[Tony Harris, Cnn Anchor:] And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And here are the headlines from CNN on this Monday, October 27th. Tragic discovery on a Chicago street. A boy's body found in an SUV. Is it the missing nephew of an Oscar-winning actress? Making their case all across the battleground states. We're on the trail with the presidential candidates. And the latest polling. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Actress Jennifer Hudson's heartbreak. CNN crews on the ground in Chicago are following new reports of a child's body, possibly Hudson's missing nephew, found inside a white SUV. Here's what police told reporters just a short time ago.
[Harris:] Police had been searching for 7-year-old Julian King since the shootings. Hudson offered up a $100,000 reward for his safe return. We are awaiting a press conference from police. And our Susan Roesgen is on the scene gathering information, and will join us as soon as she can. Here is a timeline of the tragic events in this case. Seven-year-old Julian King disappeared Friday. That's the same day the police discovered the bodies of his grandmother and uncle in actress Jennifer Hudson's family home. On Saturday, police picked up his stepfather, William Balfour. They're holding him right now on charges related to a parole violation. Yesterday, police started a door-to-door campaign, passing out flyers with pictures of the missing boy. And that brings us to today, with the reports of a body found in a white SUV. We are in the home stretch. Eight days until Election Day, and the candidates are barnstorming through battleground states. Both presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain are making a final push in Ohio today before moving on to Pennsylvania. McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, also heads to Pennsylvania after visiting Virginia. And Joe Biden travels from North Carolina to Florida. As always, CNN has the campaigns covered. Ready with their take are Senior Political Analyst William Schneider; Ed Henry, with John McCain in Dayton, Ohio; and Suzanne Malveaux, who is with Barack Obama in Canton. Let's go first to Suzanne. And Suzanne, as Barack Obama gears up for what his campaign is calling a closing argument, Barack Obama behaving like the attorney that he is.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn White House Correspondent:] You're absolutely right. He is the closer, if you will, presenting that closing argument. You'll remember 18 months ago. And it was 18 months ago, Tony, the chant began, the battle cry, "Yes we can." What we're going to hear from Barack Obama today is, in one week, you can fill in the blank. That fill in the blank being voting for policies for the middle class, creating jobs, bringing about change. Those are the kinds of things you're going to hear from Barack Obama. And what is he doing? He's trying to lay out his broad vision for the American people, for voters. He is saying that this is not only about a common purpose, but a higher purpose. He essentially is making that case, a very simple message he's been saying throughout very consistently, and that is simply a call for change.
[Malveaux:] Sprinting to the finish, Barack Obama in Ohio Monday, a state that is a must win. Over the weekend, Obama was out West, hitting three states that went for George Bush in 2004.
[Sen. Barack Obama , Presidential Candidate:] I want to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages on affordable terms.
[Malveaux:] Nevada, which has the nation's highest foreclosure rate.
[Obama:] Five times the national average. And we're going the put in place a three-month moratorium, give folks the breathing room they need to get back on their feet and work things out with their bank.
[Malveaux:] New Mexico, where Obama leads in the polls.
[Obama:] What we need right now is a real debate about how to fix our economy and help middle class families.
[Malveaux:] And Colorado, where supporters broke attendance records at a Denver rally, showing up more than 100,000 strong.
[Obama:] How many people have early voted? That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. No point in waiting in lines if you don't have to. You know who you're going to vote for.
[Malveaux:] For the end game, it's all about getting out the vote. Here in Colorado, early voting means they're already going to the polls. The campaign is also spending record amounts of money in the final days, unveiling new TV ads targeting John McCain's economic plan.
[Obama:] The question is, will our country be better off four years from now?
[Malveaux:] On the stump, the same message but a new line, ridiculing McCain for distancing himself from George Bush.
[Obama:] John McCain attacking George Bush for his out-of-hand economic policies is like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy. It's like Robin getting mad at Batman.
[Malveaux:] Well, Tony, you're going to hear some of those lines, but more pointedly, what you're going to hear from Barack Obama, he's going to be making the case that he says John McCain has not offered this last year and a half an alternative to President Bush's economic policies. You're going to hear him talk about the contrasts between himself and John McCain, but specifically, trying to make that comparison, that link with President Bush Tony.
[Harris:] All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Canton, Ohio. And when that event begins, we will of course take you back to Canton. Switching over now to John McCain, also in Ohio. Our Ed Henry joins us from the McCain event in Dayton, Ohio. And Ed, you know, I saw some of the reporting over the weekend indicating that there may be some cracks developing within the McCain campaign. You know, it's easy for us to read a lot into some inconsistencies, but I'm curious as to your take. Is there a crack, maybe some cracks, developing within this team?
[Ed Henry, Cnn White House Correspondent:] There certainly is, Tony. I'm going to have to compete with the marching band, and maybe that's appropriate, because it doesn't sound like they're all marching to the same drummer right now, the same beat, if you will. What's going on is some McCain advisers are basically saying that Sarah Palin in private, they're saying that she's going rogue, that she's a diva, is the word is they're using, saying she's off message, she's not staying with the message that John McCain wants on everything. And they're speculating that maybe it's because she's concerned McCain is going to lose, she wants to go her own way, set herself up for 2009 and beyond as a Republican leader. Palin advisers say no, she's trying to break free because the rollout for the McCain team was not very smooth, and they sort of smothered her and didn't let her go out and talk to the media. And then this whole wardrobe malfunction was mishandled, the $150,000 wardrobe, was mishandled, in the eyes of some Palin advisers, by the McCain team. So, for the record, a Palin spokeswoman is insisting, look, we're all on the same page, Sarah Palin's only focused on helping the Republican ticket win next week. But the bottom line is, any sort of talk of strife, division is not what you need in the final eight days. Here's John McCain today in Ohio trying to talk up the financial crisis, push back on Barack Obama with that closing argument. But instead, he's dealing with some of these questions, and we're talking not just about the economy, but we're talking about a split in the McCain camp Tony.
[Harris:] All right. Ed Henry for us. The band died down just in time for you to offer up your final thoughts there. Ed Henry in OK, in Dayton, Ohio. And strike up the band. And in the next half hour, we will have Dan Lothian live from Virginia, where Sarah Palin is holding a rally. Let's check the CNN projections map. There it is in all of its red and blue and yellow and whatever colors there. Obama showing 277 electoral votes; 192 of those are considered safe, 85 what we call leaning. McCain, according to our projections has 174 electoral votes lined up, 52 of those considered leaning. Our projections show 87 electoral votes are tossups, and, of course, 270 Electoral College votes are needed to win. So, which states, as you look at that map, are most important here? That is a question for our facts and figures man, CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider, in Washington. And Bill, if you were advising the John McCain campaign right now he's in Ohio today would you sort of build a condominium there in Ohio, stay there? And what other state would you be spending a lot of your time in these closing days?
[William Schneider, Cnn Sr. Political Analyst:] Well, he might consider moving to Ohio. Ohio is the critical state. Look, John Kerry, back in 2004, carried states with 252 electoral votes. All of those states right now look pretty good for Obama. McCain is trying to peel off Pennsylvania, but the polls in Pennsylvania indicate that Obama has a pretty sizable lead. So, if all those 252 electoral votes that Kerry got hold for Obama, he needs 18 more. How many electoral votes are there in Ohio? Twenty. He carries Ohio, he wins. There's one other state that he could do it in if he wants to do it in one state. That would be Florida, which has 27 electoral votes. So, along with Ohio, Florida is an absolutely crucial state. Now, couldn't do it in either Virginia or North Carolina, but he could do it in both of them. He is ahead right now in Virginia, which has 13 electoral votes. North Carolina has 15. If he carries both of those, he's over the top. And another strategy would be the famous western strategy. New Mexico, where Obama's ahead; plus Colorado, 9 electoral votes; plus Nevada, 5; add those three together, you've got 19. Those three states would put Obama over the top. So there are various ways that he could do it, but if Ohio is lost to John McCain, to the Republicans, it's very difficult to see how he can win the election.
[Harris:] I'm just struck by the size of these rallies for Barack Obama over the last few weeks. If you're advising the Obama campaign, what are you saying at this point? And I know there's some concern about Pennsylvania. The governor there voicing some concerns. Is Pennsylvania in play for John McCain?
[Schneider:] Well, he obviously believes it is. He and Sarah Palin have been there several times. The polls indicate a double-digit lead for Obama, most of them do. But McCain does believe he has a chance there. Generally speaking, in states that border there or are part of the Appalachian region, that's where Barack Obama did poorly in the primaries against Hillary Clinton, and that's where he's not doing too well right now. Pennsylvania has a large Appalachian region where Obama is not very strong, but there's a lot more to Pennsylvania. There's Philadelphia. There's the Philadelphia suburbs, which are not exactly Appalachia. The states that are purest Appalachia, like West Virginia and Kentucky, Obama is behind McCain. So, generally speaking, Obama's weakest area is the south and the Appalachian region.
[Harris:] Bill, good to see you. Thanks for your time, as always.
[Schneider:] OK.
[Harris:] And CNN has all the bases covered, as you can see, for your election night one week from Tuesday, November 4th. From the first vote to the last, we're bringing you the results from all 50 states. We are watching it for you, the markets. A report on home sales making investors a little bit happy this morning. As you can see, the Dow in positive territory, up 70 points. We're going to continue to follow the market throughout the day.