[Nguyen:] John McCain steps in to defend Sarah Palin after her so- called cheesesteak moment. The Republican candidate says he and his running mate are on the same page over a big foreign policy issue: whether the U.S. should strike terror suspects in Pakistan. While Barack Obama supports that idea, McCain says it's something that you should not be talking about publicly. And over the weekend at a Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant, Palin seemed to back Obama's position in response to a voter's question. Let's listen to that part of exchange and then McCain and Palin's response.
[Unidentified Male:] ... cross the border from like from Afghanistan to Pakistan, you think?
[Gov. Sarah Palin , Vice-presidential Nominee:] If that's what we have to do to stop terrorists from coming any further, absolutely we should.
[Katie Couric, Cbs News Anchor:] Are you sorry you said it, Governor?
[Sen. John Mccain , Presidential Nominee:] Wait a minute. Before you say, is she sorry she said it, this was a gotcha sound bite that...
[Couric:] It wasn't a gotcha. She was talking to a voter.
[Mccain:] She was in a conversation with a group of people, and talking back and forth. I'll let Governor Palin speak for herself.
[Palin:] And in fact you're absolutely right on. In the context, this was a voter, a constituent hollering out a question from across an area, asked, "What are you going to do about Pakistan? You better have an answer to Pakistan." I said, "We're going to do what we have to do to protect the United States of America."
[Nguyen:] Well, Michael Rovito, a Temple graduate student and Barack Obama supporter, is the voter who asked Palin the question about Pakistan. So was it really a gotcha moment? We're going to hear what he has to say in our next hour. In the meantime, though, it is a face-to-face encounter everyone is waiting for. Just two days from now, vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin take the stage in St. Louis for their first debate. So what can we expect? Here's CNN's Fredricka Whitfield.
[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Loquacious and unleashed versus low-key and tightly managed. How much of what we have already seen in vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin tells us about what to expect in Thursday's debate? [on camera] How much is riding on this?
[Dr. Ron Faucheux, Author, "the Debate Book":] They have to not just defend themselves and present themselves, but they have to present and defend their presidential candidates.
[Whitfield:] We invited Georgetown University's Dr. Ron Faucheux, author of "The Debate Book: A Manual for Political Debates," to watch Palin and Biden's previous performances.
[Faucheux:] He and Palin are very different kinds of people, but they both have different kinds of appeal that can be very joined.
[Whitfield:] Biden, the 35-year veteran Democratic senator with extensive knowledge on national and foreign issues, with a seemingly clear advantage, feeling at home.
[Sen. Joe Biden , Vice Presidential Nominee:] You know, let's facts are a funny thing. They get in the way. You know what I mean?
[Faucheux:] The thing he has to watch is, he has to put a stop button on what he said, so he doesn't just keep talking until he gets it wrong.
[Whitfield:] The 44-year-old first-term governor, seemingly at ease here in a 2006 gubernatorial debate.
[Palin:] I don't think that government should be sanctioning or assisting ending life.
[Whitfield:] Commanding? Standing her ground?
[Faucheux:] What she's doing is she's getting it off of policy and talking about how it affects her and people personally. And she seems to be much more comfortable doing that.
[Whitfield:] And comfortable taking on her competition at the time.
[Faucheux:] The thing she has to watch is, if she has a lack of knowledge or a lack of a grasp of an issue, that that she doesn't look superficial.
[Whitfield:] Is the ticket for the presidency riding on the vice-presidential nominees?
[Faucheux:] I'm not sure that the presidential race is riding on this debate, but the thing you have to remember about debates, they are rarely won. They are oftentimes lost. And so both candidates need to be very careful they don't lose the debate.
[Whitfield:] So much as stake weighing in on what is said, what's not said, body language, eye contact and lack thereof in what is right now the only scheduled debate between the vice- presidential picks, just five weeks before America decides. Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, Washington.
[Nguyen:] And that debate between the two vice vice- presidential candidates is set for Thursday night in St. Louis. CNN, of course, will bring it to you live.
[Holmes:] Well, Betty, some people, they don't need to see that presidential or vice-presidential debate to make up their mind. They're voting already. It's under way in a crucial swing state. Today is the first day absentee ballots are being accepted in Ohio. For a week new voters can register and cast absentee ballots on the same day. However, this came as a bit of a fight. Republicans challenged a law that allowed that, but they lost in state and federal court. Several other states also have started their early voting, as well. Well, a plea for help being made on behalf of perspective Texas voters. Citizen groups are asking the governor to extend the upcoming registration deadline because of hurricane Ike. The deadline is October 6th, but many possible voters are still in temporary shelters. Also, the libraries where they would pick up the proper forms, still closed.
[Maureen Haver, "houston Votes":] We have fundamentally been derailed because of hurricane Ike. And if people throughout the rest of the state of Texas were able to register to vote during that time, we deserve that same right to register to vote.
[Holmes:] Well, the groups are asking for a seven-day extension of the 29 counties declared major disaster areas after Ike. There's been no official response from Texas Governor Rick Perry Betty.
[Nguyen:] Well, it is half past the hour. Here are some of the stories that we are working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM. President Bush says she disappointed by the House rejection of the $700 billion rescue plan for Wall Street. That said, Mr. Bush says he expects lawmakers to come up with a measure they can agree on when House members return to Capitol Hill on Thursday. Meanwhile, home prices fell at their sharpest annual rate ever in July. The Standard & Poor'sCase-Shiller 20-city housing index tumbled 16.3 percent from July 2007. However, the pace of decline has slowed over the last three months. In the key swing state of Ohio, some voters are already casting absentee ballots for president. It got under way after state and federal courts upheld a ruling allowing people to register and vote absentee on the same day.
[Holmes:] Well, Betty, it sure would be nice to retire one day. You know, tomorrow would be good for me. But has your nest egg gotten cracked a bit in the money crunch? Gerri Willis is not talking going to be talking about the vice presidential debate there, but we'll be talking about it some more later. But, Gerri's coming up with some advice on how to protect your money. Stay here.