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CNN Saturday Morning News
Last Three Days of Presidential Campaign; Gas Lines Continue in Wake of Hurricane Sandy; President's Response to Sandy; Business Views on Campaign Job Promises; Some Banned from Homes after Sandy; Countdown to Election Day; Controversial Ballot Initiatives; Volunteers Hit Ground Hard in Wisconsin; Sandy Now Blamed for 105 Deaths in U.S.
Aired November 03, 2012 - 08:00 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. It's 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 out West. Thanks for starting your day with us.
KAYE: We start this morning with politics and the countdown to Election Day. There are just three days left and that means the candidates are going to be busy. This map shows the final stretch for the president. It means six swing states. Mitt Romney trying to hit eight states in his final push. That includes a stop in New Hampshire this morning and we'll take you there live in our next hour. We've got correspondents spread out throughout the battleground states to bring you the latest on the election and the final push for both the candidates.
BLACKWELL: Now, one of the states where both candidates will be making several stops, Ohio. You knew that was coming. CNN's White House correspondent Dan Lothian is in Mentor, Ohio where President Obama will be campaigning later this morning.
Dan, the crowds for 2012 have not been as big as the 2008 crowds. Big turnout expected for this last campaign weekend though?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, definitely. I mean, the White House says and the campaign rather said that the president has been facing in these recent days some fired up supporters. They expect the same to happen here in Ohio today. We've been talking so much about the big push in the battleground states, but Ohio being the most important, the president made three stops here yesterday. He'll be making two events or two stops in this state today. We'll be returning here again tomorrow.
The campaign saying that the reason that they are making this big push here is not because they are concerned at all about losing Ohio but because they believe that this is a very important state and the big pitch from the president has been the auto industry and the bailout. The president talking about how his policies have helped to save a lot of jobs here and how Mitt Romney's vision is -- will only hurt the people of Ohio saying that criticism from Mitt Romney is just massaging the truth. But the -- the president even beyond just this message of the auto industry is trying to draw a sharp contrast between his policies and the vision of Mitt Romney saying that it all boils down to the issue of trust.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The thing is here, as you make this choice, as you talk to your friends, your neighbors. You've got to remind them one of the things you're choosing is -- is about an issue of trust. After four years as president you know me. You -- you may not agree with every decision I've made. You may be frustrated sometimes at the pace of change, but you know that I say what I mean and I mean what I say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: And it's not just the president alone campaigning here in the state of Ohio. The first lady will be here today, also Jill Biden will be campaigning here and then some big-time entertainers, Stevie Wonder, Will.i.am (ph) also here in the state and other battleground states. We hear that Katy Perry will be performing at one event supporting the president so a big push, a very hard push as we count down to Election Day Victor.
BLACKWELL: Dan Lothian in Ohio, thank you.
KAYE: Long lines and a close race, that about sums up the race in Florida. This new NBC News/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll shows President Obama with a two-point lead over Mitt Romney. That is well within the margin of victory, so basically we'll call it a dead heat, but when you go beyond the polls you see voters waiting for hours so they can cast their votes. There's been a lot of controversy over early voting in Florida this year. It started a week ago and early voting ends day.
Our John Zarrella joins me now from Plantation, Florida.
John, good morning. I understand that you voted yesterday. How long did you have to wait?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, I did, and I'm really glad I voted yesterday because when I voted, the line here was just back over there. I think, Dominic, you can give them a shot of where I was standing and it took me from the time I got in line to the time I walked out the door, two hours and 10 minutes to vote, so if you look at where the line is now, which winds all the way around and down there, it's, we estimate, about 700 deep and maybe about a four- hour wait for the folks here to vote. It's cool out and it's kind of a festive atmosphere and everybody is smiling and they're still happy. If it gets a little hotter during the day that atmosphere and attitude might change a little bit, Randi. We expect these long lines to last all day today because this is, as you mentioned, the last day of early voting in Florida.
KAYE: I hope there are plenty of coffee and doughnuts to go around there. There was this effort, we talked about it a little bit this morning, to get this early voting extended, but that's now out the window completely right. ZARRELLA: It does not look like there's any chance that's going to happen. They originally four years ago, 14 days, down to eight days today, so only one Sunday, and traditionally on Sunday a lot of the black churches get all their people to come out and vote and that's not going to happen because this is the second Sunday that they would normally have is not there and the governor, from what we understand, is not inclined at all to -- to extend early voting.
So we do expect to see lines like this and the other part of that is a lot of people are saying that because of the shortened time for early voting that on Election Day we're likely to see these kinds of lines as well which could mean that people will be in line well past the time the polls close at 7:00 Eastern time here on the east coast.
KAYE: You know, just a moment ago in my lead-in in to you, we showed this NBC News poll with this very slim, two-point lead for the president there. Are we going to see do you think any chance of a repeat of the 2000 election in Florida?
ZARRELLA: We hope not, 537 votes. I don't think anybody will ever in our lifetime see anything like that. Famous last words, right?
KAYE: Exactly.
ZARRELLA: But the reality is, you know, we had the butterfly ballot back in 2000. We had the hanging chads. A lot has changed since then, but quite frankly, you know, there are always some sort of glitches and issues. Hopefully nothing of the magnitude like that back in 2000, but clearly this is virtually a dead heat in Florida, as it was back in 2000.
Again, remember, four years ago, the President Obama, he only won, you know, 51-48 so it was a slim margin even back then when he had all of that tremendous momentum behind him four years ago. So tight, tight, tight race here in Florida.
KAYE: John Zarrella we'll check back with you in our next hour and see how you're doing as well. Thank you.
ZARRELLA: Sure.
KAYE: And a programming note for all of you tomorrow night, Anderson Cooper takes a close look at the candidates' final push before the election in "America's Choice 2012, countdown to Election Day." Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern for that.
BLACKWELL: Now to the latest on super storm Sandy. The lights are starting to come back on for some families in the northeast, but not fast enough for others. Five days after the storm, more than 2.5 million customers are without power across 15 states and DC and the heartache is also growing for lots of families with the storm now blamed for 106 deaths in the U.S. overall. It's left 175 people dead, including the victims in Canada and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, National Guard troops are continuing to search and rescue. They are also helping to clear debris so crews can get the power back on and deliver food to people who need it. In New York, after a lot of criticism, Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancelled the New York City marathon for the first time in 42 years. It's never been cancelled. It was set to take place tomorrow. No decision yet on whether it will be rescheduled.
And at noon Eastern, gasoline will start being rationed in 12 counties in New Jersey. To cut down on long lines at gas stations, people can only buy gas on odd-numbered days like today if their license plates end in an odd number. Same goes for the even days.
KAYE: Yeah. It's -- it's a mess. I mean, they got to do something, right, to make it a little bit easier for folks to get gasoline.
BLACKWELL: Hours and hours, more time getting gas than it takes to vote.
KAYE: Yeah and then you burn all that fuel while you're waiting. There were a lot of people that were worried that they were actually going to run out of gas waiting in the gas line. It's really a very tough situation. But we much more ahead for you this hour.
BLACKWELL: Yeah. Here's what's coming up.
KAYE: Regardless of the winner here, your health care, contraception and marriage are at stake. We'll break down the state ballot battles.
Sandy has brought devastation across the northeast, but it may also have been the October surprise. We have the latest on the recovery efforts and Sandy's impact on the election.
Battleground New Hampshire, three days left and now it's all about the ground game. We'll take to you one of the contentious swing states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and for the people of our state and I heard it on the phone conversations with him and I was able to witness it today personally.
OBAMA: I think the people of New Jersey recognize that he has put his heart and soul into making sure that the people of New Jersey bounce back even stronger than before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Talk about strange be bedfellows, President Obama and Governor Chris Christie now united in crisis. They have been working closely to clean up New Jersey after super storm Sandy left parts of the state in ruins, but Christie's been far from friendly with the president in the past, acting as one of Mitt Romney's most outspoken attack dogs, slamming the president's leadership in stump speeches and campaign rallies all year.
Listen to Christie just two weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: He never ran anything in his life so the president doesn't know how to lead. We watch what he's been like for the past four years. He's like a man wandering around a dark room, hand up against the wall, clutching for the light switch of leadership and he just can't find it and he won't find it in the next 18 days!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Apparently Governor Christie thinks the president has found it.
CNN contributors Errol Louis and Erick Erickson join me now.
Erick, I want to start with you. I want to read a tweet that you posted not too long ago. It's so cute that Obama is trying to look like he's in charge with the hurricane. Someone should ask the Libyan consulate for a comment.
Do you still stand by this and what do you make of this new relationship between the president and the governor?
ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, absolutely I stand by the tweet. You know, I think it's a little bit farcical for everyone, the media and the president to run around and act as if there's something the president can do. This is a massive storm bearing down on the coast. I wish he'd been in the situation room the whole time when the ambassador was being dragged through the streets of Benghazi instead of going to Las Vegas.
But on the substance of the president and Chris Christie, this is what politicians do. They go out on the campaign trail and bash each other and then they show up together when they actually have to get down to work and they tend to work. Even, for example, Harry Reid who said there's no way the Democrats would ever help Mitt Romney pass his agenda if he were president. Of course they would. There's a difference between talking trash on the campaign trail and actually getting down to business.
BLACKWELL: Errol, let's go to you with this. Erick says that the president is not really doing anything. There's nothing he can really do, but Governor Christie says that he's actually watching this happen in person, that the president is taking charge.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I would beg to differ. I mean, we've seen botched Federal responses to natural disasters before. This, whatever else you want to say about it, has not been a botched response. There are hundreds of thousands of people who are without power and to see the president get up there and sort of publicly tell all of his secretary, his cabinet members I want all phone calls from local officials returned within 15 minutes, spare no expense, cut through any red tape, change the laws, if you have to, but make sure the aid gets there on time. Several of his cabinet members, Janet Napolitano have been here on the ground. Everybody that I've been reporting on has said, down at the local level, that this makes a big difference. It gets the -- it gets the bureaucracy moving. If he did nothing else, he certainly made that happen.
BLACKWELL: Will this, Errol, have any real effect as we go into Tuesday and actually as early voting continues considering that Chris Christie delivered the keynote address at Mitt Romney's convention? Is this going to turn into a real numbers change for the president?
LOUIS: There may be a slight advantage to the president, but it won't be because Chris Christie, you know, hugged him and had nice things to say about him. It will be because a lot of people will not be voting. There are a lot of people who are just going to be out of it. Here in New York, all up and down the coast of New Jersey, there are going to be a lot of people with much, much more on their minds than anything related to casting a vote.
I think, depending on where you're talking about, in New York City as least, these have been some of the most conservative precincts in the city, are just completely devastated and unlikely to be casting any votes for Congress or anything else.
BLACKWELL: Eric, what do you think? Do you think that there is a political benefit to the way that the president and Governor Romney have handled the aftermath, the response to super storm Sandy?
ERICKSON: You know, I'm kind of the mindset that it's probably neutral. Errol is right that the areas that were devastated in New York, a lot of them are Republican, but New York and New Jersey were going to go for Barack Obama anyway and Delaware as well. Much of the areas that were hit are going to go for the president anyway.
My question is really more academic than partisan. I do wonder given that the Philadelphia area there was also some power outages and gas delays, is that going to impact the Philadelphia turnout for the president and help Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania which I've always thought, including today, I'm not really sure even with this push in there Mitt Romney is going to win, maybe. It's all going to be at the margins if it helps or hurt anybody. I think it's going to be so small, even in a tight race I'm not so sure that it's going to matter very much.
BLACKWELL: Erick Erickson, Errol Louis, good to have the conversation. Thank you, gentlemen.
ERICKSON: Thank you.
LOUIS: Thank you.
KAYE: What do presidential candidates promise in a state where unemployment is below the national average? Well, more jobs, of course, but the pitch has left some voters more than a little skeptical.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone, 22 minutes past the hour now. Unlike much of the rest of the country, New Hampshire's economy is humming along and unemployment is at less than 6 percent. So when President Obama and Mitt Romney visit the battleground state, their stump speeches tend to include promises of more job creation.
Our David Mattingly visited two small businesses there to see what their executives think about the candidates' proposals.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Randi, Victor, the unemployment rate in this critical battleground state is under 6 percent and well under the national average. So when it comes to campaign promises about creating jobs, businesses here say leave that to the professionals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Two New Hampshire small businesses that found a way to beat the recession. One is a free-wheeling tech company producing codes that makes e-mail and the Internet work better. The other has been in business for five generations, manufacturing metal pins for everything from antique phonographs to the military.
ADRIA BAGSHAW, VP, WH BAGSHAW: These are pins that go in the hinge of ammunition boxes for the U.S. government.
MATTINGLY: In tough times they both found ways to create new jobs. What every candidate talks about they do. Is there anything missing in what they are saying about creating jobs?
JEREMY HITCHCOCK, CEO, DYN: I don't want to be cynical but people as politicians don't create jobs. It's organizations and it's people that create different ideas and they go and they service customers.
MATTINGLY: CEO Jeremy Hitchcock more than tripled his workforce in the last three years, going from 53 employees in 2010 to 170 today. Surprisingly I find campaign promises of job growth falling short amongst some employees.
GRAY CHYNOWETH, COO, DYN: Government doesn't create jobs, right and I think that's why trying to think about too much about, hey, we're going to pick a business person or we're going to pick someone who has a lot of job creation experience, that doesn't really tell me much.
MATTINGLY: Rebounding from layoffs in 2008, this family-owned business now employs 36 people, adding six in just the last two months. Smarter, more skilled workers -- those are the promises these New Hampshire voters want to hear most.
LOUIS DAVIS, WH BAGSHAW EMPLOYEE: It's hard for us to find new help. We have plenty of work, you know, tons of hours. It's hard to get new young people in here.
MATTINGLY: And after almost a year of non-stop campaigning on job creation plans, there's no complete agreement on which candidate can deliver. Just a show of hands, how many are voting for Romney? How many are voting for Obama? And one undecided?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: One vote apart and one undecided. That's pretty close to how recent polls are showing this race in New Hampshire, too close to call -- Randi, Victor.
KAYE: David Mattingly, thank you very much.
BLACKWELL: Interesting to see that company say that we have the jobs. We just need to fill them. So that's a struggle for a lot of companies.
Five days after Sandy slammed into the northeast and some people still cannot get into their homes with mountains of sand, houses ripped apart and gas leaks. Some areas look like war zones. We'll show you more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thanks for starting your morning with us. Here are five stories we're watching this morning.
KAYE: Just three days left until the election and that means candidates are campaigning hard in the swing states trying for every last vote. President Obama has eight stops on his agenda from now through Monday. That includes two separate trips to Ohio. Mitt Romney has six states on his travel plans. He's got two stops each in Ohio, Iowa and Colorado.
BLACKWELL: It's been taking some voters up to four hours to cast their ballots in Florida. You know, that's one of the most crucial swing states. Remember, early voting in Florida started a week later than it did in 2008 because of a new state law. The Republican state legislature reduced the number of early voting days from 14 to eight. There are 29 electoral votes up for grabs in Florida.
KAYE: The death toll from Sandy has climbed to 106 people and nearly half of those deaths are in New York. And nearly 2.7 people -- 2.7 million people are without power for at least another day. That number slowly going down as power crews work feverishly. And many people are desperate for fuel, heat and food.
New Jersey is now rationing gasoline to cut down on long lines at the gas stations.
BLACKWELL: Story number four, its journey may have lacked the fanfare of "Endeavour" but the space shuttle "Atlantis" is finally home. "Atlantis" made the 12-hour 10-mile journey to the Kennedy Space Center on Friday along with some special guests. The second man to walk on the moon Buzz Aldrin and the first female shuttle Commander Eileen Collins joined the procession. The "Atlantis" flew 125 million miles in its 33 missions. And before you head to bed tonight, remember to turn your clocks back one hour. Daylight savings starts tomorrow morning at 2:00 a.m., so we get an extra hour of sleep. Hope you enjoy that one.
BLACKWELL: Let's go to Long Beach Island, New Jersey. CNN's Jim Clancy is there. Jim, this area was devastated. The pictures show it. People still can't get to their homes. Are you seeing crews show up there this morning, to clean up, to get the power back up?
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me give you a real quick update. We've got heavy equipment moving. They will be plowing sand. Remember, literally, thousands and thousands and thousands of tons of sand washed off the beach and swept across the island. They are going to be trying to clear roads today.
We've seen contractors moving here almost non-stop. They are going to be trying to board up, to cross-brace a lot of the homes that are on pilings -- that are, you know, really in danger because all of the sand has washed away. The pilings are now very shallow.
We've got health inspectors that are coming in as there's food that needs to be just cleared out of here. There's no refrigeration because there's no electricity.
All of these fundamental problems trying to be addressed at the same time we've got the election coming up. There are some absentee balloting that is being done but very long lines for that, I understand. They are going to try to address that. The Mayor, Joe Mancini is going to be holding a press conference here in a couple of hours' time. And they are going to try to address all of these problems for now.
You know many of the residents want to get back home but they simply can't. They are trying to do all of this without a lot of people on the islands so that trucks and everybody has clear access. It's going to be a very, very busy day in this communities and communities right up and down the New Jersey shoreline. Back to you.
BLACKWELL: Well, a lot of work still to be done. Jim Clancy live in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Thank you.
KAYE: It is a busy day on the campaign trail for Mitt Romney. He's got stops in New Hampshire, Iowa and Colorado on the docket. We'll bring you some of his New Hampshire stop live in our 9:00 Eastern hour. The harried pace of both campaigns highlights just how close this race really is.
Joining me now is Barbara Comstock, a member of the Virginia Statehouse and a senior adviser to the Romney campaign. Barbara, good morning. Welcome. You're in Cincinnati today, so why don't we start there in Ohio.
BARBARA COMSTOCK, SENIOR ADVISER TO MITT ROMNEY: Yes.
KAYE: A key swing state, one of the big groups that either candidate needs. Of course the autoworkers there, here is Mitt Romney's pitch as you know it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who will do more for the auto industry? Not Barack Obama. Fact checkers concern his attacks on Mitt Romney are false. The truth, Mitt Romney has a plan to help the auto industry. He's supported by Lee Iacocca and the Detroit News. Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: All right Barbara so forget for a moment that both General Motors and Chrysler have decried this ad as either false or misleading but in the ad Governor Romney says he has a plan for the auto industry. I'm curious what that is and why we haven't heard much about it until now just a week before the election.
COMSTOCK: Well as the ad itself says, Lee Iacocca and -- and major executives support Governor Romney and I'd point out people who were on the Obama economic council are supporting Mitt Romney because he does have a plan on day one to turn this country around in terms of jobs.
And with the auto economy and everything else, you need to put people back to work --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: But -- but --
COMSTOCK: -- and on day one he's going to get the energy economy going and allow us to have the Keystone Pipeline open up, be able to drill offshore in my home state of Virginia so we can get those good jobs going. And then he is going to, you know, increase economic opportunity for everybody. So that's why he's having so many people, even people on the President's own economics council, are supporting Mitt Romney because he and Paul Ryan have a plan for day one to get jobs.
I mean, this President --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: But -- but I was asking you about the -- I was asking you about the jobs, I was asking you specifically about the plan for the jobs for the auto industry. And I do want to mention, too, that that even Chrysler's chief executive officer has debunked this ad. The Jeeps will not be made in China. He said that certainly not at the expense of the American workers. Chrysler is just expanding their (inaudible) so I want to -- I want to clear that up.
(CROSSTALK)
COMSTOCK: No, he said -- no and that's -- that's what the ad points out that that is going -- they are doing that. He obviously we want to have more cars made here. We want to have more trade.
KAYE: But it's not at the expense of American jobs is the point. It's not at the expense of American jobs --
(CROSSTALK)
COMSTOCK: There will be -- well, this President has lost. There are fewer jobs today in all -- in pretty much every industry under this President. Unemployment has been stagnant. He said if we spend $1 trillion that we would have a 5.2 percent unemployment and instead it went up this week, 7.9, higher than when the President came into office.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Well let's --
COMSTOCK: The President has failed on all of his metrics. He said he'd turn the economy around with that $1 trillion.
KAYE: Let's talk about jobs. Let's talk about jobs because the last jobs report before election offered good and bad really for both campaigns. The unemployment rate as you said is up slightly, added about 171,000 jobs. We know where you stand on that, but in terms of you saying that there are fewer people working.
In fact, our research shows 194,000 more people are working today than when the President took office in January 2009 so what do you say to that?
COMSTOCK: Well, we know in order just to keep pace with population growth you need to have job growth of 250,000 a month. And we have never -- we don't hit that with this President and he has no plan except to spend more money and do all the things that have gotten us further into the ditch. He has not turned around the economy, and he said if he couldn't get the job done in four years, that it would be a one-term proposition. And we absolutely agree.
And Joe Biden said that, you know, the middle class has been buried and certainly here in Ohio we've seen, you know, where average income is going down. Now you have a great governor here in Ohio. I would say there were 30,000 people last night at the Ohio rally, with their Governor, Senator Portman and they are doing all these policies to turn around the economy.
They need a partner in Washington with Mitt Romney who is going to work with your Governor, work with your Senator, to do the things that will get more jobs for Ohio.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Ok. COMSTOCK: And get this economy turned around and get those people back to work instead of having a $1 trillion welfare economy that nobody is happy with.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Let's talk --
COMSTOCK: People want to go back to work.
KAYE: Let's talk about your home state of Virginia, a coveted prize certainly for both candidates. What makes the Romney campaign think that they can capture Virginia at this point?
COMSTOCK: Well, we are leading in Virginia with Independents, just like we are leading in Ohio and everywhere, and in Virginia we are very concerned about, first of all, the President's tax increases are going to hit our economy just like they are going to hit Ohio very hard. Two-earner families are going to get hit hard and our small businesses will really get crossed. We have a big small tech industry in Virginia and the tax increases that the President want us to put will hit our small businesses at the same time it's going to be hit the --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: But Virginia -- but Virginia -- let me just interrupt you here -- because Virginia unemployment though is among the lowest in the country at 5.6 percent, so how will you combat that?
COMSTOCK: Well, Virginia's unemployment is low because we've observed what President Obama didn't and did the absolute opposite. We cut spending. We cut taxes. We made jobs our number one focus which is why we're one of the number one places to do business, number one place for jobs. But again, just like Governor Kasich and the folks here, we need a -- we need a President who will work with us, not work against us and that's exactly -- you know, we can't afford all the taxes from Obamacare, from the President wants to increase taxes at the same time in Virginia. He's going to cut up to $200,000 -- 200,000 defense jobs which in Virginia are a key thing, not just for our national security, but a key thing for our economy.
KAYE: Well, let's stick to taxes. Let's stick to taxes here because one of the center pieces of Romney's economic plan is the tax rate change, including for the wealthier, the job creators. But a recent report from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service found no correlation actually between the cuts in the top tax rates and the economic growth.
Now Congressional Republicans railed against this report, as you're aware and under pressure the CRS actually withdrew it. Now on the surface that sounds pretty bad so I want to give you a chance to defend the party. Why did they basically kill this report?
COMSTOCK: Listen, I'm not actually familiar with that report, but I know the reports that have said that the President's tax increases will cost us 700,000 --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: This is a report -- let me -- let me tell you what it is -- this is a -- this is a report from a non-partisan group saying that the --
COMSTOCK: Which they withdrew.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Right but under pressure from the -- from the Republicans, I mean, Mitch McConnell's office said that they had concerns about --
(CROSSTALK)
COMSTOCK: Well they are nonpartisan --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: -- they had concerns about methodology, that's coming from Mitch McConnell's office, there were concerns over language. Apparently they were using the language "tax cuts for the rich" so you can dispute the language but you can't dispute the findings. So I'm just curious now that you know a little bit more about it what your take it on it.
COMSTOCK: Well I think it's -- ok well, I worked on Capitol Hill, I know the Congressional Research Service well and if they withdrew that report they withdrew it because they needed to go back and do more work on it and it was inappropriate. So I think that speaks for itself.
But the National Federation for Independent Businesses, the voice of small business throughout the country, has said the President's tax increases will cost us 700,000 more lost jobs. We can't afford four more years of an Obama economy that's not working, where you have people losing income on average of $4,500.
He said he was going to decrease our health care premiums by $2,500. Now they've gone up by $3,000. That's a difference of $5,500.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: Ok.
COMSTOCK: That's costing individuals --
KAYE: Let's just stick to the topic -- let's stick to the topic at hand there. I just want to --
(CROSSTALK)
COMSTOCK: Well, take-home pay is I think is the top number one topic for everybody in having a job.
KAYE: Well I just -- I just want to be clear though that the leaders at the -- at the CRS said that they did not want to actually withdraw that report and it was apparently under pressure from the GOP.
COMSTOCK: Well, I think if they withdrew it, it speaks for itself.
KAYE: Ok but you're not fully familiar with the situation so maybe we'll have you back on and we can talk about it a little more.
COMSTOCK: Ok.
KAYE: Barbara Comstock thank you, I appreciate that.
COMSTOCK: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Well, it's not just the next President that's on the ballot this Tuesday. Still ahead, I'll detail the controversial initiatives that voters will weigh in on including health care and abortion and same-sex marriage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: As voters head to the polls across the country to choose the next president, they will also weigh in on a number of controversial ballot issues. Three of the biggest are health care, abortion and same-sex marriage.
So let's talk about what's at stake and who is behind the funding. First, let's go to Obamacare. Look at the map. Voters in Alabama, Florida, Wyoming and Montana will decide if residents and businesses can be forced to participate in health care reform. If this initiative passes, businesses would not have to buy health insurance for their employees and people would not have to buy it for themselves.
Another big issue in Florida is abortion. It's already illegal to spend federal money on abortion. Amendment 6 would make it illegal to spend state dollars on abortion except in the cases of rape, incest or to save the life of a mother. Now, right now there is an effective ban on it but this would make it legal.
Partisan groups have spent a lot of money on this up. On the left, Planned Parenthood has spent more than $3 million to defeat it. On the right, other politically active groups like the National Right to Life and the Susan B. Anthony List have spent about the same amount.
Third is same-sex marriage. Voters in Maine and Maryland and Minnesota and Washington State will either legalize it or ban it. Now, it's important to say that gay marriage has been on the ballot in 32 states so far. It has failed every time. Now where it's legal it's been approved by the courts or the legislatures.
And in a CNN/ORC poll in June, it found that a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage rights reflecting a shift in public opinion over the past two decades. And billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has tapped into his personal fortune donating at least $250,000 to support the cause.
The legalization of marijuana in some states and the death penalty are also on the ballot in some states. KAYE: In the battleground state of Wisconsin, volunteers for the Obama and Romney camps aren't easing up on their ground game, they are actually doubling down and knocking on more doors, making more phone calls to encourage as many of their supporters as possible to get to the polls on Tuesday.
Ted Rowlands caught up with some volunteers.
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TED ROWLANDS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what the political ground game looks like in Racine, Wisconsin. Chelsea Shields and Adam Grass are part of Team Romney and Terri Jackel is with Team Obama. Each side is armed with addresses of people that support their candidate. Their job is to meet them face to face. If nobody is home, leave a pamphlet. If somebody answers get them to vote.
TERRI JACKEL, OBAMA VOLUNTEER: My name is Terri.
CHELSEA SHIELDS, ROMNEY SUPPORTER: Hi, I'm Chelsea.
JACKEL: I hope I'm making a difference. I believe I am.
ROWLANDS: Both campaigns believe going door to door and making phone calls --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, my name is Ben and I'm volunteering today for Mitt Romney.
ROWLANDS: -- makes a big difference even though a lot of times the people answering the phone --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people just don't want to talk.
ROWLANDS: -- or the door.
SHIELDS: No, ok. Thank you very much for your time.
ROWLANDS: -- aren't in the mood to talk.
SHIELDS: It gets old after a while getting all the political calls, getting people at your door all the time, and it's one of those things where you can understand their perspective.
NATHAN CONRAD, SPOKESMAN, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF WISCONSIN: Well, they may say they are upset that they are getting contacted at the end of the day there's a higher possibility for them to get out and vote on Election Day.
ROWLANDS (on camera): Historically it's the Democrats who have had much better ground games in part because Republican voters are more reliable but things are different this time around here in Wisconsin. Both sides are very well positions to get out the vote.
CORY MASON (D), WISCONSIN STATE ASSEMBLY: Both campaigns I think have realized that if you don't have a real field operation in Wisconsin you do so at your peril. And I would love to say that we have a ground game and they don't but they do.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): According to a Marquette Law School poll released this week, President Obama is up in Wisconsin by eight points over Mitt Romney among likely voters. But when you look at the people who are both likely to vote and follow politics that lead shrinks to only two.
Both sides acknowledge that getting out the vote is crucial and a huge part of doing that is finding the volunteers willing to keep calling and knocking until the election.
(on camera): Is this your life now until a week from tomorrow?
SHIELDS: Oh, yes, we're just going to keep going right up until the very end. You know, keep making calls, keep doing doors until the polls close.
JACKEL: Ok, you're out there. I'm going to be out there more.
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KAYE: And Ted Rowlands joins us now from Racine, Wisconsin. Ted, good morning. So how is the race looking there?
ROWLANDS: Well, it is close. We mentioned a poll by Marquette University that was released this week that had the President up eight points, a CNN poll that was released after has that lead a little bit more narrow, within the margin of error. Both sides agree that this is a -- an election that could go either way. The state of Wisconsin could go either way and the difference will be who can get their base out to vote.
KAYE: Well, they both are certainly trying hard to do that. Ted Rowlands thank you very much.
ROWLANDS: You bet.
KAYE: Superstorm Sandy and her victims, a surprising way some of them died and how it may have been prevented. A live report next.
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KAYE: The heartache is growing for families across the northeast as Sandy claims more lives.
BLACKWELL: According to the latest numbers, the storm is blamed for 106 deaths in the U.S., and when you combine the deaths in America and Canada and the Caribbean, we're up to at least 175.
Nick Valencia joins us now for more on this. Nick, in terms of just the loss of life, which area was hit the hardest?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have to remember, Victor and Randi, even before the storm, the superstorm made landfall in the United States, it was already a fatal storm. It caused major damage in the Caribbean, places like Haiti, places like Jamaica, I mean even Puerto Rico. 67 deaths blamed there just in the Caribbean alone.
And when you fast forward and you bring it to the United States, the two states that were affected the most -- you guys know this -- New York and neighboring New Jersey. New York had about 48 deaths and New Jersey 22, and that's just in those two states alone.
KAYE: And there was so much concern, I mean as I was driving around up there this week covering this story. We hit upon a patch on the New Jersey coast where a lot of people were concerned about leaks from natural gas. And you found actually another danger, right, carbon monoxide is another concern?
VALENCIA: Yes. As I was going down the list of those that were victims of Superstorm Sandy one of the things that popped out to me this morning Randi was the fact of the preventable deaths. There was a handful, more than a handful of victims died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
I mean you had people like Mark Riffle (ph), 51 in West Virginia; two others Richard Whitehead (ph) and Tammy Carusettes (ph) of Pennsylvania. Now, they had generators inside their homes, running in their garage, and they eventually died from inhaling those fumes. But you know, as we marched up to the preparedness and officials were hosting these this press conferences, we talked about getting the emergency preparedness kits ready, major evacuations, going to higher ground; it's things like the generators and the poisoning from carbon monoxide that didn't really get mentioned and sort of got overlooked by some of these people.
BLACKWELL: Yes. All of these stories are tragic, but you know of one that's especially heartbreaking, a father and a daughter who stayed behind to protect their home.
VALENCIA: Yes, well, listen Victor. We hear these numbers, 106 deaths in the United States, but they are staggering numbers alone. It isn't until we start really digging into these personal stories that you really see how far these deaths resonate and the impact that they have.
The tragic story of Angela -- I'm sorry, Angela Dresch (ph) and her father who stayed behind. What makes this story all the more tragic is that during Tropical Storm Irene the family did evacuated; they heeded the warnings of officials. They left their house only for it to be looted.
This time they made the decision to stick around. Their house was demolished and they were found in the remains of the rubble. It was just a very tragic story. She was just 13 years old, described as a very loving, likable kid. Her friends in fact made a Facebook page to dedicate to her in memory of her. It's a very sad story.
BLACKWELL: All of them are sad, but that one especially. Nick Valencia, thank you so much.
VALENCIA: Thanks, guys.
KAYE: The candidates spring towards the Tuesday finish line in battleground states, and next hour we'll take you live to New Hampshire where Governor Mitt Romney is holding a rally.
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