Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Countdown to Election; Rocking the Vote Again

Aired October 23, 2010 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The top of the hour here now.

Going by historical data, just four out of 10 of you watching will vote in the midterm election that's 10 days away. So right now, we want to talk to you, the other six out of 10, the 60 percent who are not expected to go to the polls. Give us this half hour to tell you why it's so important for you to do so.

Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

And this time every Saturday we spend a half hour on the one issue that directly affects you. Now, today we are talking about the midterms. But we're not just get into the political back and forth, we're going to illustrate exactly how your vote can impact your life.

I want to start with our coverage of key five races. Now, a lot of you, in fact, much of the nation, 37 states in all have governor's races to vote on in just over a week. Now, those states are in purple on the map. You'll see here. But the races in California, Ohio, Texas, Florida, and Massachusetts, those states in yellow are drawing a lot of attention.

Now, you're asking why are the governor's races in these states in the spotlight? Well, in Washington, deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.

Good to see you again, Paul. You've got the answer about this. Obviously, there's some states that are really going to make a difference here.

Tell us why.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, there sure are. There sure are. You know, the battle of Congress is getting the whole spotlight why the Republicans recapture the House or the Senate. That's capturing the limelight. But what about these governor races? They are so important.

And let's just talk about a couple of states you mentioned. Some of the biggest, California. This is a state with a moderate Republican governor right now, Arnold Schwarzenegger who is term- limited. And there's a battle going on, a pretty big battle between Jerry Brown, the former governor who wants to be governor again and Meg Whitman, the billionaire, former CEO of EBay. A lot of money being spent in that contest out west.

Let's go to Texas. This is a state very comfortable for Republican candidates. The long-time governor there Rick Perry, actually the longest-serving governor in Texas history is facing a very big challenge from the Democratic nominee there, a guy called Bill White who is the mayor of Houston. There is an outside chance that a Democrat could win statewide in Texas and that hasn't happened in a while.

And let's go to Florida, as well, where you have a Republican governor who is now running for Senate. That's Charlie Crist. So his seat is vacant, wide open actually. And there is a battle there between Rick Scott, a former health care CEO and Alex Sink. She's a Democrat. She is the state's chief financial officer. That race polls suggest is deadlocked and, of course, we're going to have a debate between those two candidates right on CNN. John King moderating Monday night on "JKUSA." So three of the biggest states in the nation, all of them deadlocked -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Paul, we know that the president, the first lady, former President Bill Clinton, they are all like are across the country for these governor's races. There are some that Democrats are really worried about too.

STEINHAUSER: Oh, yes. Definitely.

Let's go to Ohio. Of course, one of the larger states when it comes to population in the country. And also a key state in presidential contest. Ted Strickland, the Democratic governor there, first termer, he is fighting for his political life right now against the former Congressman John Kasik. And that race is deadlocked and some polls consider it deadlocked. Our most recent poll this week considered it all tied up.

And let's talk about Massachusetts, as well. This is an interesting one. Duvall Patrick, the Democratic first term governor, also a very good friend of Barack Obama's and Barack Obama, the president was just up there about a week ago, last weekend campaigning with Patrick. He faces a very challenging re-election.

And Suzanne, you asked earlier, why do these - if you don't live in these states, why do they matter? Because these governors whoever wins in November are going to have a huge say when they take the census numbers and use them to re-district Congress. So it is crucial, not just for these states, but also for the make-up of Congress down the road. Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, thank you so much. We'll be getting into more details about how that actually does affect the re- redistricting and the maps that we're going to see on the next election. Thanks, Paul.

HOLMES: All right. We highlighted five states there. Five different races. But as we said, there are 37 states out there that are going to be picking governors. Let's put the map back up for you. We don't have the map, but you know what, take my word for it. You could be in one of those states where your governor is going to be decided this time around.

I want to bring in now Mr. Scheppach. Sir, thank you for being here.

This is Raymond Scheppach. He is the executive director of the National Governors Associations, joining us this morning from Washington.

Sir, thank you for being here. We consider D.C. so often to be that power base and these senators and representatives wield so much power. But in your opinion, who has more power to impact the day-to- day life of the citizen, their governor or their representative or senator in D.C.?

RAY SCHEPPACH, NATIONAL GOVERNOR'S ASSOCIATION: Well, it's clearly the governor. The governor is really the chief executive officer of the state. We have to remember in terms of operating programs. The federal government operates basically social security and Medicare. But states and governors operate almost everything else in terms of domestic programs. So they set guidelines in terms of elementary and secondary education.

They run all the low-income programs, so welfare, food stamps, Medicaid. They fund higher education. They run the unemployment insurance program, which has been so important over the last several years.

HOLMES: Yes. People may not realize just how much impact their governor - their governor has. But also, sir, something else people might not realize is how much these governors can influence a presidential election. How are governors able to sometimes deliver their state for political candidates?

SCHEPPACH: Well, that's true. If you look historically, you'll find out that often times when you've had 31, 32 governors from a particular party, the same person or the president of that same party often wins. And that's because you're right, it's not the senator, it's really the governor who runs the party in the state and is able to deliver often times. There's been analysis that it could matter as much as one percent, two percent, or three percent, which could be critical for presidential elections.

HOLMES: OK. The other thing is, this could be a training ground. We should be paying attention to who ends up in these governors' mansions. Because this is where we often see those, get the training for moving on to the White House.

SCHEPPACH: Now, that's clearly true. I mean, first off, a lot of governors end up in the Senate. There's 10 or 12 that end up there. When a new administration comes in, a lot of times they go to the governor's ranks to get cabinet secretaries. The last three cabinet secretaries for Health and Human Services have been governors.

And you're right, four out of the six presidents were former governors. So it is the training place for future presidents.

HOLMES: The last thing here, how much power do they actually have in D.C. to go there and possibly have an influence on national politics and policies?

SCHEPPACH: Well, I would argue a fair amount, particularly if they can get together in a bipartisan basis, Republicans and Democrats. And they stay focused on the programs that they essentially run. And you can see it historically. Things like welfare reform came out of the states, clean air came out of the States. And so what you often get are groups of governors coming together on a bipartisan basis and pushing an agenda. And often times, it gets done.

HOLMES: All right. Well Raymond Scheppach again, the executive director of the National Governor's Association, a powerful collection of folks clearly.

Mr. Scheppach, we appreciate you, and again, to our viewers, no matter if you're picking a governor right now or not, even the state next door might be picking a governor, that governor could still have an impact down the road on the presidential election.

MALVEAUX: And getting out the vote could be critical to both the Democrats and the Republicans this election.

HOLMES: OK. We've got a group coming up who says they don't care who wins, just get out and you need to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does democracy mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does justice mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man. I'm not going to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does make a difference

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then you're an idiot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear super bowls -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does democracy mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does justice mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does freedom mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man, I'm not going to vote. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: This is one of the "Rock the Vote" ad from this year's "Vote Fearlessly" campaign. The purpose is just to get people out, get them to the polls. Vote. This isn't an easy thing to do, however, during the midterms. In fact, there's usually a drop in voter turnout during midterm elections. We've got a new poll out that suggests Democrats should be a little bit worried about the trend this year.

Take a look. According to people we talked to, 54 percent of Republicans say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting this year. 34 percent of Democrats say the same. The president talked about voter apathy at an event a week ago in Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand that sometimes hope may have faded as we've grinded out this work over the last several years. I know it's hard to keep faith when a family member still hasn't found a job after months of trying, or another foreclosure sign's hung on the house down the street. And you're watching TV and all you see are politicians tearing each other down and pundits who treat politics like a sport.

I know it can be discouraging. But don't ever let anybody tell you this fight isn't worth it. Don't ever let them tell you you're not making a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The nonpartisan "Rock the Vote" organization, we just mentioned is not concerned about getting Democrats or Republicans elected. They just want you to pull the lever and punch the ballot. They are trying to register 200,000 new voters for this election.

I want to bring in the group's director of communications, Maegan Carberry, to find out where all of this is going.

Good morning to you, Maegan. I don't know if you remember, but it might be dating myself. You guys are 20 years old now. Your anniversary, I remember when Madonna first had that flag wrapped around her saying go out, "Rock the Vote" here.

What needs to happen before the midterms to get young people out there?

MAEGAN CARBERRY, "ROCK THE VOTE" DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: Well, we really appreciate candidates who target young people with their messages and let me know what's at stake in their local areas. But groups like "Rock the Vote" are also out talking to people on- line, on TV, on the radio, and getting that "Vote Fearlessly" message out there. And telling their peers that this really matters on November 2nd. MALVEAUX: Why does it matter? I know President Obama's out on the road and he says look at things like your education, the bills you're paying, tuition costs, creating jobs, these type of things. What do you tell young people about the importance of the midterm elections?

CARBERRY: Well, it's not as big and easy to see or hear about as the presidential election would be. But voting for your governor or your county sheriff is just as important because that's what happens in your community. They affect whether or not people are able to get jobs, whether people have access to a quality education. If the environment is safe, and other types of key issues.

So it's important to just find a voter guide. We have one, other groups have them. And learn what's at stake on the ballot and take a few minutes because it's so easy to do.

MALVEAUX: Now, you guys have a very ambitious goal to get 200,000 more registered voters here. Are you reaching it? Are you close?

CARBERRY: Oh, we beat it, actually, which is great.

MALVEAUX: Congratulations.

CARBERRY: We have registered more than 280,000 people. And that means we registered them on the ground or they downloaded the form from our web site and sent it in, which is very exciting. For a comparison in the last midterm in 2006, we registered about 50,000 people. So this is an exciting time for us. We've really grown that number significantly.

MALVEAUX: Is there anything you can do now with nine days left until election day?

CARBERRY: Oh, tell all of your friends to vote, tell them why you're voting, tell them what you care about. There's nothing better than a personal message from one friend to the other saying something is important why you care and why someone else should care too.

MALVEAUX: All right. Maegan, good message for everybody. Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.

HOLMES: We were just talking a moment ago about why the gubernatorial races are so critical this year. Yes, governors have a lot of sway over what happens in your day-to-day life with programs in your state. But did you know, as well, that governor could have an impact on the face of Congress for decades to come?

Josh, this is one a lot of people might not think about.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And that's why a lot of people are calling this a once a decade election. The way you vote this year when it comes to the gubernatorial races could reshape Congress. I will show you how that can play out right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it is 19 minutes past the hour now. We are 10 days to the midterm elections. And people in this country literally fought and died for the right to vote. But historically, do you know only four out of 10 of you will go to the polls to vote. According to the Pew Research Center, only four in 10 historically go.

We're trying to change that this half hour telling you about the importance, certainly of the gubernatorial races. Yes, your governors have a big impact on your life. But they also have a big impact down the road on districts in your particular state. Redistricting is what we're talking about here, Suzanne. That's one a lot of people might not even think about the governors have power over.

MALVEAUX: But T.J., that's right, because this year's governor races could reshape Congress. And a lot of people don't even realize that that this is going to be extremely important. They call it the 10-year election. And it has to do with redistricting and the governor's roles in redistricting.

I want to bring in our Josh Levs, care to explain, Josh. A lot of people don't think about the connection here between the governor races, the census, and then the next election.

LEVS: Any time you've got an election in a year that ends in zero, what you have is that 10-year election. Because of what's about to happen in our entire political system. You're starting off with this being a census year. And by law, what happens is after those census results come in over the next couple of years, beginning next year, you're going to see states around this country start to make up brand new districts based on the information they have there. And it works differently in different states, but in some states you get the kind of thing you hear about is gerrymandering (ph).

Let me show you what I'm standing in front of. This is an interactive map here called the U.S. governor map. And this shows right here where the gubernatorial races stand. Red is a Republican governor, blue is a Democratic governor. And if I click on this, this is all from CNN.com, it's showing you the breakdown of your congressmen. Well, this is what can change based on the previous one, based on who is the governor.

Let me show you some of the districts that are good examples of what we're talking about. Iowa is one. Iowa is a state that has an independent commission. And Iowa State, you know, they get a lot of praise for this, is pretty rational the way that all of their districts are designed. They have an independent non-partisan commission that designs the districts in the state. Not so much in other states.

Take a look over here. This one's interesting, if you look at Pennsylvania, what you see here, some lines that go all over the place. They have one district that's thought of down here. Look at how that kind of blue works its way around. That's referred to as an incumbent protection district, because historically it was designed to keep Democrats basically holding on to that seat. Let me show you another one here, out of New York. Obviously, it's largely blue. But there's a little tiny district up here just above the red where it says Rochester there. That's been called the ear muff district. Because of the way, it's designed and another place that you hear about sometimes with the lines all over the place, Florida here. What we will see based on who becomes governor and also based on who wins in the state legislatures and those assemblies will be redistricting efforts around the country.

And that will mean that in some states you have people in power who are in a position to go around and design new districts that will be largely Republican or largely Democratic based on how they break up at voters. There's a web site you should check out right here called "Redistricting the Nation." And they talk about this issue. They talk about how they want more states to have independent commissions to avoid some of those lines. And they have here. Let's see if we can weigh in on this and we'll end on this.

They have what they call some of the craziest shapes for districts in the nation. And you can see as we scroll through. You don't need to know the stage, just look at the general shapes there. Some of the districts they've pulled out as their favorite examples of what needs to be done.

So keep that in mind as you vote this year that your gubernatorial selection -- a lot of the state governors have a lot of impact on this as well, state legislatures, they will help reshape those districts in many states, which in turn, guys, will change Congress for the next decade to come.

MALVEAUX: Very big deal. So the take away here, vote, go vote. It's important. Thank you very much, Josh.

We'll be right back with a complete check of the day's top stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, taking a look now at some of the stories making headlines. The whistleblower web site, WikiLeaks, called a news conference to defend its released of more classified information. This time on the Iraq war. The editor in chief called the 400,000 documents he made public the largest classified military leak in history.

In this information, alleges war crimes, rates civilian deaths by some 15,000. Again this is the same man and the same web site that leaked all those documents about Afghanistan, and the war there earlier this summer.

Also, to Afghanistan, militants wearing suicide vests attacked a U.N. compound in the western Afghan city of Herat today. A local government spokesman says U.N. forces killed at least three of those attackers. As part of Afghanistan, it's not really seeing the same high levels of violence that other regions have had to deal with. Also, to Haiti, we're there on the verge of another disaster, if you will. That's at least according to the U.N. folks there. 194 people have died in a cholera outbreak. The total number of cases is close to 2,400 right now. Hospitals overwhelmed. U.S. aid agencies trying to coordinate relief teams right now.

The outbreak, they're trying to keep it contained. And so far, it has not affected the capital of Port-au-Prince. The outbreak is happening just north of the capital now.

MALVEAUX: And of course, we're keeping a close eye on the tropics this morning with tropical storm Richard that is down in the Caribbean.

HOLMES: Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking that storm. But also there was a little something going on in the midsection - oh, no, not the midsection. This is way south, this is down in Texas.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Suzanne and T.J., we are monitoring severe weather happening right now in south central Texas. Right around the city of Abilene, actually, where we do have flood advisories posted. The rain is coming in so heavy and hard that you really have to watch out for flooding, even on the smaller roadways.

There are heavy thunderstorms coming through this watch box, doesn't quite include Dallas, but don't be surprised if those thunderstorms roll into Dallas later on this afternoon. The watch box goes until 2:00 Eastern time, 1:00 Central. We're also looking at heavy rains sliding across areas into Chicago. So the Midwest, you may face travel delays as we go through the afternoon.

That holds true for areas northward into Wisconsin, as well. And we'll be watching for that. We'll stay tuned, CNN "Saturday Morning" will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, I remember kicking off CNN's very first "BALLOT BOWL" in Frigid, Iowa snow, two years ago during the campaign. Well, it is back. Here with the candidates, President Obama and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are saying about the races, the issues as we count down to those important midterm elections with "The Best Political Team on Television."

"BALLOT BOWL" airs from 3:00 to 6:00 Eastern this afternoon, only on CNN.

HOLMES: Suzanne and I we'll be back with more live news at the top of the hour. But right now, we're handing it over to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with Christine Romans.