Sarah Palin was mum when asked what publications she reads.

(CNN) — Sarah Palin has had a sometimes-tense relationship with the media since being named to the Republican ticket – so reporters have been wondering: which news outlet does get her seal of approval? Where does she get her news?

After watching Palin respond to the question during a CBS interview broadcast Tuesday night – they’re still wondering.

In an interview broadcast Tuesday night, Katie Couric Palin which newspapers and magazines she had regularly read in the past to “stay informed and to understand the world?”

Replied Palin: “I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media…”

The Alaska governor declined to get specific when pressed by Couric to name a specific publication. “Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years,” she said.

Asked again which news organizations she was referring to, Palin told Couric she had “a vast variety of sources where we get our news.

“Alaska isn’t a foreign country where it’s kind of suggested that things like ‘Wow, how could you keep in touch with the rest of what Washington DC may be thinking and doing when you live up in Alaska. Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.”

No major newspaper or magazine has yet gotten the ultimate seal of approval from Palin: her much-sought interviews since becoming the Republican nominee have gone to the nation’s television networks.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Senate plans to vote on the $700 billion bank rescue plan Wednesday evening — two days after the House failed to pass it.

The bill adds provisions — include raising the FDIC insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 — and will be attached to an existing revenue bill that the House also rejected Monday, according to several Democratic leadership aides.

The vote is scheduled for after sundown, in observance of the Jewish holiday. Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden confirmed that they would be present for the vote.

The bill also includes a "Mental Health Parity" provision, which would require health insurance companies to cover mental illness at parity with physical illness.

Democratic sources told CNN that they expect bipartisan support for the bill. Because tax bill must originate in the House, the Senate is attaching the rescue plan to a bill that deals with renewable energy tax incentives.

This would allow the Senate to vote before the House to approve a bailout bill.

More

The McCain campaign called Sen. Obama a hypocrite in a web video released Tuesday.

The Statement: In a Web video released Tuesday, September 30, the McCain campaign points out that Obama attacked McCain after McCain said repeatedly in mid September that the fundamentals of the economy are "strong." The video then uses a clip from an Obama speech in which Obama says, "We've got the long-term fundamentals that will really make sure this economy grows." The narrator says, "Strong fundamentals? Is Obama saying McCain's right? Or is Obama saying his own attacks are shameless? Either way, Obama's a hypocrite."

Get the facts!

Read the rest of this entry »

The McCain campaign released a new television ad Tuesday.

The Statement: A television ad titled "Rein," released Tuesday, September 30 by Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, repeats a claim McCain has made repeatedly on the campaign trail — that he called for more oversight of lending institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "John McCain fought to rein in Fannie and Freddie," the ad's narrators says, before citing media reports on McCain's efforts.

Get the facts!

Read the rest of this entry »

The first presidential debate did little to change the dynamics of the presidential race, new polls show. (Getty Images)

(CNN) – Nearly 60 million Americans tuned in to the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain last Friday, but national polls released this week suggest the square-off did little to change the dynamics of the race.

The new polls are bad news for McCain, who with only five weeks until Election Day is quickly running out of opportunities to shake up the race for the White House.

In a new CNN poll of polls consisting of surveys conducted entirely after the first presidential debate, Obama holds a 5-point lead over McCain, 48-43 percent. That's exactly where the race stood immediately before the two candidates kicked off the presidential debate season in Oxford, Mississippi, four days ago.

“The ruling on last Friday’s presidential debate is in, and it’s a split decision,” said CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib. “The debate changed nothing. Obama’s supporters aren’t shifting to McCain, McCain’s supporters aren’t shifting to Obama, and undecided voters are still undecided.

But the poll numbers come even as surveys conducted by several media organizations immediately after the debate showed most viewers thought Obama had won. However the polls also showed the debate viewers appeared to be more Democratic than the overall population.  (Related: CNN analysts grade McCain, Obama debate performances)

"Unfortunately for McCain, a continuation of the status quo favors Obama," Silverleib also said. "The pressure is increasing on McCain to find some way to change the fundamental dynamics of this race. He can’t afford to walk away with a tie in the remaining debates.”

McCain and Obama next square off October 7 in a debate that features a town-hall format — a set up that McCain favors. VP candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden have their only debate on Thursday.

The McCain campaign is highlighting a recent Clinton interview in a new ad.

(CNN) — As he gears up to hit the campaign trail on behalf of Barack Obama later this week, former President Bill Clinton is the star of a new television ad — for John McCain.

Watch: New McCain ad features Bill Clinton

The Arizona senator's campaign is highlighting Clinton's remarks in an interview with ABC News last week during which he appeared to lay some of the blame of the current economic crisis on congressional Democrats.

"I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Clinton said in the ABC News interview that is highlighted in the new McCain ad.

The announcer of the one-minute spot called "Rein" cites McCain's call for more regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago and said "Democrats blocked the reforms."

"Loans soared. Then, the bubble burst. And, taxpayers are on the hook for billions. Bill Clinton knows who is responsible," the announcer also says.

But in the same interview with ABC, Clinton also said it is important not to assign blame at this time for the current state of the economy: "We are where we are. I think the most important thing is we got two candidates for president saying 'lets try to minimize the partisan differences,'" he said. "We will have plenty of time later to look at who caused this and what mistakes were made."

Those comments did not make it into the McCain ad.

The ad comes days after some Democrats grumbled the former president appeared to be overly praiseworthy of the Arizona senator as the final stretch of the heated presidential campaign gets under way. In the same interview with ABC News, Clinton defended McCain's call to possibly push back the first debate, saying it was a pledge made in "good faith." He also later said the Arizona senator had taken the lead in his party when it comes to climate change.

Part III of the Couric-Palin interview will air tonight.

Last Friday, we ran a piece of tape from an interview Governor Sarah Palin did with "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric. She was asked about the bailout package. Palin rambled on incoherently for nearly a minute about trade, jobs, health care… Everything but the bailout package.

That segment of the Cafferty File was posted on YouTube and as of today has received more than one million, one hundred thousand hits.

Watch: Jack Cafferty's YouTube Clip

Well guess what? She's ba-ack.

To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here

Sen. McCain said Sen. Obama never supported the bailout bill.

The Statement:
After a House of Representatives vote on a financial bailout failed, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an aide to Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, said Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama never voiced support for the plan. "Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain and refused to even say if he supported the final bill," Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior financial adviser, said in a written statement.

Get the facts!

Read the rest of this entry »

Obama campaigned in Reno Tuesday.

RENO, Nevada (CNN) — Barack Obama held a rally in Reno Nevada earlier Tuesday, during which he called for Congress to pass a new version of the economic bailout bill.

"While there is plenty of blame to go around and many in Washington and on Wall Street who deserve it, all of us now have a responsibility to solve this crisis because it affects the financial well-being of every single American," he is expected to say. "There will be time to punish those who set this fire, but now is the moment for us to come together and put the fire out."

Read Obama's full prepared remarks

Read the rest of this entry »

Sarah Palin met with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari last week during the UNGA.

SEDONA, Arizona (CNN) – In a Tuesday interview on CNN’s American Morning, John McCain dismissed news reports about Sarah Palin’s pronouncement that the United States should “absolutely” attack terrorists within Pakistan as nothing more than “sound bite politics.”

But McCain refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden’s recent criticisms of clean coal — comments used by the McCain campaign in a radio ad and Web video — occurred under similar off-the-cuff circumstances.

John Roberts asked McCain about his joint interview with Palin on Monday’s CBS Evening News, in which both candidates asserted that Palin’s caught-on-camera remarks constituted “gotcha journalism.”

“But at the same time you have gone after Senator Biden for a comment that he made under similar circumstances about clean coal technology,” Roberts asked. “Your campaign even released a video of part of his comments. Was that gotcha politics?”

“Well, I believe it was at a town hall meeting that he said it,” McCain said of Biden. “This was — hers was in an encounter in a pizza parlor where the question was framed so that of course we're going to go after terrorists.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The Statement
In a recent interview on CNN's "American Morning," Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, challenged ads from the campaign of Republican Sen. John McCain, declaring, "They are saying Barack Obama supported sex education for kindergartners when all he said was we're trying to — we should teach our kids how to avoid predators. It's very misleading." Is the ad's sex-education claim true?

Get the facts!

Read the rest of this entry »

McCain held a business round table in Iowa Tuesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — John McCain called on Congress to work to pass a new version of the economic bailout bill in an economic round table in Des Moines Tuesday morning.

Watch: 'Greatest financial crisis,"  McCain says

"I am disappointed at the lack of resolve and bipartisan good will among members of both parties to fix this problem," he said. "Bipartisanship is a tough thing; never more so when you’re trying to take necessary but publicly unpopular action. But inaction is not an option."

Read McCain's prepared remarks after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN)— There’s fallout on Capitol Hill after the House rejected a $700 billion financial bailout bill. In the latest installment of CNN=Politics Daily, CNN’s Kate Bolduan reports on why the bill failed and what it will take to make it pass, while White House Correspondent Ed Henry has the candidates reaction to yesterday’s turmoil.

Plus: Whoever is elected in November will have a slue of concerns facing him on the first day. CNN’s Christine Romans reports on the economic mess the next president will inherit.

Finally: Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden are actively preparing for Thursday night’s debate. CNN’s Jason Carroll has the details on how both vice presidential candidates are already trying to sway the debate in their favor.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

Obama called Bush Tuesday morning.

(CNN) – Barack Obama called President Bush Tuesday morning to discuss the economic bailout bill, campaign advisor Robert Gibbs said.

The two spoke about the need to push for a package that Congress can agree on, Gibbs also said.

Obama also raised his proposal to raise the amount of money the government insures in bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000.

Obama believes "that such a proposal can broaden the coalition supporting the package," Gibbs said.

At his economic roundtable Tuesday morning, McCain also said he had spoken to the president Tuesday morning.

McCain said Monday Palin is being underestimated, just as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were.

(CNN) – Sarah Palin may just be the next Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton — two previous governors underestimated by the national media who went on to win the White House, John McCain said Monday.

Appearing alongside Palin in an interview on CBS, McCain reiterated his confidence in the Alaska governor, even as several conservatives suggested she is unqualified for the No. 2 spot on a national ticket.

"This is not the first time that I've seen a governor being questioned by some quote, 'expert,' " McCain told CBS' Katie Couric as Palin looked on. "I remember that Ronald Reagan was a 'cowboy.' President Clinton was a governor of a very small state that had 'no experience' either. I remember how easy it was going to be for Bush I to defeat him.

"But the point is I've seen underestimation before," McCain added. "I'm very proud of the excitement that Gov. Palin has ignited with our party and around this country. It is a level of excitement and enthusiasm, frankly, that I haven't seen before. And I'd like to attribute it to me. But the fact is that she has done incredible job. And I'm so proud of the work that she's doing."

The comments come after Palin's widely panned interview with Couric last week during which the Republican VP candidate struggled through several answers on her foreign policy credentials and the proposed economic bailout. The comments instantly became fodder for late-night comedians and prompted criticism from several conservative corners that Palin appeared to be in over her head. But a counter-chorus has also emerged, as supporters have publicly urged the campaign not to keep Palin so isolated from the media and to allow her unfiltered audience interaction.

“Holding Sarah Palin to just three interviews and microscopically focusing on each interview I think has been a mistake,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" on Monday. “I think they'd be a lot wiser to let Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin. Let her talk to the media, let her talk to people."

But also in the interview with Couric on Monday, McCain decried "gotcha" journalism as he sought to downplay Palin's recent comments that suggested she would support crossing into Pakistan from the Afghanistan to root out terrorists.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Obama campaign launched a new ad Monday.

(CNN) – A day after the Dow Industrials index dropped nearly 800 points in reaction to the failure of the $700 billion bailout bill in the House of Representatives, economic issues are dominating the latest round of television ads in the presidential race.

The Obama campaign launched a new ad, “Same Path,” Monday. In the spot, Obama speaks directly to the public for nearly two minutes about the nation’s troubled economy and what Obama proposes to do about it.

“I know that that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. But not by driving down the very same path,” Obama says. “On taxes, John McCain and I have very different ideas,” he also says before detailing changes to the tax code that he would push for as president in order to help small and startup businesses, middle class families, and senior citizens living on fixed incomes.

The ad will air in “key states” nationally, according to a statement issued by the Obama campaign Tuesday.

While the Obama camp’s new ad details changes to the tax code Obama would advocate for if elected, the Republican National Committee’s new ad seeks to portray Obama’s tax policies and spending proposals as a potential fatal blow to the struggling economy.

The 30-second spot, “Worse,” begins with images of Wall Street while an announcer asks, “Can it get any worse?” The ad suggests things can get worse if Obama wins the White House. “New taxes. New spending. New debt. Barack Obama’s plan: It will make the problem worse,” an announcer says in the ad. The RNC says that “Worse” will air in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Indiana.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Bush urged Congress to pass a new bill.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Bush said Tuesday he remains disappointed by the House's failure to pass the financial bailout package, but he will continue to work for its approval.

Watch:'Critical moment for the economy'

"I am disappointed by the outcome but I assure our citizens and citizens around the world that this is not the end of the legislative process," the president said in televised remarks from the White House.

Sen. Obama proposed expanding federal deposit insurance for families and small businesses Tuesday.

(CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Tuesday proposed expanding federal deposit insurance for families and small businesses as a way to convince lawmakers who voted against the $700 billion federal bailout plan to change their minds.

"One step we could take to potentially broaden support for the legislation and shore up our economy would be to expand federal deposit insurance for families and small businesses across America who have invested their money in our banks.

Watch: Obama reacts to failed bill

"The majority of American families should rest assured that the deposits they have in our banks are safe," Obama said in a statement put out by his presidential campaign.

"That is why today, I am proposing that we also raise the FDIC limit to $250,000 as part of the economic rescue package — a step that would boost small businesses, make our banking system more secure, and help restore public confidence in our financial system."

Watch: The $700 billion question

Currently, deposits of up to $100,000 are guaranteed by the government's Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Obama said he will talk to leaders and members of Congress later Tuesday to offer his idea and urge them to act without delay to pass a rescue plan.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sen. McCain says $700 billion financial plan should be called a 'rescue effort,' not a bailout.

(CNN) — The $700 billion financial plan for Wall Street failed in the House of Representatives because people are not convinced it is a "rescue effort," Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain told CNN's "American Morning."

"We haven't convinced people that this is a rescue effort not just for Wall Street but for Main Street America," McCain said from the campaign trail in Des Moines, Iowa Tuesday. "We didn't do a good enough job."

Watch: Market mess endangers McCain

McCain and his opponent, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, have both said that they would probably vote for the legislation, as long as it included some key principles they had pushed for in the measure.

Watch: McCain on 'gotcha' journalism

McCain, who briefly suspended his campaign last week to focus on the financial crisis, did not say whether he would take that action again.

Read the rest of this entry »