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CNN Saturday Morning News

Endeavour Off to New Home; Fungal Meningitis Claimed 14 Lives; Voter ID Issues

Aired October 13, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. 9:00 in the east and 6:00 a.m. out west and thanks for starting your day with us.

KAYE: Los Angeles, well, it's used to big stars, but this latest visitor certainly causing a huge stir. These are some live pictures here. No wonder it is the Space Shuttle Endeavour right there on the streets of L.A.. The shuttle is certainly making its gravity bound way to its final destination and that is the California Science Center.

Endeavour is expected to arrive at the center around midnight where it will go on display later this month. Pretty cool to watch it as it makes its trek. It is a 12-mile journey, but Endeavour is only going about two miles an hour, taking frequent stops. It's going to take a while here. Officials want to make sure it reaches its final resting place, of course, in one piece.

The death toll stands at 14 in the fungal meningitis outbreak. The CDC says there are now 185 cases of the non contagious illness in a dozen states. Meanwhile a Minnesota woman has filed what appears to be the first lawsuit in the outbreak claiming she suffered bodily harm and emotional distress after being injected with a contaminated steroid. Some 14,000 people may have gotten those injections. Health official say they have tracked down about 90 percent of them.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's upcoming ban on large sugary drinks maybe in for a super size legal battle. Soft drink makers and restaurant groups are suing to stop the ban from taking effect in March. They cite a technicality saying that only the city council has the power to impose such a ban. They also argued that the law infringes on personal freedom and unfairly target certain businesses.

And in California, a bachelor party ends up on the rocks. The bachelor and his buddies are on a beer tasting cruise in the San Francisco Bay when their boat, the "Neptune" hit a rock near Alcatraz. The vessel started taking on water, 22 people had to be rescued and here is what two of the passengers had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were just hanging out and we were on the boat for like -- I don't know, maybe like 20 minutes or so, and then all of the sudden, we're coming around Alcatraz and checking it out and all of sudden, boom. Just like a big jolt and the next thing we knew the Coast Guard boat came in and just kind of got us off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all of a sudden they were like "put on your life vest. Go up to the bow." And then the captain was kind of starting pegging it for Pier 39, but you could tell that it was going down. And they were clearly saying that it is taking on water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney has been on a roll since the first presidential debate, check out this new CNN poll of polls. You can see that Romney has a two-point lead over President Obama in the national poll, and here's the story in Ohio where President Obama holds a three-point lead. Romney will be in Ohio today campaigning.

Mitt Romney is looking to capitalize on the momentum from the first presidential debate. Debate number two is on Tuesday.

KAYE: But Thursday's V.P. debate is still a hot topic at those Romney campaign events. I was just checking it out there. CNN national political correspondent Jim Acosta has more.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi and Victor, the debate after the debate has not only been about Joe Biden's style, it has been about substance, most notably the vice president's comments on Libya.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): At breakfast after his fiery debate with Vice president Joe Biden, Paul Ryan still had his sunny side up.

PAUL RYAN, VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. It is what I expected.

ACOSTA: Ryan offered no complaints about Biden's aggressive performance which appeared to be designed to put some sorely needed points on the presidents scoreboard whether it was on Ryan's past requests for stimulus money -

JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Sure.

RYAN: On two occasions we advocated for constituents applying for grants. That is what we do -

ACOSTA: Or Ryan's attempt to compare the Mitt Romney tax plan to Jack Kennedy's.

RYAN: Jack Kennedy lowered tax rates, increase growth.

BIDEN: Oh, now you are Jack Kennedy?

ACOSTA: Ryan was able to fire back with a few zingers of his own.

RYAN: Mr. Vice president, I know -

BIDE: No, this is - RYAN: I know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground.

I think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way.

ACOSTA: Republicans on the post debate room tried to make the case Biden failed not only on style -

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Quite frankly I was embarrassed for the vice president. I mean, the lapse we counted 82 times that Joe Biden interrupted Paul Ryan.

ACOSTA: But also on substance.

Declaring victory for his running mate, Romney seized on what his campaign has dubbed Biden's Benghazi bungle.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because the vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of State Department officials. He's doubling down on denial. And we need to understand exactly what happened.

ACOSTA: But back in the spin room, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Biden proved it was Ryan who was unprepared.

JIM MESSINA, OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: He got past Paul Ryan's index talking points and got into the details, and that is exactly what the American voters wanted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Romney will be spending part of his weekend campaigning across the battleground state of Ohio, the other part in debate prep. While both campaigns agree that the vice presidential debate probably didn't change the polls very much. It may have set a combative new tone for the next face-off between Romney and President Obama on Tuesday. Randi and Victor.

KAYE: The fiscal cliff hits at the end of the year, but even if Congress addresses the worst parts of the problem. There is one tax break that is almost certain to disappear. So let's bring in Christine Romans.

Christine, good morning. This is going to affect every working person in the country.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 160 million of us is the payroll tax holiday and we've had it for a couple of years and it is real money in your paycheck every single week and it looks, Randi, this is going away. So I'm telling you -- want everyone to listen. If you're a working American, your taxes are probably going up next year. You're not going to get that payroll tax holiday, always meant to be temporary. The stimulus in the middle of the crisis to keep -- to keep more money in people's paychecks, but you're going to feel it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

I'm a single mom, and I work and I work full time, and it, I think that I will definitely notice that I will have to budget differently, and definitely look at my spending more. And be a lot more wise in what I am using my money towards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So how much is this? Well, Randi, say you make $50,000 a year, right? It is going to be about $1,000 more that you will pay in taxes that will go to the tax man. And what is that? What is that $1,000 over the year? Well, it is basically like six lattes at Starbucks a week. A week. Or five gallons of regular unleaded gas or 15 dozen eggs, seven gallons of orange juice. There's a million ways I can cut it. But it means that people will have money to spend, less money in their paychecks, less money to spend and that is just one little part, one little part of our complicated tax structure and all these difficult questions we have right now that is looking pretty certain. It is looking pretty certain that payroll tax holiday is going away. Randi.

KAYE: Yes, I know there are a lot of things -- all those things that you just showed us there that affects a whole lot of people. Who is going to give up their Starbucks or their eggs or their orange juice -- these are important things.

ROMANS: They sure are but you know, you got to dig a little bit deeper next year for sure.

KAYE: All right. Christine, thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: No photo, no vote. That is the law in lots of states, but that has not ended the debate. We are focusing on voter IDs this morning and we have both sides of the argument.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. 11 minute past the hour now.

We are putting voter I.D. laws in focus this morning. With just 24 days to go -- hard to believe, until the election. Republican legislatures in several states have enacted tough new election laws and they say it is to prevent voter fraud, but Democrat say they are trying to prevent their supporters from voting. Here's a bit of Joe Johns upcoming documentary "Voters in America, Who Count."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So what is the motive?

DENNIS BAXLEY (R), FLORIDA STATE HOUSE: My motive is to protect the process from mishap and mischief.

JOHNS: Where's the evidence though of mishap and mischief? Where's the fraud?

BAXLEY: Well, it can happen at any place along the way.

JOHNS: But where has it happened?

BAXLEY: Well, we do know it happens.

JOHNS: Do you?

BAXLEY: Of course we do.

JOHNS (voice-over): The Florida secretary of state has referred just 64 cases of possible voter fraud to state prosecutors. That is out of 11.7 million registered voters over a five-year period.

BAXLEY: We all know that a lot of fraudulent events that occur just don't rise to significant to state attorneys to prosecute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is true that there is some voter fraud in this country, but I would say in the last 30 to 40 years the amount of fraud that takes place at all has gone way down, and there is no credible evidence that any kind of systemic problem with impersonation voter fraud. It is not a serious problem.

BAXLEY: Can you spell acorn? Look at the abuses across the country that went on, and we know that that is probably only the surface.

JOHNS: The now defunct ACORN registered more than a million voters nationwide in 2008. A handful of its workers submitted phony applications, some because they did want to do the actual work.

But the non partisan congressional research service did not identify any reported instances of individuals who were improperly registered by ACORN attempting to vote at the polls.

(on camera): A quote I saw from you "To secure safe election, sometimes, do we have to lose a few voters in the process?" The inference here is, you're saying yes. I think it is OK to lose a few voters in the process to secure safe elections?

BAXLEY: I think that as long as you are making it accessible to everyone.

JOHNS: You are taking away inclusiveness?

BAXLEY: I'm saying that if some people somehow don't show the initiative to complete that opportunity, then that may be a risk factor in having a secure system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And you can see more from Joe Johns on the voter I.D. issue on the CNN special "Voters in America, Who Counts." You can catch it Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

BLACKWELL: For lots of people and maybe you, the voting has already started. Early voting started in 17 states and six more next week. Joining me is democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman. We've been talking about the voter IDs --

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Good morning to you, sir. Do you believe that the voter I.D. laws could turn the tide in the key states of Florida, Ohio and if so, how do the Democrats compensate for that?

ZIMMERMAN: Well, there's no question that the voter I.D. laws are driven and designed to turn the tide in the swing states. You know, when George W. Bush was president, you never saw a movement for voter I.D. laws and maybe one or two states had to make a adjustments in the voting process, but since Barack Obama has become president, you now have 11 states engaging in arbitrary voter identification laws. For example, in Texas and Tennessee, if you carry a concealed -- you have a license for a concealed gun, that is a voter I.D., but if you have a student identification, that doesn't qualify as a voter I.D.. Let's not kid ourselves.

BLACKWELL: And democrats say it will hit their voters hard and how do the democrats compensate for that then?

ZIMMERMAN: Let me also point out, Republicans are saying it is going to hit the democratic voters hard and legislative leaders in Wisconsin and in Pennsylvania bragged it will help Mitt Romney. The way to compensate this, the way you overcome it is by voter education and galvanizing people, because this issue has got to rise above the partisanship, because you're talking about the very essence of our democracy here. And I believe we're going to stand up to this the way we stood up as a country in opposition to poll tax. Another device is to block people voting because of race or creed or color.

BLACKWELL: Robert, you are an expert in public relations, media strategies and basically an expert on how things look. So I want to ask you about the optics of the vice presidential debate, a lot of talk of that and also the substance. What do you think voters took away from the optics and the content of the VP debate this week?

ZIMMERMAN: Well, let's first put aside the topics, nobody wins the vice presidential debate. In fact, the Gallup organization has been surveying each vice presidential debate since 19766, and it never affect the general election outcome but each candidate did their job for their party. As a Democrat, Joe Biden did a great job of taking my party out of group therapy after the first presidential debate and refocusing us on the issue and mobilizing democrats to really be very activated now and focused on what the issues are that divide us, and he really redefined the election in terms of a choice.

BLACKWELL: Now after that first performance from the president in Denver in the first presidential debate, what would you tell President Obama he needs to do on Tuesday.

ZIMMERMAN: Bring a pulse to the debate for openers, but I think also what the president has to do is not just outline a vision for the future that he does well but also identify why this election is a choice. The stark difference between his position and putting it to Mitt Romney. In fact, I recently got some advice from actor Christopher Noth, who I saw recently in New York and he said to me, "I got a great line for the president. He ought to say that Governor Romney that half truths is the same as a complete lie. But we are not getting half truths from Mitt Romney." I think, let's face it, Chris Noth has had more success in the stage recently than the president, maybe he should take that advice.

BLACKWELL: And the president says he was too polite in that first debate. We are going to see probably a more aggressive president at least at the debate, maybe over the next three weeks. Let's talk about money in the next three weeks. The president raised a phenomenal $181 million in September setting a new record by far. Romney has not released his numbers just yet, but probably close. What would you say is the best way to spend that money in the next few weeks before the election?

ZIMMERMAN: Nothing beats direct voter contact. Reaching the voters, and connecting with them on their issues. For example, for many of us Democrats going into Florida and making clear the message that the Romney/Ryan plan ends Medicare for future retirees as the "Wall Street Journal" Or going into the key states like Ohio and talking about how the automotive bailout under President Obama's leadership really saved the economy of that state and helped rebuild the economy in many Midwestern states.

So it is using those resources to target individuals directly in their neighborhoods, through knocking on doors, phone banks, and obviously we know that TV plays a role, but connecting the issues with the voter. That is the challenge, and the real challenge for Democrats also is to factor in the impact of the Super Pac money, because we're going to see $700 million of unregulated money flood the system. So we've got to be on the ground and be aggressive.

BLACKWELL: We will see if the campaign takes your advice. Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman, thank you.

ZIMMERMAN: Good to be with you.

KAYE: Well, Los Angeles is saying hello to its newest star resident. The Space Shuttle Endeavour is rolling through tinsel town on its final mission. Find out where it is headed. We will have a live report straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The Space Shuttle Endeavour has been on a lot of missions, in fact, 25, but none of them are like the one that it is on right now. The retired shuttle rolling through the streets of Los Angeles to its final destination.

And CNN's John Zarrella has been tracking Endeavour's final trek for us and he joins us now from Los Angeles.

John, good morning to you and I know that you are loving this. Tell us exactly where Endeavour is headed. JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Randi. Yes, we are here right now at the Old Forum where the Los Angeles Lakers used to play, and you can see behind me there people have already started gathering and they expect perhaps 5,000 people to line Manchester here as the shuttle goes by and it is not too far from us right now. It is about halfway home, and it has gone about five of the 12 miles it needs to go.

And I'm going to bring in Jeff Rudolph who is the CEO of the California Science center who got this huge prize, literally and the toughest part, you crossed the 405 last night which was the expressway which was a tough go.

JEFF RUDOLPH, CEO, CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER: Yes, we have gone through the toughest part of the move, and we are just a few minutes out from clearing the last of the high voltage lines that's a problem. We're feeling great today. We're ahead of schedule and all looking good.

ZARRELLA: Now, you still have some tight areas to go, right? I mean places where you preserved and saved as many trees as you could, right?

RUDOLPH: Absolutely and so we are coming into an area where there are more mature trees there and we really worked hard to save them. So we got about -- actually less than 20 percent of trees taken down and that means a lot of trees that we're going to make some very tight maneuvers, inches on either side of the (INAUDIBLE).

ZARRELLA: So you really have some -- you got to keep your fingers -- some tight maneuvering later today.

RUDOLPH: Yes, I say keep our fingers crossed but you know, at this point, it's our move crew that's doing this and we're feeling good because they're really good, totally in control of everything. The equipment is great. We're passed the stuff that relied of others.

ZARRELLA: A last quick question then -- this, so far, could not have gone more smoothly, right?

RUDOLPH: Yes, I think that's really true and the one thing we expect today as yesterday we had large excited crowds. Today, we expect huge crowds because its Saturday and more and more people are going to be out.

ZARRELLA: Jeff, thank so much for taking the time to be with us. You know, Randi, it was a spectacular day yesterday and then they had the big move last night where they used the pickup truck to pull it across the 405 and now coming down Manchester today, and here first the forum and then later they'll be at a local mall where there is going to be some more activities and then finally arriving this evening at the California Science Center for another big ceremony.

You know, I have seen a lot over the years, Randi, with space shuttles. I have seen them fly, I have seen them land. I've sat inside them, but I never in my wildest dreams expected that I would see a space shuttle going down the streets of any city and certainly not Los Angeles. Randi.

KAYE: Well, that is so fitting that you get to accompany it on this journey. Certainly, John, because of all of the shuttles that you have witnessed for us. Thank you so much.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

BLACKWELL: On the heels of a damning report by the U.S. anti-doping agency, a former teammate of Lance Armstrong is speaking out about what he says happened behind closed doors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Allegations against this Zumba instructor 29-year-old Alexis Wright are rocking the popular tourist town of Kennebunk, Maine. She is accused of using her fitness studio to run a prostitution ring. Wright has pleaded not guilty to the 106 counts of various prostitution charges.

KAYE: Former top rank cyclist and teammate of Lance Armstrong Tyler Hamilton told Anderson Cooper that he began doping, "with Lance and for Lance." Hamilton is one of 10 former teammates who testified to the U.S. anti-doping agency revealing what the agency called "the most sophisticated professionalized and successful doping program that sports has ever seen." Armstrong continues to deny those allegations.

Well, thanks so much for watching today. I'll see you back at the top of the hour with the Shuttle Endeavour on the move in L.A.

BLACKWELL: But first, Christine Romans has "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" right now.