PBS NewsHour - 2008-11-03

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] The last minutes of the 2008

[0:03] presidential campaign began their final

[0:06] ticking on this election eve. Democrat

[0:08] Barack Obama, leading in the polls,

[0:11] began his day in Florida. From there, he

[0:13] headed to North Carolina and planned to

[0:16] end up in Virginia. Republican John

[0:18] McCain also started in Florida. He went

[0:21] on to Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana,

[0:23] New Mexico, and Nevada, and then a last

[0:26] rally back home in Arizona. There was

[0:29] also a somber note amid the campaigning.

[0:32] Obama announced his grandmother, Meline

[0:35] Dunham, died late Sunday of cancer. She

[0:38] was 86 years old. We'll have more on

[0:40] this last day of the campaign right

[0:42] after the news summary. On Wall Street

[0:45] today, the major indexes were largely

[0:47] unchanged ahead of Tuesday's election.

[0:50] The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost

[0:52] five points to close at 9319.

[0:55] The Nasdaq rose five points to close at

[0:58] 1726. The day's economic news

[1:01] squatchched any attempt at a rally. A

[1:03] closely watched survey found

[1:05] manufacturing in October was the weakest

[1:08] in 26 years. And General Motors

[1:11] announced its sales in October plunged

[1:14] 45% from a year ago. Ford sales dipped

[1:17] 30%. The European Commission said today

[1:20] most of Europe may already be in

[1:22] recession. The numbers showed the

[1:24] economies of the largest countries that

[1:26] use the euro will come to a standstill

[1:29] or even shrink next year. They include

[1:32] Germany, France, and Italy. In Brussels,

[1:35] the European Union Commissioner warned

[1:37] no nation will escape the downturn.

[1:40] >> In some countries, even in 2008,

[1:44] they will register negative growth. is

[1:48] the case of Ireland, Latia,

[1:51] Estonia. On average, the Euro area will

[1:56] diminish from 2.7% growth in 2007 to 0.1

[2:01] in 2009.

[2:03] >> Britain does not use the euro, but it is

[2:06] also expected to slip into recession.

[2:08] The US Supreme Court heard arguments

[2:10] today on drug liability. A Vermont

[2:13] woman, Diana Lavine, lost part of her

[2:16] right arm to infection after taking an

[2:19] anti-nausea drug. It was injected in a

[2:22] procedure known as IV push. Wyth

[2:25] Pharmaceuticals argued the drug's

[2:27] federal warning label shields it against

[2:30] suits in state courts. Lawyers on both

[2:32] sides spoke outside the court.

[2:35] >> The drug manufacturer was negligent in

[2:37] its warning and the results are here for

[2:39] all of you to see. And this kind of

[2:41] thing should not happen to anybody in

[2:43] our society.

[2:44] >> Wyth had no basis for questioning the

[2:47] FDA's judgment about the risks of Push

[2:49] IV. They were well disclosed and well uh

[2:52] discussed in the label. There were

[2:54] appropriate warnings and cautions and

[2:55] there really was no basis to change it.

[2:58] >> The court must now decide whether to

[3:00] uphold a judgment of $6.7 million that

[3:03] Lavine won. And we'll have more on this

[3:06] story later in the program tonight. A UN

[3:09] aid convoy crossed into eastern Congo's

[3:12] rebel territory today. It was the first

[3:15] relief since August to reach the

[3:17] conflict zone where 250,000 refugees

[3:21] need help. We have a report from Martin

[3:23] Gesler of Independent Television News.

[3:26] >> On the dirt roads north of GMA, they're

[3:29] heading home, not because it's safe

[3:31] there, but because anything is better

[3:33] than the aid camps where there's been no

[3:35] food for days. The journey takes them

[3:37] across this conflict's front line. But

[3:39] these people say they've been left with

[3:41] no choice. For some though, it's just

[3:44] too much. We found this boy collapsed in

[3:46] a bush at the roadside, hungry and

[3:48] exhausted. He was lucky. A passing Red

[3:51] Cross patrol picked him up.

[3:58] >> They didn't know what had happened, but

[4:00] at a clinic nearby, we found out more.

[4:03] 10-year-old Maise was setting off alone

[4:05] for his parents' house 100 miles north.

[4:07] He hadn't eaten for 4 days. The

[4:10] youngest, as ever, are the worst

[4:11] affected, but everyone here is

[4:13] suffering.

[4:15] >> The head of this clinic showed me some

[4:16] of his patients. The situation here is

[4:19] now critical, he says. All signs of

[4:21] malnutrition.

[4:21] >> Absolutely. And absolutely. The most

[4:23] obviously one is the hair here.

[4:25] >> How urgently do they need food aid here?

[4:28] >> Uh right now. right now is we we are

[4:32] really beginning to to to face a really

[4:36] serious uh serious situation like the

[4:39] one you saw that people who are really

[4:41] collapsing on the floor because they

[4:43] don't have any uh any strength left.

[4:48] >> And that's why so many are now heading

[4:50] home mile after mile into what's now

[4:52] rebel territory under the guns of the

[4:55] very troops they fled from. All in

[4:58] search of food. This looks like a normal

[5:00] village marketplace, but what you can't

[5:02] see are the rebel troops who are all

[5:04] around us. They've given us a very clear

[5:05] warning. If we film them, they'll burn

[5:07] our vehicle and we'll never leave. Now,

[5:10] that's the dilemma these people are

[5:11] facing. They've come back home to get

[5:13] this food, but they're surrounded by

[5:15] soldiers now who they don't know and

[5:17] don't trust.

[5:19] The people here are pinning their hopes

[5:20] on this fragile ceasefire holding, but

[5:23] they're surrounded by reminders of what

[5:25] could happen if it breaks.

[5:27] Much of the aid that arrived today

[5:29] involved medical supplies for looted

[5:32] clinics. A second convoy loaded with

[5:34] food was expected tomorrow. Pakistan

[5:38] warned a top American general today

[5:40] against missile strikes on militants

[5:43] inside its territory. Pakistani leaders

[5:45] appealed directly to General David

[5:48] Petraeus, the new US commander for the

[5:50] Middle East. They urged him to halt the

[5:53] raids. It was Petraeus's first

[5:55] international trip since assuming his

[5:57] new post last week. In Afghanistan

[6:00] today, gunman abducted a French aid

[6:03] worker in Kbble and killed another

[6:05] person who tried to intervene. It was

[6:08] the latest attack against Westerners in

[6:10] the Afghan capital. The Taliban denied

[6:14] any involvement. A US military court

[6:16] today convicted another aid to Osama bin

[6:19] Laden for supporting terror. The verdict

[6:22] and life sentence were announced at

[6:24] Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The defendant was

[6:26] a Yemen man believed to have produced

[6:29] al-Qaeda's propaganda videos. So far,

[6:32] two prisoners at Guantanamo have faced

[6:35] military tribunals. Both have been

[6:37] convicted. Production workers at Boeing

[6:40] went back to work today after eight

[6:42] weeks on strike. That strike delayed

[6:44] production of the company's new 787

[6:47] jetliner, and Boeing estimated it lost

[6:50] $100 million a day in deferred revenue.

[6:54] On Saturday, some 27,000 workers in

[6:57] three states ratified a new contract. It

[7:00] protects more than 5,000 factory jobs

[7:02] and safeguards health care benefits. And

[7:06] that's it for the news summary tonight.

[7:07] Now, the candidates on election eve. Amy

[7:10] Walter and Andy Kohut. voter turnout, a

[7:14] Supreme Court argument, and the global

[7:16] financial crisis hits home.

[7:23] [music]

[7:26] And then there was one only one day left

[7:29] in the presidential campaign. Judy

[7:31] Woodruff has our last day report.

[7:36] >> Election day only hours away. Barack

[7:39] Obama and John McCain burned up the

[7:41] trail today with a final push across

[7:44] battleground states. Obama held his

[7:47] first rally in Jacksonville, Florida,

[7:49] and had two more stops planned in North

[7:52] Carolina and Virginia. At the Florida

[7:55] event, Obama praised McCain's service,

[7:58] but insisted the Republican nominee

[8:00] still had the wrong approach on the

[8:02] economy.

[8:03] >> Now, Senator McCain has served this

[8:05] country honorably.

[8:09] And at the end of this long race, I want

[8:11] to congratulate him on the tough race

[8:14] that he has fought.

[8:17] >> He has

[8:22] he can point he can point to a few

[8:25] moments over the past eight years where

[8:28] he has broken from George W. Bush.

[8:33] But when it comes to the economy,

[8:36] >> when it comes to the central issue of

[8:39] this election,

[8:40] >> the plain truth is that John McCain has

[8:43] stood with George Bush every step of the

[8:45] way.

[8:48] [cheering]

[8:50] >> He hasn't been a maverick. He's been a

[8:52] sidekick to George Bush.

[8:56] voting for the Bush tax cuts for the

[8:58] wealthy that he once said were

[9:01] irresponsible.

[9:02] Voting for the Bush budgets that took us

[9:05] from record surpluses to record debt.

[9:08] Calling for less regulation at a time

[9:10] when we needed more regulation. Called

[9:13] for less regulation 21 times just this

[9:15] year. Those are the facts.

[9:17] And after 21 months and three debates,

[9:20] John McCain still has not been able to

[9:23] tell you, the American people, a single

[9:25] major thing he'd do differently from

[9:27] George Bush when it comes to the

[9:28] economy.

[9:29] >> Obama closed by asking the crowd, not to

[9:32] let up.

[9:34] >> Don't think for a minute that power will

[9:36] concede anything without a fight. This

[9:38] is going to be close here in Florida.

[9:40] This is going to be close all across the

[9:42] country. We're going to have to work

[9:44] like our futures depend on it for the

[9:46] next 24 hours because it does.

[9:49] >> Understand at this point I've made the

[9:52] arguments. Now it's all about who wants

[9:55] it more,

[9:56] >> who believes in it more.

[9:58] >> Florida, the time for change has come.

[10:01] >> It all is up to you. We have a righteous

[10:04] win at our backs. But if in these final

[10:07] hours you will knock on some doors with

[10:09] me, make some calls with me, go to vote,

[10:14] if you'll stand with me and fight with

[10:16] me, I promise you we will not just win

[10:19] Florida, we'll win this election. You

[10:22] and I together will change this country.

[10:25] We'll change the world. Thank you

[10:27] everybody. God bless you. God bless the

[10:29] United States of America.

[10:32] >> [cheering]

[10:32] >> Like Obama, McCain started the day in

[10:35] Florida with a morning rally in Tampa.

[10:38] >> From there, plans were to barnstorm six

[10:41] more states. Tennessee, Pennsylvania,

[10:44] Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada, and finally

[10:47] his home, Arizona. In Florida, McCain

[10:50] repeated his familiar charge against

[10:53] Obama's tax plan.

[10:55] >> Senator Obama is running to spread the

[10:57] wealth. I'm running to create more

[10:59] wealth. [cheering]

[11:03] Senator Obama is running to punish the

[11:05] successful. I'm running to make everyone

[11:08] successful. [cheering]

[11:11] This is the fundamental difference

[11:14] between Senator Obama and me. We both

[11:17] disagree with President Bush on economic

[11:19] policy. The difference is he thinks that

[11:22] taxes are too low and I think that

[11:24] spending has been too high.

[11:27] >> [screaming and cheering]

[11:28] >> McCain summed up with where he saw the

[11:30] race with a day to go.

[11:32] >> You know, my friends, the pundits may

[11:35] not know it and the Democrats may not

[11:37] know it, but the MAC is back. [cheering]

[11:41] >> We're going to win this election.

[11:44] USA.

[11:45] >> My friends,

[11:47] USA.

[11:48] >> My friends, I know you're worried, but

[11:51] you also know America is a great

[11:53] country. But we're at a moment of

[11:54] national crisis that will determine our

[11:57] future. And let me ask you, will we

[12:00] continue to lead the world's economies,

[12:02] or will we be overtaken? Will the world

[12:04] become safer or more dangerous? Will our

[12:07] military remain the strongest in the

[12:10] world? And will our children and

[12:11] grandchildren's future be brighter than

[12:14] ours? My answer to you is yes.

[12:17] [cheering] Yes, we will lead. Yes, we

[12:19] will prosper. Yes, we will be safer.

[12:22] Yes, we will pass on to our children

[12:25] [cheering] a stronger, better country,

[12:30] but we must be prepared to act swiftly,

[12:33] boldly, with courage and wisdom. I'm an

[12:37] American and I CHOOSE TO FIGHT. DON'T

[12:39] GIVE UP HOPE. Be strong. Have courage

[12:42] and fight. [cheering]

[12:44] Fight for a new direction for our

[12:46] country and for what's right for

[12:48] America. Fight to clean up the mess of

[12:50] corruption [cheering] and infighting and

[12:52] selfishness in Washington. Fight to get

[12:56] our economy out of the ditch and back in

[12:58] the lead. Fight for the ideals and

[13:01] character of a free people. Fight for

[13:03] our children's future. [cheering]

[13:05] Fight for justice and opportunity for

[13:08] all. Stand up. Stand up to defend our

[13:11] country from its enemies. [cheering]

[13:13] Stand up. Stand up. Stand up and fight.

[13:16] America is worth fighting for.

[13:19] [cheering]

[13:20] Nothing is inevitable here. We never

[13:23] give up. We never quit. We never hide

[13:26] from history. We make history.

[13:31] >> Both vice presidential nominees also

[13:34] carried heavy campaign schedules today.

[13:36] Democrat Joe Biden started the day in

[13:39] Lee's Summit, Missouri outside Kansas

[13:42] City, where he was joined by Senator

[13:44] Clare McCascal. Today in America, people

[13:47] are asking, no matter where it is, the

[13:49] same questions. They are simple, as

[13:52] simple as they are profound. Is my house

[13:56] worth what I paid for? Or do I now have

[13:58] an upside down mortgage where I owe more

[14:00] than it's worth? Will my company

[14:03] continue my healthcare? As a matter of

[14:04] fact, are the rumors about my company

[14:07] going abroad true? How are we going to

[14:10] be able to retire now that our 401k has

[14:13] been cleared out and all that equity in

[14:16] our home we counted on seems to be gone?

[14:20] Will we be able to send our kids back,

[14:23] let alone in the first place, back to

[14:26] college? Conversations are taking place.

[14:29] You students, you're asking yourselves

[14:31] questions. Some of you are graduating

[14:33] from here and going on to four-year

[14:34] schools. You're finding it hard to go

[14:37] out there and borrow that money. You're

[14:39] finding it difficult. Well, ladies and

[14:41] gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, the

[14:44] questions are profound, but they're

[14:47] everywhere. Clear. This is the first

[14:49] election, presidential election I've

[14:51] campaigned in where whether I was in

[14:53] Montana or Florida, whether I'm in

[14:55] Missouri or Maine, whether I'm in Texas

[14:58] or I am New Jersey, the questions are

[15:01] the same. It is the most uniformly,

[15:05] how can I say it, intense election I've

[15:08] ever ever been a part of.

[15:09] >> And ladies and gentlemen, and that's why

[15:11] I believe with a greater degree of

[15:14] confidence than I've ever had before

[15:16] that we are on the cusp of a new brand

[15:19] of American leadership. Because that's

[15:21] what we need, a [cheering] new brand of

[15:23] American leadership.

[15:28] Because folks, if we want to answer all

[15:31] those questions being raised around that

[15:34] kitchen table, we need to get out and

[15:38] elect Barack Obama President of the

[15:41] United States tomorrow.

[15:44] Biden had three more events planned

[15:47] today. Two in Ohio and one in

[15:49] Pennsylvania.

[15:51] >> [cheering]

[15:51] >> Republican Sarah Palin began her day in

[15:54] Lakewood, Ohio, near Cleveland, where

[15:57] she said the differences between the

[15:59] candidates were stark. We believe that

[16:02] the best of America isn't all gathered

[16:04] in Washington, DC. We put our faith in

[16:06] you, and we know that the best of

[16:08] America is here. It's in the kindness

[16:11] and the goodness and the courage of

[16:13] everyday hardworking Americans. Those of

[16:15] you who run our factories and grow our

[16:18] food and teach our children and fight

[16:20] our wars, THIS IS WHERE THE BEST OF

[16:22] AMERICA IS. [cheering]

[16:29] [cheering]

[16:29] [applause]

[16:31] >> TRULY, we believe that America IS NOT

[16:33] THE PROBLEM. AMERICA IS THE SOLUTION.

[16:37] >> [cheering]

[16:42] >> AND WE STILL BELIEVE THAT America is

[16:44] that shining city on a hill. That

[16:47] shining city on a hill that Ronald

[16:48] Reagan used to speak of. And I thank God

[16:52] that we have a man who is ready and

[16:55] worthy. Ready to lead it now. And he

[16:57] inspires us not just with words, but

[17:00] heroic and trustworthy deeds all of his

[17:03] life fighting for you, Ohio. And I'll

[17:06] tell you, from now until election day,

[17:09] you're going to hear our opponents go on

[17:11] in their claims of how they will fight

[17:13] for you. But since he won't say this on

[17:16] his own behalf, I'm going to say it for

[17:17] him. For my running mate, Ohio, there is

[17:20] only one man in this campaign who has

[17:22] ever really fought for you, and he HAS

[17:25] THE COURAGE TO KEEP ON FIGHTING FOR YOU,

[17:27] AMERICA. THAT MAN [cheering] IS JOHN

[17:29] MCCAIN. Palin's schedule today includes

[17:32] stops in Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, and

[17:35] Nevada before flying home overnight to

[17:38] Alaska. Tomorrow, she'll join McCain for

[17:41] election night in Phoenix, Arizona. The

[17:44] Democratic ticket will wait for the

[17:46] voters's verdict in Obama's hometown,

[17:49] Chicago.

[17:52] >> And to some numbers and to Gwen Eiffel.

[17:55] >> Tonight, the polling ends and tomorrow,

[17:57] the voting begins. the voting ends.

[17:59] Joining us for our final pre-election

[18:01] snapshot are Andrew Kohut, president of

[18:04] the Pew Research Center for the People

[18:06] and the Press, and Amy Walter, editor

[18:08] and chief of the Hotline National

[18:09] Journal's Political Daily. We forget the

[18:11] voting has been going on for some time

[18:13] now. So Andy, as you have been watching

[18:15] the voting going on for all this time,

[18:17] you come up with a final poll which

[18:18] shows the race tightening just a little

[18:20] bit, but Barack Obama's still in the

[18:21] lead.

[18:22] >> Yeah, we have a six-point lead, which is

[18:24] statistically significant. Pretty large

[18:26] lead. Other polls have an even larger

[18:27] lead. Ones that we watch, the NBC Wall

[18:29] Street Journal poll, eight Gallup has an

[18:32] 11point lead and CBS has as much as 13

[18:35] points. Those are all pretty big

[18:37] numbers. Uh I don't know of a national

[18:40] poll where uh uh where Obama's behind or

[18:43] it's even.

[18:44] >> Does the tightening mean anything, Amy,

[18:46] or is that what always happens at this

[18:47] stage?

[18:48] >> I think it is traditionally what happens

[18:49] at this stage. I mean, in our own poll,

[18:51] the DAIO hotline poll, we noticed over

[18:53] the course of the last couple of days,

[18:55] some not surprising results, which is

[18:57] that Republicans starting to come back

[18:59] home to John McCain earlier in the week,

[19:01] he was only getting, for example, 83% of

[19:04] Republicans. Today, he's getting 87% of

[19:06] Republicans. That makes sense there. Our

[19:08] poll, too, like Andy, showing a

[19:10] five-point lead here for Barack Obama.

[19:13] Uh, you know, we're also starting to see

[19:14] that he's finally the the gender gap,

[19:16] which still is in uh Obama's be favor,

[19:20] excuse me, he's still doing very well

[19:22] among women. 10 points among women.

[19:24] Earlier in the week, it was even bigger.

[19:25] Obama was up by 16 points. So, I think

[19:28] it's just some of the tightening some of

[19:29] these uh voters. Yes, indeed, coming

[19:31] home. But when you look at historically

[19:34] where this election is, the fact that

[19:36] even among women, John Ky only carried

[19:38] those by three. the fact that among men

[19:41] that there's not the big gender gap

[19:44] benefiting McCain as it was George Bush

[19:46] who won that by 11 in our poll.

[19:47] >> Uh John McCain's ahead of Obama among

[19:50] men by just two.

[19:51] >> Let's let's walk through some of the

[19:53] things we're going to be watching

[19:53] tomorrow night. The battleground states.

[19:55] This is a 50 state election of course,

[19:57] but we're watching a handful of states.

[19:59] In your poll, Andy, you've discovered

[20:01] that Obama is leading in those handfuls

[20:03] of of states by about 10 points.

[20:05] >> Yeah. And that pretty much squares out

[20:06] with what we see about with the state

[20:08] polls. I mean, Obama is leading in

[20:10] Virginia, which has become a swing

[20:12] state. Typically, we think of it as a

[20:13] red state. Uh he's leading in Ohio. He's

[20:16] leading in Pennsylvania. Now, the the

[20:18] leads are close. Uh these states are

[20:20] still close. And the the the um

[20:23] battleground states individually don't

[20:25] look as lopsided as the the national

[20:28] vote does. But, uh remarkably, he's

[20:31] Obama's doing quite well in in many of

[20:34] these places. even in places where he

[20:36] wouldn't what six months ago he wouldn't

[20:38] have thought he'd been competitive in

[20:39] North Car North Carolina and um you know

[20:42] he's I guess you'd say he's the favorite

[20:43] to win Virginia a Democrat hasn't won

[20:46] Virginia since 1964

[20:48] >> so what is driving that Amy

[20:49] >> yeah and the fact that we're actually

[20:50] watching North Dakota we're going to

[20:52] have to pay really close attention to

[20:53] that in Indiana and thankfully Indiana

[20:55] closes early so we'll have a a sense

[20:57] early on about that but um what's

[20:59] driving this is in in large part what

[21:02] we've pick we've been picking up in

[21:03] these national polls is It's not simply

[21:05] that Obama's doing well among one simple

[21:07] group of people. And so that just makes

[21:10] sense then for one part of the country.

[21:12] It's that he's doing particularly well

[21:13] among African-Americans. Hence his

[21:15] strong showings in Virginia and North

[21:17] Carolina.

[21:18] >> Let's take a look at that because he's

[21:19] he's leading in Andy's poll 89% to to 5%

[21:22] among a African-Americans, but also I

[21:25] think it's 82% to 31% among Hispanic

[21:28] Americans. That's a huge gap and it

[21:30] seems like a lost opportunity for for

[21:32] the Republicans. Well, the Republicans

[21:34] didn't do as well among Latinos in in in

[21:37] uh the midterm elections as they had

[21:39] done in '04. So, I'm not so shocked by

[21:41] this. The question was, Latinos voted so

[21:43] heavily for for Hillary Clinton. Would

[21:45] they come back and support Obama? The

[21:47] answer appears to be yes. Yes, very much

[21:51] so.

[21:51] >> And I think your point about a missed

[21:52] opportunity is a good one, too.

[21:53] Remember, John McCain was the candidate

[21:55] who lost conservative support because he

[21:59] was fighting on immigration reform that

[22:00] many in his party disagreed with him.

[22:02] But what we found is he lost support

[22:04] among conservatives for taking this

[22:05] position. And he's not doing well among

[22:07] Hispanics either. So if you if you look

[22:09] then at these groups uh of Hispanic

[22:12] voters, that means that places like

[22:13] Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico now

[22:15] considered battleground states.

[22:17] >> And even though Barack Obama is is

[22:19] trailing John McCain among white voters

[22:21] at large, he still is getting over 42%

[22:23] of the white vote, which is kind of

[22:25] unusual.

[22:26] >> And it's he's got only a he's only down

[22:28] by three or four points among white

[22:29] women. You know, we've looked at white

[22:30] women for a very long time. and they're

[22:32] still in play play for Obama. Obviously,

[22:35] M McCain has a strong lead among white

[22:38] men. But, you know, we have to wonder,

[22:40] well, what do do does North Carolina

[22:43] have in common with with with North with

[22:45] North Dakota and all of these places

[22:48] >> where all all of these states and all of

[22:50] these people are experiencing this

[22:52] economy and this economy has helped

[22:55] Barack Obama along with his performance

[22:58] in the debates. The economy is almost

[23:01] tailorade for a Democratic candidate. He

[23:03] has a 20point lead. More confidence in

[23:06] Obama than McCain to deal with the

[23:07] economy. And the economy is the issue

[23:11] without rivaling this election.

[23:13] >> Did the did the econ economic meltdown

[23:15] shift voters in this last month or did

[23:18] it just freeze everybody in place so

[23:19] that McCain couldn't get a better grip?

[23:22] I think there are we're going to be

[23:24] analyzing this for a long time to come,

[23:26] but I think that uh we were watching

[23:28] this election take a certain path and I

[23:30] think uh what happened with the economic

[23:32] crisis is it definitely was uh something

[23:35] that helped Obama. There's no doubt

[23:38] about that in terms of it was like a

[23:39] catalyst. Um and it moved it very

[23:42] quickly in Obama's behalf. I think

[23:44] though on top of it you have to argue

[23:45] that McCain's reaction to the economic

[23:48] crisis one in which he was not acting

[23:50] for many voters they didn't see him as

[23:52] acting as resolutely as they would have

[23:53] liked I think that has helped uh Barack

[23:55] Obama but fundamentally I don't know if

[23:58] we could say but for this crisis Obama

[24:01] would not be where he is.

[24:02] >> Okay Amy still I want you to hold those

[24:04] thoughts because we would to come back

[24:05] on the other side and talk about this

[24:06] some more. Back to you Jim.

[24:08] >> Yes we'll be back in just a moment Gwen.

[24:10] Thank you. But first, getting out the

[24:11] vote. And NewsHour correspondent Tom

[24:13] Bearden reports on that from Colorado.

[24:16] >> Anybody that could sign up for that get

[24:18] out the vote for a shift, please see me.

[24:20] And

[24:21] >> Democrat Nita Lynch has voted in every

[24:23] presidential election since John F.

[24:25] Kennedy, but she never donated time or

[24:27] money to a candidate until this year.

[24:30] She says Barack Obama has inspired her

[24:32] to work 20 to 30 hours a week for the

[24:34] past six months in his Longmont,

[24:36] Colorado office, signing up new voters,

[24:39] trying to persuade undecideds, and doing

[24:41] anything else that's required.

[24:43] >> I've done a lot of the data entry. It's

[24:45] it's whatever it takes. I've cleaned the

[24:47] bathroom, I've cleaned the kitchen,

[24:49] provided food. Right now, I have a big

[24:52] pot of soup that I'm going to take to

[24:54] our field organizers.

[24:56] Woo! [screaming]

[24:57] Republican Peggy Littleton is a longtime

[24:59] political volunteer in Colorado Springs,

[25:02] a perennial conservative bastion. In

[25:04] fact, this area gave George Bush his

[25:06] fourth highest margin of victory in

[25:08] 2000. Littleton says they need to do

[25:10] even better tomorrow.

[25:12] >> El Paso County has got to come come

[25:14] along with a higher margin for John

[25:17] McCain than we've ever had to do before.

[25:19] >> Even though you've had record margins.

[25:21] >> We have had record margins, but this

[25:23] time we've got to up the ante just a

[25:25] little bit. Over these past 72 hours,

[25:28] thousands of volunteers like Lynch and

[25:30] Littleton have fanned out across the

[25:32] state in an unprecedented get out the

[25:34] vote effort to try to win Colorado's

[25:36] nine electoral votes for their

[25:37] candidate.

[25:38] >> In uh in a state otherwise that doesn't

[25:42] easily vote for liberals.

[25:44] >> Tom Cronin teaches political science at

[25:46] Colorado College. On this morning, he

[25:48] met with students over breakfast. Cronin

[25:51] thinks this election will be very

[25:52] different than the last. I believe this

[25:55] will be a historic election in terms of

[25:57] turnout. Uh we're likely to see, you

[26:00] know, 20 million, 30 million more people

[26:02] voting. The whole use of the internet,

[26:04] the whole use of fundraising, the whole

[26:06] use of uh campaign offices and

[26:08] remarkable get out the vote kind of

[26:10] activities.

[26:11] >> While both campaigns use a variety of

[26:13] strategies to reach voters, the Obama

[26:16] campaign points to its field offices in

[26:18] Colorado towns of all sizes. and

[26:20] Philippic is the election director for

[26:22] the Obama Colorado campaign.

[26:25] >> We have 51 offices open across the state

[26:27] and really uh making an effort to be in

[26:29] the community to be accessible to voters

[26:31] to make sure that they have a place they

[26:33] can stop by on their way home from work

[26:34] or the grocery store. Um and we've seen

[26:36] that payoff. You know, we we can see I

[26:38] think you can feel um the momentum that

[26:41] we're gaining.

[26:42] >> And you're bilingual, right? Lynch says

[26:45] she spent most of her time talking to

[26:46] Latinos in her neighborhood and

[26:48] organizing rallies with Hispanic

[26:50] politicians.

[26:51] >> And Obama cares about all of us,

[26:53] regardless of what color we are or where

[26:56] we come from.

[26:57] >> Latinos make up 17% of the Colorado

[27:00] population, but only 8% voted in the

[27:02] last presidential election.

[27:04] >> We registered over 300 people uh lat

[27:08] mostly Latinos and Latinos that had

[27:10] never voted before. So a lot of them the

[27:13] process is very intimidating for them to

[27:15] think of going down and having to

[27:17] register. So us doing the outreach was

[27:19] really really critical.

[27:20] >> I'm a volunteer calling out McCain.

[27:22] >> The McCain campaign has 12 field offices

[27:25] in Colorado. They're relying less on new

[27:27] registrants and more on longtime

[27:29] reliable GOP voters like these soccer

[27:32] moms.

[27:33] >> My dad John McCain. The campaign has

[27:36] held several events like this one,

[27:38] bringing in John McCain's daughter to

[27:40] read to children while their mothers

[27:41] made calls to persuade other suburban

[27:43] women to vote Republican.

[27:45] >> For the first time, we actually have

[27:46] phone banks that feed into a central

[27:48] data system and that are collecting all

[27:50] of this information for us. I mean, 3

[27:53] weeks ago, we had more data and

[27:54] information than we did the day after

[27:55] the election back in 2004. So, we're

[27:58] being more efficient. We're being more

[27:59] effective and a whole lot more

[28:01] streamlined in our uh efforts. Are you

[28:03] planning to vote for John McCain and

[28:04] Sarah Palin?

[28:05] >> The McCain campaign emphasizes its

[28:07] sophisticated microtargeting of voters.

[28:10] Tom Kis is the spokesman for the McCain

[28:12] campaign in Colorado.

[28:14] >> We lay over um consumer data over the

[28:16] top of voter and polling data, come up

[28:19] with a vote model for who we think our

[28:20] voters are going to be. We look at them

[28:22] not only based on their registration,

[28:24] but who they are and how they live. Um

[28:27] in addition to where they live

[28:28] geographically and what their zip code

[28:30] is. So all this stuff goes into a into a

[28:32] formula into a pattern and we can from

[28:35] that derive who we think our voters are

[28:37] going to be and then contact them based

[28:39] on the issues that we think they're

[28:40] going to care about the most.

[28:41] >> Over the last 10 days, the McCain

[28:43] campaign targeted small businessmen and

[28:45] contractors, a group they felt they most

[28:48] needed to reach. The main issue, taxes.

[28:51] That's why Senator McCain recently

[28:52] toured a metal stamping plant in

[28:54] Colorado Springs. and why Joe the

[28:56] plumber has become a staple in his stump

[28:59] speech like this one in Denver 10 days

[29:01] ago.

[29:02] >> We finally learned what Senator Obama's

[29:04] economic goal is. As he told Joe the

[29:08] plumber back in Ohio, he wants to quote

[29:11] spread the wealth around.

[29:14] >> The tax issue has resonated with

[29:16] electrician Greg Hall, who participated

[29:18] in a campaign event aimed at other small

[29:20] contractors. It means we're going to be

[29:23] become like the the rest of the

[29:25] industrialized world with 50 to 70%

[29:28] taxes in order to pay for that. And and

[29:30] that's going to definitely create less

[29:32] jobs and uh and and be a real burden.

[29:36] >> It's even persuaded contractor Chris

[29:38] Sandival, a former Democrat, to vote for

[29:40] McCain.

[29:41] >> I've been working since I was 12 years

[29:42] old. I didn't get my first new shirt,

[29:44] first new shirt because I was 13 in my

[29:46] family till I was 12 years old and I

[29:48] bought a chair. And I'll be darn if if

[29:50] I'm going to let somebody that's never

[29:52] went out and earned anything take that

[29:54] from you.

[29:55] >> But dog trainer John Hendershot says he

[29:57] thinks McCain is pandering to people

[29:59] like him. He's a Republican who voted

[30:02] for George Bush in the last two

[30:03] elections but won't vote Republican this

[30:05] time.

[30:06] >> I think that health insurance is

[30:07] important. Certainly to me as I grow

[30:09] older it becomes more and more

[30:10] important. Uh

[30:13] and a wide variety of things that the

[30:15] Republicans just don't seem to address.

[30:17] and they can try to appeal to the middle

[30:19] class, but I get I get angry when I hear

[30:21] them say that because it's almost like

[30:22] they think they can they can uh they're

[30:25] talking to idiots and I don't like to

[30:27] think of myself as an idiot. I mean, I

[30:29] was for 8 years, but I'm trying to fix

[30:31] that now.

[30:32] >> And don't forget to get that ballot in

[30:33] cuz every vote is going to count.

[30:34] >> Healthcare is also the main issue that

[30:36] motivated nurse and union activist

[30:38] Michael Kingsbury to go doortodoor for

[30:40] the Obama campaign. On a day like this,

[30:44] we'll probably knock on 150 doors. And

[30:46] if 25 of them are home, I'll be glad.

[30:49] And if I have five conversations that

[30:52] that that move somebody, then and if

[30:55] there's a thousand other people out here

[30:56] like me that have five conversations,

[30:58] there you go. You know, I mean, I've

[31:00] been in races before where where the

[31:02] person won or lost by 100 votes or 200

[31:05] votes.

[31:05] >> This year, get out the vote activities

[31:07] started much earlier than usual.

[31:10] >> Thanks for voting early with us. That's

[31:11] because for the past two weeks,

[31:13] Coloradoatans could vote early at

[31:14] polling places or by mail. The Obama

[31:17] campaign made it a top priority to get

[31:19] voters to the polls early because they

[31:21] fear long lines on election day

[31:23] discourage Democratic voters.

[31:25] >> Hi, this is Senator Barack Obama. How

[31:27] are you?

[31:27] >> Last week, Senator Obama himself was

[31:29] making calls at a Fort Collins field

[31:31] office and he made a pitch to tens of

[31:33] thousands of people in Denver.

[31:35] >> How many people have early voted? Raise

[31:37] your hands. Uh, keep your hands up. If

[31:40] you haven't early voted, find somebody

[31:42] next to you who's early voted and find

[31:44] out what you need to do.

[31:47] >> The Secretary of State's office

[31:49] estimates that about half of Colorado's

[31:51] registered voters will cast their

[31:53] ballots by mail or in early voting. The

[31:56] latest polls give Obama a slight edge in

[31:58] this normally Republican leaning state.

[32:00] But neither party is taking anything for

[32:03] granted as the campaigns continued to

[32:05] blitz the state in the final days and

[32:07] hours. Thanks very much.

[32:09] >> Some former presidential candidates

[32:11] campaigned here over the weekend.

[32:12] General Wesley Clark on behalf of

[32:14] Senator Obama and Governor Mitt Romney

[32:16] for Senator McCain. And tonight,

[32:18] Michelle Obama and Sarah Palin will hold

[32:21] rallies just hours before the polls

[32:24] open.

[32:25] >> And now back to Gwen.

[32:27] >> I'm joined once again by Andy Kohut and

[32:29] Amy Walter. Andy, I may have called you

[32:31] Stew when I said goodbye. Welcome back.

[32:33] Welcome back. Let me ask you a little

[32:34] bit about this last minute get out the

[32:36] vote push. How important is that at this

[32:38] stage?

[32:39] >> Extremely important. Uh turnout is what

[32:41] this is all about. Uh we see larger

[32:45] percentages than four years ago of key

[32:48] Obama constituencies in our likely voter

[32:50] models. The percentage of

[32:51] African-Americans has gone from 11% four

[32:54] years ago to to uh from 8% four years

[32:57] ago to 11%. That's proportionately a big

[33:00] increase. We see the same thing among

[33:01] younger voters. But in the past week,

[33:04] we've seen Republicans unlike earlier in

[33:06] this in the cycle. Uh Republicans

[33:09] energized as well to the point where we

[33:11] get the traditional difference in this

[33:13] poll between registered we get the

[33:16] Republican candidate getting a boost

[33:18] when we narrow from registered voters to

[33:21] to likely voters. We hadn't seen that

[33:23] prior to our most recent poll. This is a

[33:26] long-winded way of saying the

[33:27] Republicans are are are getting with it

[33:29] too, it seems. What about the the great

[33:32] vaunted independent voter who we've been

[33:34] heard so much about? Andy's poll has

[33:35] them at 45% for Obama and 39% for

[33:39] McCain. Amy,

[33:40] >> well, I think they're going to be very

[33:41] important. And again, this goes back to

[33:42] not to get into intricacies of polling,

[33:44] but h how many people we determine are

[33:46] actually truly independent versus how

[33:47] many people are identifying as Democrats

[33:49] or Republicans, but the bigger

[33:51] [clears throat] problem, and and Pew had

[33:53] noted this earlier in the year, is that

[33:55] fewer people are identifying as

[33:58] Republicans. more uh more people are

[34:00] identifying as independents. These may

[34:02] have been Republicans a couple of years

[34:04] ago uh and now they're they're they're

[34:07] voting they're saying that they're

[34:08] independents and the fact that Obama is

[34:10] leading among that group suggests that

[34:12] it's not just your traditional these

[34:15] down the line people that say I've

[34:16] always been an independent but many of

[34:18] them are like we saw in this piece some

[34:19] disaffected Republicans.

[34:21] >> We've also seen a big difference this

[34:23] year. I think as much as a third of the

[34:25] vote is being cast early. these early

[34:27] voters who we've seen lining up in these

[34:29] amazing lines. Andy, who are they

[34:32] breaking for?

[34:33] >> Uh 54% Obama, 36% for McCain, which is

[34:37] obviously a bigger difference than what

[34:38] we have overall. When we look at the

[34:41] people who say they're going to vote on

[34:42] election day, it's dead even between

[34:44] Obama and McCain. So, the early voters

[34:48] are disproportionately Obama. And what's

[34:51] going to happen tomorrow is a more even

[34:53] split if this poll is accurate. But is

[34:56] that the way you read it as well?

[34:57] >> Yeah. I mean, the reason campaigns love

[34:59] early voting is because it's voters in

[35:01] the bank now. They know exactly who they

[35:03] need to contact tomorrow to make sure

[35:04] that those additional folks get to the

[35:06] polls. I mean, I'll be very curious to

[35:08] see what uh the numbers finally look

[35:10] like in Georgia and North Carolina where

[35:12] the African-American turnout has been

[35:14] phenomenal. 35% in Georgia in a state

[35:17] that has normally you've seen maybe 25%

[35:19] turnout among African-Americans. So, we

[35:22] don't know how much that number then

[35:24] will be diluted by voting on election

[35:27] day, but it still suggests that we're

[35:29] going to have it's going to be a big big

[35:30] number.

[35:30] >> Well, it's hard to imagine at this late

[35:32] date that people are still undecided,

[35:34] but I think there's seven or eight% who

[35:36] are showing up as saying or at least

[35:37] telling pollsters that they haven't made

[35:38] up their minds. Where do they go?

[35:40] >> Well, we know that half of those people

[35:42] don't vote because after the election,

[35:44] we look up what the undecideds did. We

[35:46] have a we can go see if they voted or

[35:48] not. We know half of them don't vote.

[35:49] So, so they just tell people that

[35:51] >> they tell people, you know, they're

[35:52] they're they're still in the game, but

[35:53] they end up not voting. Our model

[35:56] suggests they're breaking a little bit

[35:58] to McCain. They look demographically and

[36:00] attitudinally

[36:01] 55 to 45 split for McCain. So,

[36:04] >> enough to make a difference, Amy.

[36:05] >> Not enough to make a difference. Not

[36:06] when you're looking at if it's this is

[36:08] this ultimately then is 3% in a poll

[36:11] where Obama's leading by five or six or

[36:14] eight. It's not it's not going to be

[36:16] enough.

[36:17] >> Okay. Amy Walter and Andy Kohut. Thank

[36:20] you both very much.

[36:22] >> Our campaign coverage continues online.

[36:25] As always, just go to pbs.org and then

[36:28] scroll down to NewsHour Reports.

[36:37] Now, that Supreme Court argument about

[36:39] limiting lawsuits against drug

[36:41] companies. Margaret Warner has our

[36:43] story.

[36:44] The case involves Diana Lavine, a

[36:46] Vermont woman whose arm had to be

[36:48] amputated after she was injected with an

[36:50] anti-nausea drug. She successfully sued

[36:53] the drug's manufacturer, Wyth

[36:55] Pharmaceutical, in state court. The

[36:58] company contends her suit is preempted

[37:00] by federal law because the drug and its

[37:02] label were FDA approved. Today, the high

[37:05] court heard arguments from both sides.

[37:07] And here to walk us through the case is

[37:08] NewsHour regular Marshia Coyle of the

[37:10] National Law Journal. Marcia, hello. Hi

[37:13] Margaret.

[37:14] >> Now [snorts] this is a particularly

[37:15] painful tale given Diana Lavine's

[37:17] profession. What happened?

[37:19] >> Uh Diana Lavine is was a bass guitarist

[37:23] and a composer of children's music. She

[37:26] went to a clinic for medicine to assist

[37:30] her in a m migraine related nausea. Uh

[37:33] the drug that was used and has been used

[37:35] since about 1955 was fenergan and uh it

[37:40] was administered through uh injection

[37:43] into an IV line that was supposedly

[37:48] going into a vein in her arm, but

[37:50] unfortunately and tragically it went

[37:52] into an artery. And when it when that

[37:54] happens, when it mixes with arterial

[37:56] blood, the result is gang green. She

[37:59] lost first her hand and then later her

[38:01] forearm.

[38:03] And uh a jury in Vermont

[38:06] gave her a big judgment against Wyth.

[38:08] >> They did. The jury found that Wyth uh

[38:12] should have had uh more adequate warning

[38:15] on the label for the drug and awarded

[38:18] her a little over $6 million in damages.

[38:21] Uh the Vermont Supreme Court agreed with

[38:23] the jury and Wyth today is taking Lavine

[38:27] to the Supreme Court in which we heard

[38:28] the arguments. All

[38:29] >> right. So what were the what was the

[38:31] lith Wyth lawyer contending today in

[38:33] saying this wasn't Wyth's

[38:35] responsibility?

[38:36] >> Wyth said it really can't serve two

[38:38] masters here. It can't serve the Food

[38:41] and Drug Administration which requires

[38:43] it to put certain information on its

[38:45] labels and and explicit information on

[38:49] its labels. And it can't serve a state

[38:51] court jury which says it should have

[38:53] used a different kind of label. That

[38:55] creates a conflict. And when there's a

[38:58] conflict like that, federal law preempts

[39:01] the state personal injury suit.

[39:03] >> Now, what did, and we're talking really

[39:05] about these inserts that we get when we

[39:07] have when we get a prescription drug,

[39:08] those many pages of thin little print

[39:12] and thin paper. What did the warnings

[39:14] say? The warnings uh in several sections

[39:18] in the labeling package laid out risks

[39:21] associated with intravenous use of

[39:25] fineran. And um there is a conflict here

[39:30] between the lawyers in the case over

[39:32] whether the the labeling and the FDA in

[39:36] particular really addressed the risk

[39:39] associated with IV push which is putting

[39:42] the syringe into the IV line that goes

[39:45] into the vein. So now the lawyers for

[39:48] Diana Lavine, what was their argument?

[39:50] That in fact, despite the fact this was

[39:53] an FDA approved insert, that the company

[39:56] had to do more.

[39:58] Lavine's lawyer, David Frederick, said

[40:00] there is no conflict here between what

[40:03] Wyth has to do with federal law and what

[40:05] it has to do under state duty of care.

[40:09] Because there is a provision in the

[40:11] federal law that allows a drug

[40:13] manufacturer to come forward at any time

[40:16] when there's information of a particular

[40:19] risk and strengthen the warning label.

[40:22] Mr. Frederick contends Wyth knew about

[40:25] the risk associated with uh uh the drug

[40:28] and gang green uh at least in the 1970s

[40:32] through the 80s and 90s and should have

[40:34] come forward and strengthened the

[40:36] warnings on the label or have pro have

[40:39] uh provided information that would have

[40:41] banned the use of IV push with this

[40:44] drug.

[40:45] >> How did the justices respond? Well, with

[40:48] Wyth, uh, the the judges justices first

[40:51] were somewhat skeptical of a conflict

[40:54] here and Justice Ginsburgg, you know,

[40:57] raised the issue, uh, well, you know,

[41:00] the the warning labels talk about

[41:02] intravenous injection, but they really

[41:04] don't mention IV push. So, really, was

[41:08] this an adequate warning? And Mr. uh

[41:11] Seth Waxman who represents Wyth argued

[41:13] that there were ample warnings uh on in

[41:17] the labeling package. Justice Alo had a

[41:19] very basic question. He said, "How could

[41:21] the FDA find this drug was safe if the

[41:25] risk was gang green?" And Justice

[41:27] Ginsburg also picked that up saying that

[41:31] clearly, you know, could the benefit

[41:33] outweigh the risk when such a dramatic

[41:36] risk was uh at issue here? And Mr.

[41:39] Waxman again he said that the labeling

[41:43] contained ample warnings and it gave a

[41:45] hierarchy of uses by physicians and you

[41:48] don't always want to take away one

[41:50] particular option like the IV push.

[41:53] >> Now what's at issue here is this

[41:55] doctrine of preeemption. Explain that.

[41:58] It's basically a doctrine that bars

[42:01] injured consumers from going into state

[42:04] courts uh because there's a federal law

[42:07] that controls the the area that the

[42:10] consumer is suing them.

[42:11] >> So potentially what how wide are the

[42:13] ramifications of a ruling in this case?

[42:15] >> This has really wide ramifications.

[42:18] First of all, this particular law in

[42:20] terms of drug regulation doesn't have an

[42:23] option for consumers to go into federal

[42:25] court. So if this suit is preempted,

[42:28] injured consumers are basically out of

[42:30] luck. Secondly, whatever the court says

[42:33] about this kind of preeemption, implied

[42:35] preeemption in a law, will could very

[42:38] well impact consumers who are suing for

[42:41] injuries from motor vehicles, from

[42:44] chemicals, pesticides, even household

[42:46] products.

[42:48] >> So much much broader than just FDA

[42:50] approved products.

[42:52] >> Absolutely. And of course, it's

[42:53] extremely significant to Diana Lavine.

[42:56] >> Absolutely. Well, Marcia, thank you.

[42:58] >> You're welcome. My pleasure.

[43:05] [music]

[43:07] >> Finally tonight, the ripple effects of

[43:09] the global financial crisis. Jeffrey

[43:11] Brown has that story. a local school

[43:13] district in Wisconsin, a German bank

[43:16] operating out of Ireland, collateralized

[43:18] debt obligations, and many millions of

[43:21] dollars that may now be gone. For the

[43:23] last months, we've talked a lot about

[43:25] the global financial crisis and its web

[43:27] of consequences. A pair of reports by

[43:29] the New York Times and National Public

[43:32] Radio present a case study that may well

[43:34] stand for many more around the country.

[43:36] Here to tell us about it are Charles

[43:38] Doohig of the Times and Adam Davidson of

[43:41] NPR's Planet Money team. So Charles

[43:43] Doohig, this all started with a fairly

[43:45] common problem. A local school board, in

[43:48] this case in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin,

[43:50] wanted to prop up its teacher retirement

[43:52] plan.

[43:53] >> Exactly. The Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

[43:56] school board and four other local school

[43:58] boards had what many states and school

[44:01] boards and municipalities have a problem

[44:03] propping up their retirement funds. the

[44:06] health care costs were growing and they

[44:07] needed a way to put some money aside to

[44:09] deal with the future. So they turned to

[44:11] their financial adviser and asked him

[44:13] for his advice and he told them about

[44:15] something called a collateralized debt

[44:17] obligation or a CDO which is one of the

[44:19] most complicated financial products

[44:21] that's out there although they didn't

[44:22] know that at the time.

[44:24] >> And you know in reading your account to

[44:26] the question of why they would turn to

[44:27] these very uh uh complicated instruments

[44:30] it almost sounds like well that's what

[44:32] everybody was doing. I that's how it was

[44:34] presented and and you know until

[44:36] recently if you'll remember basically

[44:38] everyone thought that there was an

[44:39] opportunity to get rich in the global

[44:41] economy. We we've been hearing about New

[44:43] York bank Wall Street bankers getting

[44:45] rich and governments and cities being

[44:47] able to solve their problems by turning

[44:48] to the stock market and these more and

[44:50] more exotic financial products and the

[44:52] schoolboard members thought this is

[44:54] their chance

[44:55] >> and it is very complicated to explain

[44:56] these things but basically the idea is

[44:58] they borrow a lot of money to guarantee

[45:01] other debt. It it works through various

[45:03] instruments at the same time, but

[45:04] they're hoping to make a good profit.

[45:05] Right.

[45:06] >> Exactly. They borrowed the the five

[45:08] school districts borrowed $165 million

[45:11] from a small German bank that was

[45:13] located in Ireland and put in 35 million

[45:15] of their own money to buy essentially or

[45:18] to sell essentially what was insurance

[45:20] on a collection of bonds and then they

[45:22] they expected to get income every

[45:23] quarter.

[45:24] >> All right, Adam Davidson, let me bring

[45:25] you in. We we mentioned this this bank

[45:28] DEPA. Now it I gather tried to make

[45:31] itself into kind of a global player.

[45:34] Tell us tell us its role in this.

[45:36] >> Yeah, DEPA was a small German bank. It

[45:39] it actually was started by the Prussian

[45:41] state in the 1920s and it eventually

[45:44] moved uh to Dublin a few years ago to

[45:46] become this global powerhouse in the uh

[45:50] in public finance basically helping

[45:53] municipalities all over the world. They

[45:55] they went from really not existing

[45:57] outside of Germany to having offices in

[45:59] dozens of cities and countries around

[46:02] the world and in a very short period of

[46:04] time became central to how US

[46:07] municipalities, school boards and park

[46:09] districts and sewer districts all over

[46:11] the country find funding to fund their

[46:14] products. Basically, DEPO focused on

[46:17] this uh single-mindedly. we can now look

[46:19] back and see that they rode this big

[46:22] financial bubble to to to big heights.

[46:25] Uh and that having one line of business,

[46:29] this this public financing line of

[46:31] business is not such a good place to be

[46:34] right now. It might have been wonderful

[46:36] for the three or four years that it

[46:38] allowed them to grow so fast.

[46:39] >> Well, [clears throat] Adam, Adam, tell

[46:40] us what I mean, the obvious question is

[46:42] what went wrong? I mean, how did

[46:44] something affecting a bank in Ireland uh

[46:47] then spring back and come and start

[46:49] affecting uh school districts in

[46:51] Wisconsin?

[46:52] >> Yeah. Well, the school district in

[46:54] Wisconsin affected the bank in Ireland

[46:56] by taking out this loan and uh they

[46:58] still are paying we should say they they

[47:01] they still are paying their loan fees,

[47:03] but the fact that they are likely to be

[47:06] in a position where they can't pay the

[47:08] loan back means that DEA has to write

[47:10] down the value of that loan. But

[47:11] municipalities all over the US have had

[47:14] to call on DEPA have have had to uh

[47:18] basically call bonds back to DEPA which

[47:20] is forcing DEPA into a massive liquidity

[47:23] crisis. A few weeks ago when all these

[47:26] banks were having trouble in the US DEPA

[47:27] came very close to collapsing. They're

[47:30] based in Dublin but the Irish government

[47:32] just said hey you're not our problem.

[47:33] You're owned by some German bank. We're

[47:35] not getting we're not having anything to

[47:36] do with you. The German government

[47:38] quickly realized that if DEPA, this

[47:40] Irish bank went down, they would bring

[47:42] down their parent company, one of the

[47:43] biggest banks in Ireland, Hypo Real

[47:45] Estate, and then that would truly

[47:47] collapse the German economy. And then it

[47:50] springs back. That's what's so

[47:51] fascinating about this tale. It goes

[47:53] from Wisconsin to Ireland to Germany,

[47:54] then back to the US because DEPA was so

[47:57] central to how municipalities fund

[47:59] themselves that they're near collapse

[48:01] and and now they they haven't been

[48:03] collapsed because they were saved by the

[48:05] German government, but they're much

[48:07] their operations are much smaller.

[48:08] Municipalities all over the US are

[48:11] having a harder time finding funding,

[48:13] which means it means fewer hospitals,

[48:15] fewer parks, fewer sewers in the US. So,

[48:18] Charles Doohig, uh, what are the

[48:20] consequences then for the school

[48:23] district in terms of the retirement

[48:25] fund, in terms of potential budget cuts,

[48:28] and does it have any legal recourse at

[48:30] this point?

[48:31] >> The the school the school districts have

[48:32] filed suit to try and get their money

[48:34] back. The the recourse is that if they

[48:37] lose this $200 million that they've

[48:40] invested, they could very well be in a

[48:41] situation where they have to start not

[48:44] replacing teachers who retire or cutting

[48:47] classes that are non- essential to

[48:49] students education like art or or drama.

[48:53] And there's another consequence to this,

[48:54] which is that as Adam was saying, all of

[48:56] these municipalities such as the the New

[48:59] York Metropolitan Transit Authority, the

[49:00] guys who run the subway, or agencies in

[49:03] Colorado and California who help home

[49:05] buyers get lowcost loans for their first

[49:08] home, all of them are now having to pay

[49:11] extra fees because DEPA is in trouble.

[49:14] And that that's a shock wave that moves

[49:16] through the American financial system

[49:17] and impacts all of these states all over

[49:19] the country. And so what we're going to

[49:21] see, not just because of DEPA, but DEPA

[49:24] as an example of this, is over the next

[49:25] couple of years, massive numbers of

[49:27] cities and states and local counties and

[49:29] municipalities are going to be telling

[49:30] people either we have to t raise taxes

[49:33] or we have to cut services because we've

[49:36] been impacted by the global economy in a

[49:38] way that never would have happened even

[49:40] a decade ago.

[49:40] >> But Charles, you you've you talked to

[49:42] many of the people who were originally

[49:44] involved in the in the school district,

[49:45] for example, stay with Wisconsin. Sure.

[49:48] >> Do they tell you that they didn't know

[49:49] what they were getting into? I mean,

[49:51] what are they saying now?

[49:52] >> Well, what they say now is they say that

[49:54] they had a financial adviser who

[49:55] misexplained this investment to them.

[49:58] And and they'll fully concede. They got,

[50:00] you know, this this huge perspectus 3 in

[50:03] thick that explained the investment, but

[50:05] their schoolboard members, they didn't

[50:07] read it. They relied on the advice of

[50:09] their adviser. And their adviser, in

[50:11] turn, says that he didn't really

[50:12] understand what he was selling them in

[50:14] the first place. You know, all over the

[50:16] country, there's these small school

[50:17] boards and other municip municipal

[50:19] boards. These are essentially volunteer

[50:21] positions. People get elected, but for

[50:23] instance, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, you get

[50:25] paid $4,200 a year to sit on the school

[50:27] board. Everyone else has another job. In

[50:30] another school board, there's housewives

[50:31] on it and local salesmen. And so, it's

[50:34] not they're not prepared to read these

[50:36] thick documents and really understand

[50:38] the global financial system. And

[50:40] unfortunately, there was no one else to

[50:41] had an incentive to really educate them.

[50:43] So, Adam, just in our last minute,

[50:45] clearly some people made a lot of money

[50:47] and and no doubt in this in this case as

[50:49] well, but you're both expecting that

[50:51] we're going to hear many more of these

[50:52] kinds of stories around the country, I

[50:54] guess, in the coming days and weeks.

[50:56] >> Yeah. Because I I don't see any

[50:58] particular villains here. I think pretty

[51:00] much everyone from Wisconsin to Ireland

[51:01] to Germany, back to the municipalities

[51:04] here, they were just all part of this

[51:06] global kind of mass belief that that

[51:11] this bubble represented. And yeah, it it

[51:14] is far bigger than the institutions

[51:15] we've talked about here. This is just

[51:17] one thread. It is a fully woven rug of

[51:20] of uh despair that that we'll will, you

[51:23] know, reporters like us will continue to

[51:25] pick at.

[51:26] >> All right, Adam Davidson of NPR, Charles

[51:28] Doohig of New York Times. Thank you both

[51:30] very much.

[51:31] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[51:40] And again, the major developments of the

[51:41] day. The last minutes of the 2008

[51:44] presidential campaign began their final

[51:46] ticking on this election eve. And a UN

[51:49] aid convoy reached refugees in eastern

[51:52] Congo for the first time since August.

[51:55] We we'll see you online and again here

[51:58] tomorrow evening. first here on the

[52:00] NewsHour and then beginning at 900 p.m.

[52:02] Eastern time with our one-stop election

[52:05] night coverage that will include

[52:07] projections and calls by all news

[52:09] organizations as well as our own

[52:11] analysis and reaction among many other

[52:14] things. For now, I'm Jim Lara. Thank you

[52:17] and good night.

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