the Rockies, more snow showers.
Not so great for Election Day, but if you happen to be a skier, aces. That's what I'm talking about right in there.
All right. Let's send it back to you, guys, to the desk.
NGUYEN: All right. Reynolds, we do thank you.
HOLMES: Thank you (ph).
WOLF: All right. Talk to you soon.
NGUYEN: Getting water down there, T.J.?
HOLMES: I am. Again, we need water. I'm sorry. I'm not promoting any particular brand.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: It's a big day. We've got a lot to talk about. You know, part of our preparation.
HOLMES: Yes, we're just getting started. Yes, part of the preparation, a lot of people drinking their water in line these days.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness.
HOLMES: They're standing a long time.
NGUYEN: Some are actually eating lunch in line because they've been there so long.
HOLMES: And we're talking 16 million, is the estimate that have voted early already. You could see some of these lines. You probably seen them some of your neighborhoods as well. You can get an idea of the popularity of voting just by, really, looking at some of these pictures.
We've got Raleigh, North Carolina. Also, the Atlanta suburb of Austell. That's just a little west of where we sit right here in Downtown Atlanta. Also, Oklahoma City. And then the Florida city of Tamarac in Broward County. All of these places, you can see how it went.
NGUYEN: You know, a lot of these people believe Tuesday's voting lines will be much longer. And I've warned you, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: I think you're going to go on Election Day.
HOLMES: I'm going to go, yes.
NGUYEN: So, listen to what these early voters in Milwaukee are saying about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I bet the lines will be much worse on Tuesday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think that is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because that's the known Election Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I figured, if it's a line like this, it's going to be even worse on Tuesday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was overwhelming. I was just glad to see people coming out. People are coming instead of waiting until Tuesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: In Wisconsin, election officials estimate about 15 percent of the state's voters are casting early ballots. So, if you do the math, only 15 percent given those, what, four-hour long lines, just imagine how long it might be on Tuesday.
HOLMES: But, so many more, really, literally. It will be hundreds and hundreds of polling places open in communities.
NGUYEN: That's true.
HOLMES: And, so, maybe that will help a little bit. That's what I'm banking on.
NGUYEN: That you'll have more polling places and the lines won't be so long. That's a good thought.
HOLMES: But, I'll be calling you.
NGUYEN: Keep that in mind as you stand in line.
HOLMES: I'm going to call you if I'll be in line for three hours.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right. But, you know, we have our iReports here at CNN, but we also have these reports, some internal iReports if you will. This one comes to us from our producer, Deanna, standing in line. We've been trying to get her to do some work for us for a long time and she finally got a report for us. Just teasing, Deanna. She waited three hours in line.
This is in Fulton County, Georgia. She voted on Thursday. But take a look here, some people brought chairs so they didn't have to stand the whole time.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: By tend of the three hours, Deanna says she pretty much became friends with the other people who were waiting in front of you and behind you, and people...
NGUYEN: Invited to birthday parties, you know, holiday parties, all that.
OK. So vote early, buy shoes, bring some shoes like tennis shoes, that kind of stuff. I don't know about buying them. But hey, if you need to, do what you've got to do to stay in line. And you might want to take a lunch this year because standing in one place for so long could get a little tiresome.
HOLMES: Yes. But some of that, I know that appeals to you. You would love to be able to stand in line for three hours and shoe shop at the same time.
NGUYEN: Yes, shoe shop.
HOLMES: And some people are actually finding out that they can do that. Our Brooke Baldwin found ballots and bargains, where else, at the mall. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The phrase "one- stop shopping" takes on new meaning in New Jersey this election year.
LORRIE COVOLESKY, MALL VOTER: This is strange to tell my co- workers I'd be going to the mall and vote and be back when it's all done.
BALDWIN: Lorrie Covolesky, another shoppers searching for sales are discovering a different kind of bargain here, early voting if at this county clerk outpost, people don't have to provide an excuse to cast an absentee ballot, they can just get in line at lunchtime and vote. The county clerk's office says a record 11,000-plus people have already done so at two mall locations.
KIMBERLY MASDANDUNO, MALL VOTER: On Election Day, I'm going to Disney, so we would have no absentee ballots. This is so convenient. I came here at lunchtime, do errands, vote. I feel great.
MAYNETTA CLAYTON, MALL VOTER: I wanted to get my vote in early, before November the 4th because I think it's important.
BALDWIN: Some are concerned the cardboard partitions, bubble and ballots and lock box appear unofficial. But the county clerk contends every vote will be counted.
JAMES HOGAN, GLOUCESTER COUNTY CLERK: It's a personal choice of what you're comfortable with. This is just the way to try to accommodate people who have different needs or wants. And it seems as if it's working.
BALDWIN (on camera): Here at this New Jersey mall location, voters can apply for, fill out and then submit paper absentee ballots. It's this kind of convenience that is popping up in other non- traditional polling places nationwide.
(voice-over): Drive-thru voting is catching on in California. In Nevada, more malls are offering early voting options, and Georgians are rolling up their sleeves, getting vaccinated and voting.
LARRY SABATO, POLITICAL ANALYST: A flu shot and casting a ballot, I guess that's pain in two different ways.
BALDWIN: Political analyst Larry Sabato says early voting is on the rise.
SABATO: Americans want a way to vote without expense, without the waste of time, and probably without the pressure of going to a special place on one particular day.
BALDWIN: Quick and convenient, says this shopper.
COVOLESKY: I probably will shop a little while I'm here, too. So, it works out well.
BALDWIN: As for whom she's voting, her lips and her ballot are sealed.
Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Deptford, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: OK. We've been saying we're doing the countdown for a while, how many days have been left.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: We have this down to an exact science.
NGUYEN: Yes, we do.
HOLMES: Because we have three days, 10 hours, 32 minutes...
NGUYEN: And 14 seconds.
HOLMES: ... until the first polls close. We've got this down.
NGUYEN: The most trusted name in news, folks, right here.
HOLMES: You can trust us to keep time. But we now know that exact time how much time the candidates have to make their closing arguments on how they will be dealing with the world.
NGUYEN: And our Josh Levs is checking the facts this morning. He joins us now.
Good morning.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. We have the coolest name. I'm so excited to show you this. It's the ultimate truth squad guide to the candidates. I'm going to show you and you can get the facts on pretty much anything they're saying.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Time to check the CNN electoral map projections -- and we do want to point out that these are just projections. But take a look. We estimate McCain has 160 electoral votes. Those red states that you see right there. Obama are the ones in blue. He has 291.
HOLMES: OK. That's the red. That's the blue. What's the yellow, Betty? What are the yellow ones? Those are the toss-up states.
Also, we've got some pink states in there as well. The pink states are the ones that are leaning McCain, the ones in light blue, they're favoring Obama. There are 87 electoral votes that we consider toss-ups. Of course, the magic number: 270.
And, you, too, could be the next president of the United States.
CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, joins us now from Washington. There he is.
Good morning. Always good to see you, kind sir. We are down to the last few days before you are allowed to take a vacation. So, with three days left, where are these candidates going to be and why is it important that they are where they're going to be?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Every stop is so important now with the clock ticking down. So, take a look.
Let's start with John McCain. He's going to Virginia first today. He's got two stops in Virginia, a state that hasn't voted for the Democrats in a presidential election since 1964, T.J., but it's trending towards Obama right now. That's why McCain is there today. And then later today, he goes to Pennsylvania.
I think that McCain campaign realizes they're going to lose some of the states that George Bush won four years ago. They're going to try to steal Pennsylvania, with 21 electoral votes, away from the Democrats. They're going to try.
You can see right there he was with Arnold Schwarzenegger last night. He brought out the big guns. Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of California, a kind of moderate Republican. Maybe he can help with the independent voters.
Take a listen to what Arnold Schwarzenegger had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CALIFORNIA: I want to invite Senator Obama because he needs to do something -- he needs to do something about those skinny legs. Make him do some squats. And then, I'm going to go and give them bicep curls for those scrawny little arms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Those are fighting words from Schwarzenegger. What about Obama and those so-called skinny legs to Schwarzenegger? Well, Obama is out west today. He's starting out in Nevada and then he's going to Colorado. These are two states that used to vote for Republicans, but in the presidential election, but right now, Obama is up in the polls in both of those states. Two states he'd really like to turn from red to blue.
And then later tonight, he ends up in Missouri. Same situation. Traditionally has voted for the Republicans but it's basically dead even in the polls. Last night, he ended up in Indiana, another state that hasn't voted for the Democrats in ages. He had a little Halloween treat there. He was talking about John McCain.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just came back. My girls were doing some trick or treating. And you know, Malia and Sasha, each year, every year -- they've got trouble deciding what they want to be for Halloween. But John McCain didn't have that problem. Just like every year, he's going as George W. Bush.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: And it's no just Obama and McCain. I say everybody is out this weekend, T.J. You've got all the surrogates, the running mates. This is it, the full-court press.
HOLMES: OK. That was kind of funny. You've got to give it to him on that last Halloween crack. But, man, Arnold Schwarzenegger, if he says you've got scrawny legs, you've probably got scrawny legs.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: How can you tell with that guy?
All right. We talk about where the candidates are going to be but they're not necessarily going to be where their money is. They're spending money in particular places and some places, money is being spent might raise a few eyebrows.
STEINHAUSER: It sure may. I'll tell you, the Obama campaign yesterday announcing they're going up with ads this weekend in Georgia where you guys are. Georgia, Bush won it by 17 points four years ago but it's actually much closer in the polls right now. And Arizona -- John McCain's home state. These are reliably Republican states.
The Obama campaign is putting up ads in these states. And North Dakota as well. They think they can win there. A lot of ads this weekend. This is it. This is where you spend money in the last couple of days. And one last note: John McCain "Saturday Night Live" tonight.
HOLMES: Oh, that's an appointment viewing these days for a lot of folks. And, I guess, this is their last run at it during the campaign, their last chance to get a couple of digs in on the campaign trail. So, we'll be looking in for that.
And, Paul, we appreciate you. We'll see you again not later today. We'll see, of course, tomorrow as well. You'll be tracking down McCain. So, thank you. Good to see you, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
HOLMES: I want to take another live look as we showed you earlier of Plantation, Florida, early voting taking place -- going to be taking place, I should say. These folks thought they would be voting by now but it turns out that polling place they're at is not open until 10:00. But some of them hanging in, going to stay there and vote.
An estimated 16 million people have already voted early in this country. And really, the estimate maybe up to 130 million people altogether will be voting this time around, this election cycle. But, we'll be checking in with some of those folks there live. Our Sean Callebs is on the scene for us.
NGUYEN: Yes, ironic is that. They got up early so they would avoid the line, then, yet they're going to be standing in line for four hours because they got there too early.
All right. So, we are counting down the day until election by bringing you 10 issues in 10 days. And candidates take on those issues that you feel are most important to you.
HOLMES: And certainly one that's in important, getting a lot of attention, has been foreign policy.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Josh Levs with the CNN truth squad is going to show you how to get the facts on where the candidates really stand.
Good morning, Josh.
LEVS: Hey, good morning to you guys. Check this out. This is so cool.
So, for the final days of the campaign, we did something different. John McCain and Barack Obama are getting what they're calling their closing arguments. So, we loaded up their speeches and then threw out, returned their words into hyperlink.
Let's zoom in for just a second. Any time you see words in blue during this speech, you can just click on them, and you can get the facts. So, for example, let's watch right now John McCain attacking Barack Obama on the biggest foreign policy issue, which is Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He opposed the surge strategy that's bringing us victory in Iraq and will bring us victory in Afghanistan. My friends...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: I will bring our troops home but I'll bring them home with victory and honor and not defeat.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. Let's (ph) see what the truth squad's take on what he just said. Let's zoom back in on the screen. You can see those exact words. "He opposed the surge strategy that brings us victory and I -- and will bring us victory in Afghanistan." So, OK, tiny print on your screen.
But check this out. You just click on it and this brings you to fact check about it. This one, did Obama say the Iraq troop surge could not work? Let me explain to you, yes, he did. And this one over here is about whether the commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge would not work in Afghanistan. We'll tell you that's the case as well.
We've got this going up on both sides, getting millions of clicks. Let's take a look here what Barack Obama says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: It is time to stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a huge surplus.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: As president, I will end this war by asking...
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: ... by asking the Iraqi government to step up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And we've got the same exact thing going on his side. Let's zoom back in here. This is his closing argument, that speech that he's been giving. Right here I'm going to show what he was just saying. He talked about the $10 billion a month in Iraq. And he says how he's going to end the war.
So, all you need to do when you hear that is just click on those words. And we talked to you here how much it does actually cost in Iraq, we say, yes, $10 billion a month. And over here, we talk to you about this angle, about whether one of the top U.S. officials actually calls his Iraq plan dangerous. We tell you the answer there is misleading.
And, of course, it's not just about foreign policy. It's about all sorts of issues, guys.
We encourage you all you need to do is go to CNN.com, click on the fact check button at the top and you get the facts because we want to make sure you're voting based on the facts and not the rhetoric.
And, oh, one more thing. You know, we've got coming up later this hour, you, guys, are going to love this. We have a new viral video that makes you realize something very important about all three presidential debates that you probably didn't realize before. So, stick around for that.
NGUYEN: Really? All right. Looking forward to it. Thank you.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: And the presidential candidates are trying to make the most of their campaign dollars. And one of the candidates has more to spend than the other.
NGUYEN: That's true. Targeting, though, sports fans this weekend. Our buddy, Rick Horrow will be breaking it down for you.
HOLMES: But, what is this?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Money.
NGUYEN: A dollar?
HORROW: It's money. What do you think it is?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Unfortunately, we saw lots of pink slips this past week, 20,000 layoffs that we saw this week alone, affecting a lot of big businesses. We're starting to see now a lot of corporate logos disappearing from a lot of those sports venues we've all been seeing.
So, we're going to bring in our business and sports analyst, Rick Horrow joining us now.
Rick, always good to see you. I want to ask -- we've got a few things to talk about. We'll be talking a little campaign politics with you here in a second.
But first, let's start with this issue of corporations. They can't spend money to advertise as much. And, you know, they can't put it into sports as much. Is this certainly starting to show up, it's starting to affect maybe the sports leagues?
HORROW: Yes, fairly kind of decent to see you, too, my friend. And here's the thing. I just got back from London making fun of us. This is a zero dollar Uncle Sam. And it pretty summarizes what our issues are today.
NBA is laying off 80 people. We have Major League Baseball focusing on an economic summit after the World Series which is now. We've got four tournaments affecting how their decisions are going to be made with ladies professional golf, eight NASCAR teams in jeopardy.
The bottom line is: corporations are worried about clearly how to spend money. And it may be that corporate sponsorship is one of the first to go.
HOLMES: Yes, and we talk about, you talk about corporate sponsorships and these leagues kind of hurting, let me ask you this though. We're hitting, and the baseball season just wrapped up. It's going to be a lot of big-time, big names out there on the market trying to find new jobs. Is this going to affect salaries at all? It seems like no matter what the economy is doing, a lot of these big- time athletes, the Manny Ramirez out in L.A. is going to get these huge contracts. Or will they?
HORROW: Well, let's not cry for baseball players. We've got 90 of them making more than $10 million annually. So, we're going to be OK.
But the bottom line is: salary readjustment is there. We've got stadiums being delayed. So, we've got a lot of economic issues. The only good thing that's been happening on television, by the way, the ratings are, we've got a couple of candidates who we know little bit about, spending boatloads of money for political ad time on TV.
HOLMES: So, they haven't cut back at all. And why is it such a prime audience, if you will, for them, the ones they know that will be watching these sporting events?
HORROW: Well, it's like everybody else. There are as many undecideds who are sports fans as non-sports fans. And remember, Obama and McCain spent collectively $20 million on Olympic advertising in August. You say, oh, wow, that's a lot of money. Obama is spending money for those pop-up ads in video games.
Now, we have that famous infomercial last week, regional sports networks which are the backbone of a lot of sports programming. There's been over $10 million spent on political ads this season alone.
So, what's going to happen after Wednesday, right?
HOLMES: So, yes, that's my next question. You got to the point now, you ask yourself a question and you answer them. So, that is the question, what will we see after the election?
HORROW: Well, it's actually just a device to minimize the interchange because I have a lot to talk about, OK? So, that's the deal.
Yes, what's going to happen after Wednesday? Well, the National Association of Advertisers say because the economy, 1/3 of the corporations are spending a little less, 1/3 are spending the same amount, 1/3 are spending even more -- $12 billion on corporate advertising for television last year, increasing.
Now, we've got the election bump. But Wednesday we've got to go back to the normal ads to sell normal products in normal ways. So, we'll just have to see how that shakes out.
HOLMES: A lot of people would like to go back to normal. This show will now go back to normal by getting rid of you.
(LAUGHTER)
HORROW: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: Rick Horrow.
HORROW: Very, very nice. Very civil of you, pal.
HOLMES: Clearly, always a pleasure to see you.
HORROW: Next week.
HOLMES: All right, Rick.
NGUYEN: You hope. OK. See you, Rick. In the meantime, though, an emerging presence on the political scene -- a minority group that could influence the election in a big way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: With just days to go in this election, the Asian- American vote is among those that could determine who wins the White House, particularly in swing states like Virginia and Nevada. It is a unique voting bloc, hard to gauge for many reasons. But nowhere is that more evident than in California, which is home to more Asian- Americans than any other place in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): From the streets of Little Saigon -- to the airwaves of Chinatown, there are just a couple of days left to capture the Asian-American vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will work for Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like to vote for John McCain.
NGUYEN: Fifteen million Asian-Americans live in the U.S., that's just three percent of the electorate. But these voters typically turn out in large numbers, and they could prove powerful in a tight race.
PROF. KARTHICK RAMAKRISHNAN, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE: Even if it represents a smaller portion of the electorate than, say, the African-American vote or the Latino vote, they have a very large proportion of undecided voters.
NGUYEN: Karthick Ramakrishnan is a University of California professor, who helped launch the first comprehensive study of Asian- American voting patterns. In the past, Asian-Americans had skewed Republican, but that's changed.
RAMAKRISHNAN: Ever since Bill Clinton got elected, in each subsequent election, the share of Asian-Americans voting Democratic has increased.
NGUYEN: A shift that's resonating with listeners who tune in to Chinese talk radio.
Felix Guo anchors the morning-drive in Pasadena.
FELIX GUO, RADIO ANNOUNCER: At this point, we're seeing some support for -- a little bit more support for Obama simply because I think they kind of blame President Bush for some of the mistakes that -- or for the -- some of the things that -- bad things that happened to this country.
NGUYEN: To find out more, we headed to L.A.'s Chinatown.
RICHARD LIU, VOTER: Actually, I voted Republican in the past. And this is the first time I think I'm voting Democrat. NGUYEN: Others can't be convinced to switch.
ALICE LIMSON, VOTER: I've been a Republican for a long time, and I like -- I'm comfortable with them.
NGUYEN: Over in the Little Saigon section of Orange County, John McCain seemed to have the edge among those we spoke with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm voting for McCain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking at Barack Obama right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like Obama, too socialism.
NGUYEN: But take a walk through the Little Tokyo section in Downtown L.A., and you'll find strong support for Barack Obama.
DAVID SHIBATA, VOTER: I think Obama will do a better job than McCain can. And we need some change in this country, so hopefully, he can turn it around.
DENISE KOYAMA, VOTER: It was a tough decision because I am a Republican, but I'm going to be voting for Obama.
NGUYEN: A sentiment that falls in line with the National Asian- American Survey. Numbers just in for the second half of October show 52 percent of Asian-Americans back Barack Obama, 27 percent are for John McCain, and 20 percent are undecided. Asian-Americans polled also said the economy is, by far, the most important issue in this election. Yet, we found very few willing to place blame.
KOYAMA: I don't care whose fault it was. I just want them to fix it.
NGUYEN: But we all know that's no easy task regardless of who's elected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And what I found so interesting, especially in this voting bloc, many times candidates will target specific segments, especially minorities, you know, the Hispanics will have endorsements and different ads that are in Spanish. Well, with the Asian-American community, there are so many countries and so many languages so you find there are very few ads. And so, a lot of those are undecided because they just simply don't have the information in their original language so they can understand it.
HOLMES: Did you find that so many times, whether it's blacks or it's Hispanics, oftentimes consider them a monolithic group.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Do you find Asians or people view them as a bloc as well? And do you...
NGUYEN: As one bloc, many times, yes.
HOLMES: OK.
NGUYEN: They think they're just Asian-American and it represents one group. But you fail to realize they come from many different countries.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: And within those countries, there are several different languages as well.
HOLMES: And talking to people, do they seem to be going one way or another? I know it's own size of the poll --
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Well, according to the poll -- we had the poll and it said, what, 52 percent Obama, 27 percent McCain. When we went into the different districts, Little Saigon, Tokyo, Chinatown, pretty much the response that we got from the people we spoke with was right in line with the poll.
HOLMES: Really?
NGUYEN: Which I found interesting, because sometimes, when you poll people on the street, it's not exactly the same. You can't get, you know, a good gauge of it. But it was right in line with the polls.
HOLMES: Well, undecideds, you got three days...
NGUYEN: Yes, and counting.
HOLMES: And counting, to make up your mind.
Well, CNN is certainly keeping them honest around here. If you have any trouble at the polls, we'd like to hear from you. We have a voter hotline that we set up. Help us keep track of the problems. We will report those problems in real time, maybe get them worked out even before they get too bad. 1-877-462-6608. There it is at the bottom of your screen -- 462-6608. Again, we are keeping them honest all the way through the election and certainly after that as well. The work doesn't stop here.
NGUYEN: No, it never does, 24 hours, folks.
Later this morning, though, we are checking all the important polls and that including the candy poll. Yes. A trick-or-treater will reveal who won his unscientific but totally sweet measure of voter preferences. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, have you voted early? And if you did, tell us about your experience. We do want to hear from you. E-mail us at Weekends@CNN.com. And we'll share some of that on the air.
HOLMES: All right. A lot of people have voted early, we know. And millions of people are still watching out there. They're watching the three presidential candidates. They're hoping to hear something new.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Have they?
NGUYEN: Will they? Our Josh Levs joins us with some viral video that offers us an answer to that very question.
LEVS: To that question, yes. Here's what -- sometimes it takes a comic to make you realize something that you didn't notice before, right?
NGUYEN: Yes.
LEVS: So here's what happened, this great guy, it's 236 political humor site. Look at the three debates. This is what they put together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: As president, I will go line by line through every item, page by page. So, when Senator McCain is proposing a $300 billion tax cut to some of the wealthiest corporations in America. I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working families of Americans, 95 percent.
MCCAIN: Senator Obama is proposing some $800 billion in new spending now. Our tax rates for business in America is 35 percent. Ireland pays 11 percent.
OBAMA: He says that he's going to give you a $5,000 tax credit.
MCCAIN: I want to give every family a $5,000 refundable tax credit so they can get (INAUDIBLE), the health insurance you want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: If you are watching the debates, hoping that every time you're going to hear something brand-new. Apparently, you didn't. They actually put some...
NGUYEN: All you have to do is watch CNN.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: When we take, you know, the live -- the live looks at their speeches, it's always the same.
LEVS: It's the stump speech. But you would think in the debates when they're facing questions and have to actually answer them, it might have happened a little bit more than it apparently didn't quite on those guys.
NGUYEN: Yes. We kind of stick to those talking points.
HOLMES: We have a couple live events we are keeping an eye on today.
NGUYEN: We'll see (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: I wonder what we'll hear.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVS: I think we just saw them, pretty much.
NGUYEN: The difference is: hello, Florida. Hello (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: I'm kidding. I'm sure there's a different thing.
HOLMES: Oh, Betty.
LEVS: That's the point, you're right.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) but for the most part, the speeches do remain similar.
LEVS: Even at the debates. You got it.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
HOLMES: Oh, it's not (ph). All right. Thank you.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good morning, everybody. Hopefully, you got a lot of trick-or- treating done and you're wide-eyed and awake with us on this first day of November.
HOLMES: It is.
NGUYEN: Can you believe it's already here?
HOLMES: Are we to the holidays now, to holiday season?
NGUYEN: I've already seen Christmas trees in the stores.
HOLMES: Oh, goodness.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Yes. Hey, there. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us. Well, we are out there with them. McCain, Obama, Palin, Biden, they're all over the place. They only got three days left to make their case. We will see about the cases they're making and check out which battleground states they are visiting, and also which ones they're spending money in.
NGUYEN: Also, early voting. Have you done it? Were you thinking about it? Well, for some folks, it may be too late, but, some places are actually open today. And many people are voting early to avoid that, those long lines.
Well, unfortunately, look at this. This is a live picture out of Florida, and the lines are still there. These folks got up early, thinking they could get it done, but, unfortunately, that polling place doesn't open for a couple more hours.
HOLMES: Geez.
NGUYEN: So, they ended up waiting in line no matter what.
HOLMES: Got the coffee, the bandana on her head. She's just (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: May want to bring a chair with her, might want to sit down for a few.
All right. So the candidates are hitting the key states today, John McCain starts in Virginia before heading to Pennsylvania. Barack Obama begins his day in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. And from there, it's off to Colorado and Missouri. McCain, running mate Sarah Palin, she is in Florida, then travels to North Carolina and Virginia, while Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, is in Indiana and Ohio.
CNN's team is on the trail as well. Dan Lothian is in Newport News, Virginia, where McCain has a rally just about an hour from now and we'll be bringing that to you. And then Sean Callebs is in plantation, Florida, with a look at the early voting there. We see the line behind him.
HOLMES: We're going to start though with Dan in Virginia there, certainly one of the key states in this election. Dan, is there -- Dan, it's a key state. A lot of people maybe didn't think it was going to be a key state, supposed to be reliably red, if you will. So, McCain's now trying to defend some ground there.
LOTHIAN: He really is. We've been talking about this, we've been in the state now for some three weeks and we've been talking about how this state has become so competitive. A Democrat hasn't won here since LBJ back in 1964. That was 44 years ago. Republicans really have had a lock on this state, at least Republicans running for president have had a lock on this state for 44 years.
But it has been trending Democratic over the past few years. We've had the last two governors elected here have been Democrats and also we have Senator Jim Webb who's a Democrat also elected. Part of that is because when you look to northern Virginia, it's an area that really has been shifting, a lot of immigrants moving into that area, Hispanics and also Asian-American immigrants who have moved into the region. So it really has been shifting.
As you mentioned, T.J., this is a very competitive state and you have supporters who are working very hard and doing whatever they can to get their candidate to win, but sometimes some of these supporters are crossing the line.
One of the things we've been following over the last couple of days is this flyer that has been circulating, especially in the Hampton Roads region, which is where we are and it is a bogus flier. It looks official. It says Commonwealth of Virginia across the top, has the logo of the board of elections. And what it says is that essentially because of an emergency session by state officials, because of concern about voter turnout, Republicans or independents who are leaning Republican can vote on the 4th of November which, of course, is Election Day.
But if you're a Democrat or you're an independent leaning Democrat, then you vote the next day, on the 5th. Again, this is bogus. We don't know who has been putting this out, but we know that it has caused a lot of concern among some voters.
In fact, we heard from one person who called into CNN's voter hotline.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a flyer put on my door that said the Commonwealth of Virginia for immediate release and it's saying that all Republican party supporters are to be voting on November 4th and Democratic party supporters are to be voting on November 5th. In order to -- an emergency session of the general assembly has adopted the following emergency regulations to ease the load on local electoral precincts and assure a fair electoral process.
But I'm really feeling that this is a bogus flyer that's being put out. And it had Commonwealth of Virginia on it and it also says that it's from the Virginia State Board of Elections.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: This bogus flyer started circulating late last week. I believe it was on Friday when it first surfaced. It has been out there on the Internet as well. Again, State Board of Elections telling folks that it is bogus, alerting the public about this. They're investigating, the state police investigating, only one election day and that's Tuesday, T.J.
HOLMES: OK. Not a good idea yet where this thing might have come from, is that right, say they're looking into it. That is a strange one. You're right, it does look official.
LOTHIAN: That's right, it's official so it certainly gets the attention of the public and that's the reason why the board of elections has put out this alert, in fact, several alerts because it looks so official. And it might catch some people off guard. They don't want people showing up the day after Election Day thinking that they can vote. There's only one Election Day, that's on Tuesday, the 4th.
HOLMES: All right. It's good to reiterate that, even though it seems like a lot of times common sense still, some of those things out there you need to make sure it's clear. Dan, we appreciate you. We'll talk to you again soon.
We're going to turn now to our Sean Callebs down in Plantation, Florida, where early voting has begun, has been going on. Not early enough, though, for some of those folks. You had to break the news to them a little while ago.
CALLEBS: Yes, exactly. That was last hour we were up toward the front of the line. A lot of folks there thought that this polling site here in Broward County was going to open at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time, found out it opened at 10:00 a.m. But you are just seeing a healthy sign of democracy in action. The good news is it's a great morning. The bad news is these folks are going to be in line for some time. I want to pan down, just look how far this line goes down already first thing out here this morning.
To give you an idea, about two million people have already voted here in Florida, a lot of those through absentee ballots, but just a tremendous interest, clearly, in this presidential race. And the way it works, the reason for the confusion, the polling sites that are open now, only a small percentage are open for early voting. For example, in Broward County, there will be 300 polling sites open on November 4th. However, for early voting, there's only like 17, so what, like 5 percent, so a very small percentage of polling sites are open early.
I want to bring in Jerome Cole (ph). He is a public school teacher in Hialeah. Jerome, you were telling me that this election has the interest of your students as well.
JEROME COLE: Yes, it does.
CALLEBS: Tell me why you think this has become so popular. Do you think the kids have an understanding of the history they're seeing?
COLE: I really feel like the students really do feel what's going on at home and they see exactly what their families and all their friends are actually going through. And they need some change. People, people need to see a change in the direction to see our country move forward.
CALLEBS: You talked about a low income area. Are you seeing people punished with foreclosures, losing jobs?
COLE: I see that all across the board. You know, from low-income areas to upper areas, too. I see all Americans affected by the problem that we're going through right now. And it's a time for us all to pull together and vote. CALLEBS: Why did you choose to come out here, knowing you are going to wait hours on a Saturday morning?
COLE: I can't take time out from school with my kids. You know, it's my duty as an American to come out and vote. Saturday is the right time to do it for me.
CALLEBS: What are you going to tell the kids Monday when you go back in? Are you going to say you saw democracy in action?
COLE: Yes, sir, I am.
CALLEBS: Jerome, thanks a lot. I appreciate it.
And one quick thing I also want to point out, our producer, Richie Phillips (ph) has been receiving a bunch of fliers from McCain. We know that Obama is spending a ton of money on TV ads. This one's in Spanish. This one has gone out obviously, in English talking about military service. But he said he's been getting about two a day of these things for the past week.
And it's really, I guess, a somewhat more financially prudent way or a less expensive way to try and touch the voters. But clearly trying to compete with Obama's war chest is a challenge for Republicans. We know that they've always been better at raising money in Florida until this election season, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, doesn't seem like anybody has been able to raise as much money as Obama these days. I'm sure a lot of folks will have a stack of those flyers at their homes right about now. It will stop, folks, on Tuesday. So Sean Callebs, we will be checking in with you again. Thanks.
NGUYEN: We are counting down to the election by bringing you 10 issues in 10 days, and the candidates take on the ones that you feel are most important.
HOLMES: And today we're going after foreign policy. We'll have a truth squad on this and a guest talking about what the candidates stand on foreign policy. Foreign policy can include, you know, the familiar topics, familiar countries, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, Cuba and much more.
NGUYEN: Also on the campaign trail and in the debates, Barack Obama and John McCain, they are highlighting their differences on Iraq. So where do they really stand?
CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Maybe you've heard Barack Obama's campaign refrain.
OBAMA: Our choice is not between withdrawing from the world and continuing a perpetual war in Iraq. MCINTYRE: He's the man with the 16-month plan to pull all U.S. combat troops out of Iraq.
OBAMA: I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, start bringing our troops home.
MCINTYRE: And then there's John McCain's campaign retort, timetable equals retreat.
MCCAIN: I will bring our troops home with honor and victory and not in defeat. They will come home with victory. Have you ever heard -- have you ever heard the word "victory" pass Senator Obama's lips?
MCINTYRE: On the surface, the differences between the two appear stark. Obama opposed the war and the surge. McCain supported both. Obama wants to begin to pull out right away, one brigade a month. McCain wants to wait and see. But look closer and those differences blur. Take the surge strategy Obama opposed.
OBAMA: The surge has no doubt reduced violence and I think all Americans are thrilled by that.
MCINTYRE: Or that 16-month timetable McCain denounced.
MCCAIN: I think it's a pretty good timetable, as we should have horizons for withdrawal, but they have to be based on conditions on the ground.
MCINTYRE: So McCain says 16 months is a good goal and Obama says he'll listen to commanders and adjust if necessary. And Obama says he will leave some troops in Iraq to fight al Qaeda and support the Iraqis. It could be as many as 50,000.
So, if both aspiring commanders in chief say they'll bring troops home as fast as can be done responsibly, the difference comes down to who voters trust to make that judgment. Some U.S. commanders note with irony that if Obama is elected, he may well be able to implement this timetable, in large part because of the success of a strategy he did not endorse.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: We got a possible immigration issue to tell you about for a member of Barack Obama's family. Associated Press reporting that a Kenyan aunt that Obama speaks about in his memoirs is living in the U.S. illegally. AP says she remains in government housing in Boston, even though an immigration judge denied her request for asylum four years ago.
This refusal to leave the country is considered not a criminal matter, but an administrative matter. CNN not able just yet to independently verify the aunt's immigration status. We've also asked the Obama campaign for comment to clarify, have yet to hear back. When we do hear back, we'll certainly pass that along to you. NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about this. John McCain putting some muscle into his campaign, shall we?
HOLMES: Can't get any more muscle than this guy, heavy hitter, that guy, on the left, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Take a listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHWARZENEGGER: He needs to do something about those skinny legs. We're going to make him do some squats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Arnold telling the skinny guy to muscle up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHWARZENEGGER: I want to invite Senator Obama because he needs to do something -- he needs to do something about those skinny legs. We're going to -- we're going to give -- make him do some squats. And then we're going to go and give him some biceps curls to beef up those scrawny little arms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Arnold. All right, so here he is, Mr. Skinny legs and all. Well, is he going to move? There he is. Obama playing a little b- ball with some college students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Kind of hard to tell just how skinny those legs are but you do have to admit, check him out, he's got some skills on the court.
HOLMES: Makes a good point now that Schwarzenegger brought it up. He always wears sweats when he plays ball. We've never seen his legs.
NGUYEN: You know, I didn't really notice, but now that you say it, you're right.
HOLMES: Schwarzenegger, I mean, worked out in California, he famously called the legislature a bunch of girly men. He will tell you to man up in a second.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) against that guy. I mean really.
HOLMES: Everybody looks like he's scrawny compared to Schwarzenegger.
The California governor joined McCain there for a rally in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday. McCain told voters there a big difference between him and Obama, no kidding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MCCAIN: Senator Obama is running to be redistributionist in chief. I'm running to be commander in chief. Senator Obama is running to spread the wealth. I'm running to create more wealth. Senator Obama is running to punish the successful. I'm running to make everyone successful, my friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: McCain went on to tell the crowd that nothing is inevitable here. His campaign manager in a memo to reporters said undecided voters could turn this election in McCain's favor.
Senator Barack Obama sat down with our own Wolf Blitzer yesterday. You may have seen some of that interview.
NGUYEN: Yes. Wolf asked Obama about his tax plan. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: ... middle class family be exempted from that increase in capital gains tax?
OBAMA: Well, what I've said is small businesses are going to be exempted and anybody who's making less than $250,000 a year, I've said they're not going to get their capital gains tax increase. They will be exempted from that as well as any income tax increase, any payroll tax increase.
My attitude is that middle class families need a tax cut and 95 percent of American families and workers are going to get reduced taxes. In fact, you know, there was an article today in the "New York Times" that laid out in very stark terms the fact that I give much more tax relief to middle class families than John McCain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And Obama told Wolf that he's going to roll back tax cuts on Americans making more than $250 million a year as part of his plan to pay for health care.
HOLMES: All right. We're asking a lot of you this morning whether or not you voted early.
NGUYEN: Josh Levs has been piecing through your e-mails to see what you've been finding out there. And I can tell you this, they found some long lines, Josh.
LEVS: Yes, they did. Sometimes interesting to see what their reasoning was behind it. We're getting tons of them. We pulled up a few. Just (INAUDIBLE) them on the board behind me. Let's zoom in here, take a look.
This is from Mark. "I voted almost two weeks ago for one reason. By voting early I got to use a paper ballot instead of a voting machine. I feel much better doing the paper thing. It feels real. I just can't trust the machines."
Let's zoom down a little bit. This one is interesting. "I'm a multi-racial, 24-year old mom from San Antonio and I voted early. I was glad to see lots of young voters and that the line was only a 10- minute wait. The voting process was easy and quick. I voted for Barack Obama."
Carl Craig says, "I voted early by mail ballot. I voted for McCain." Got a couple more here. "I voted early because I'll be out of town on Election Day. When I went to vote, the site was packed. I couldn't believe the wait was over two hours. I began asking people why they were voting early. What I found out brought tears to my eyes. It wasn't because they wanted to avoid long lines. It was because for the first time in history they finally had hope." Beverly Johnson just wrote us that a couple minutes ago.
And finally this one. "I voted here in Cary, North Carolina on Friday. The line was long, but moved quickly, about an hour. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. I feel confident now my vote will be counted," lots of people saying things like that. They think that if they vote early, they have a better shot at having their vote actually counted.
We want to hear from you. This is our morning e-mail today. Take a look. Did you vote early? It's that simple. Let us know why. Give us your e-mails, your thoughts right there, weekends@cnn.com. Include your name. We especially love to hear where you are. And you know whatever your unique reason was, take part in the early voting process. It's historic what's going on right now, guys. It is interesting to hear people's reasoning behind waiting in lines.
NGUYEN: As a member of the truth squad, you're going to appreciate this. We do have a correction to make. In that interview, Obama told Wolf that he would roll back taxes on Americans who make more than $250,000 a year as part of his plan to pay for health care, not $250 million. That's very few people, mind you, but over $250,000 a year. Few qualify. None of us here even pulled it together, I don't think.
All right, onto what's coming up, your contributions to the process. Thousands of you calling in and actually complaining and have concerns about voting.
HOLMES: Yes. We have a hotline that we've set up and you all are burning up the phone lines. That's really not a good thing because that means we got problems at the polls.
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NGUYEN: Yes, we know it is a Saturday, but early voting is not over just yet. Some states like you heard in Florida will still let you vote this weekend. A record number of people are taking advantage of this early voting and they're casting their ballots despite those long lines that you see right there.
We also asked you to help us tell this important election story and many of you sent us early voting iReports. Others called our voting hotline to tell us about problems that you face in your area.
CNN political editor Mark Preston has more on your contribution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Just days away from Election Day and the phone calls are streaming into the CNN voter hotline, 1- 877-go-cnn08. So far the hot line has received around 20,000 calls. Many people are using the hot line to find their polling location, but about 6,000 have called us about problems they've experienced.
There's incredible interest in this election and we've already seen people waiting in long lines in states such as Florida and Georgia for early voting and we've gotten calls about problems regarding absentee ballots, such as this caller from south Florida who received the wrong one.
DR. STUART SCHWARTZ, WEST PALM BEACH, FL: I received the wrong absentee ballot. When I mailed it back in, they now cannot find that ballot. They have promised to send me a new ballot so I may exercise my franchise in voting. I have an -- in over one week I have not yet received that ballot, even though I live in the same county, in the same district.
PRESTON: Many people called into the hot line to express concern, they still had not received their absentee ballot. The advice we're getting from secretaries of state around the country is if you still don't have your absentee ballot, get in touch with your local boards of election as soon as possible.
More than 213 million people are eligible to vote in this election and experts suggest turnout will surpass the 60 percent that voted in 2004. And for voter technologies whose operating the hotline for CNN, said the problems that are likely to occur on election day range from polling stations not opening on time, long lines, infrastructure breakdown and the lack of a safety net such as provisional ballots if the infrastructure fails.
If you have experienced or know of a voting problem or want to know where to vote, call 1-877 gocnn08. That is 1-877-462-6608. The CNN info voter technologies hotline can be heard in English and Spanish.
Mark Preston, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We got a couple of events we're keeping an eye on today. This is a John McCain event that's happening in Newport News, Virginia, this is happening live. We're expecting him around 9:00, but it looks like this is getting under way a little early. Also his running mate Sarah Palin is going to be making a live event at 8:30 as well. Not there with him, but we're checking in on her as well.
But we are keeping an eye on this event. When Senator McCain does step up to that podium, begins to make his remarks, we will certainly go to it live and listen in.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, we're all just getting over Halloween. Mine was kind of uneventful because we have to go to bed so early for this show, but a lot of folks out there got tons of candy to eat, some embarrassing pictures to boot.
HOLMES: Yes, we've seen some of those embarrassing pictures from some of our own people. Some of those have been sent to us on iReports compiled for your viewing pleasure or maybe your ridicule.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK, so we've heard of giving a candidate the thumb's up, right? But what about supporting them with a fingernail?
HOLMES: OK.
NGUYEN: Yep, a Florida salon is offering this right here, campaign nail art. Who needs a French manicure when you can have the face of John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, even Joe Biden painted on your nails.
HOLMES: I don't know about that one right there.
NGUYEN: That's an interesting picture of Sarah Palin.
HOLMES: How much would you think something like this costs? It costs you 25 bucks, takes about 30 minutes. The salon says all the candidates, with the exception of who -- which one would you say is the least popular, seriously, if you had to guess? I know you see the answer there, but --
NGUYEN: I see the answer and it says Biden.
HOLMES: Biden is the least popular.
NGUYEN: Maybe because it's not a very good picture of him. All those are odd pictures. All right. So, we asked for it and you, in fact, did deliver. Your most spirited Halloween pictures yet.
HOLMES: Some of the favorites here include that one. Is that a CNN dog or something? There are a couple of -- no, that's not bad.
NGUYEN: That was cute. Joe the plumber, Sarah Palin and John McCain. Got you. Wow, that took some time.
HOLMES: That's impressive as well. Sarah Palin was popular. I was at a Halloween party or two or three last night. Yes, Sarah Palin was very -- that's a little scary.
NGUYEN: Oh, what is that? That's frightening. That's how you look in the morning, isn't it?
HOLMES: Oh Betty, my goodness.
NGUYEN: Or should I be talking about myself? HOLMES: Was that necessary?
NGUYEN: Well, look at that, the financial crisis.
HOLMES: That's good. That's a good one, back around to the dog.
NGUYEN: Back to the CNN correspondent.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: We're not hiring right now, little pup.
HOLMES: Oh, we're not?
NGUYEN: I don't think so.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: All right, so what do you get ...
HOLMES: What do you get, go ahead.
NGUYEN: Well, what do you get when you're waiting for John McCain, who is early? Well, you get him early, in fact. We've been watching the live situation there in Virginia, Newport News, Virginia, to be exact. In fact, he was supposed to come out to speak at 9:00 a.m. But looks like they've arrived a little bit early, and as soon as that takes place, we of course will bring it straight to you.
HOLMES: All right. But for now, we're going to hand this thing off to Dr. Sanjay Gupta and "HOUSE CALL."
