Tunnel to Miners Near Completion; The Ugly Side of Politics Comes Front and Center; Fall Back on Spending
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all. Once again, from the CNN Center, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you can start your day right here with me. We're going to be getting into plenty of politics throughout this half hour, also throughout the day. This one could go down in history. Hello to you all, once again from the CNN Center. This is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you could start you day right here with me. We are going to be getting into plenty of politics throughout this half hour and also throughout the day. But first, we're going to turn to a story we are keeping an eye on. This drama playing out right now in Chile where those 33 trapped miners are still trapped, but we're told literally we're minutes away, could be minutes away from rescuers finally cutting through and breaking through to the area where those miners are. Our Patrick Oppmann is there for us. He is live for us where this is Camp Hope they have called it now, but first, just give us the update. We heard just a short time ago they were literally feet away from breaking through.</s>PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Meters away. Meters away and this is -- this breakthrough is imminent though after months of waiting. Very, very close. Drillers tell us, plan B drillers, this is the drill that is going to make the break. So today we are expecting that they're only six meters away. This is out of 624 meters so just a matter of feet like you said and that breakthrough could come in the next hour or two. They have been drilling all night long. We were told a breakthrough could come today. Expecting now this morning, it will an incredible moment here at this camp. I'm already seeing smiles, people patting each other on the back. A lot of excitement. They have been waiting so long for this day. Really the - the beginning of a rescue operation when the mine shaft is drilled down to the 33 men who have been waiting in days and days of darkness and confinement, this is the beginning of the rescue.</s>T.J. HOLMES: Yes, it's important to note here, this is just the beginning. Just because they breakthrough to the shaft where the men are, it doesn't mean they are coming up quite frankly anytime soon. Explain why we may have to wait until at least Tuesday before the first man starts coming up or even later.</s>OPPMANN: Tuesday at the - possibly at the earliest. You know, still a lot of work after the breakthrough happens today, still quite an ordeal ahead for these men. What will happen after that is rescue officials will have to look and see how stable this hole is, whether or not they could put a rescue capsule down or whether it needs to be re-enforced. That re-enforcement could take days or it could much longer. Regardless after that, a capsule will be lowered down with rescuers. We'll start the rescue operation, hoisting these men one at a time up to the surface even that process of bringing 33 men up to the surface could take a day or more.</s>HOLMES: One more thing and you kind of hit on it, Patrick, but just the mood out there. Can you feel it? At Camp Hope as it's called, the people, there's an anticipation now that this is finally going to be over sometime soon?</s>OPPMANN: It has been building for days. You see tension and excitement, people know that something is changing, a very positive development after so many setbacks here. They know their relatives will be coming back to them now. They feel they will be back much sooner than expected. Remember, they were told they may not see them until Christmas. Well, Christmas came a little bit early for these people. They're very excited. Also a little bit tense because they know this is the most dangerous part of the operation. Still thing that is could go wrong. They are keeping their fingers crossed, but a lot of smiles, a lot of excitement. When the breakthrough happens in the next few hours, it's just going to be an explosion of emotion here.</s>HOLMES: All right, Patrick Oppmann on the scene for us. We'll continue to check in with our folks there live. Patrick, thank you so much. Also ahead here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, we are going to be talking to a professor of mining. He's going to focus on the difficulty of the rescue operation. He's talking about it from an engineer's perspective and also the potential dangers that still remain. Yes, there's a lot of hope and optimism as you heard Patrick talked about, but still there are some dangers that could still put these men's lives at risk. We'll continue to follow throughout the morning. Also, 24 days, folks, 24 days until one of the most contentious midterm and important midterm elections we have seen in some time. CNN asked likely voters out there, which party is their choice for Congress. Take a look, 52 percent said the Republican Party is the choice, 45 percent said the Democratic Party is the choice right now. The CNN Opinion Research poll also shows Republicans with big leads over Democrats. Among independents, men and blue collar whites so much at stake. Again, 24 days. We are counting down now. We always see campaign seasons turn ugly. It's turned a little dirty on the campaign trail on this one as well. Are voters going to be turned off by that or will that all ugliness work? Brian Todd has more on what's becoming a no holds barred race to the finish.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A conversation that was never meant to be heard publicly. Jerry Brown, Democrat running for California governor talks with his aids about support his opponent, Meg Whitman, might get from police unions.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know Whitman will cut them a deal, but I won't. She's a whore.</s>TODD: It's not clear who made the whore comment. The Brown campaign later apologized. That conversation was inadvertently taped, but other personal attacks in campaign ads are proliferating on the air. (on camera): Darrel West of the Brookings Institution has written a well-known book called "Air Wars" about campaign ads. He says this year unlike in previous election cycles, candidates are just not holding back on vicious personal attacks on their opponents. We are going to go over some of these ads with him now.</s>CARL PALADINO (R), CANDIDATE GOVERNOR NEW YORK: When somebody went after my 10-year-old daughter, I got angry.</s>TODD (voice-over): New York Republican gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino rails on the media for tracking his young daughter. Then for reports about his extramarital affair then the kill shot on the sex life of opponent, Andrew Cuomo.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Andrew is legendary.</s>TODD (on camera): Do you ever seen anything like that in an ad talking about someone's prowess?</s>DARRELL WEST, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: This is such a cheap shot. It's hard to imagine voters are going to be affected positively by this. They are going to view it as unfair, going beyond the grounds of fair play.</s>TODD (voice-over): Cuomo's response, a statement from a spokesman saying of Paladino, New Yorkers know he is unfit to be governor with his unstable outbursts, smears and total lack of substance. (on camera): Some political experts though argue that that actually does work. That going negative is effective.</s>WEST: Going negative works in the sense of you can raise the negatives of your opponent, but if voters tune out and people stay home, you may end up losing support from people who otherwise might have cast votes for you.</s>TODD (voice-over): No one insulated. Right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh levels this broadside on President Obama during his radio show.</s>RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: He's a jackass. He's an economic illiterate. He's an economic ignoramus.</s>TODD (on camera): Does it reflect a certain mentality on the campaign trail and on political discourse overall this year?</s>WEST: It reflects a mentality of mean spiritedness. That people are not focusing on the issues. They are insulting the opposition.</s>TODD (voice-over): Why is the nastiness at such heightened levels right now? Darrell West says, a few factors are unique to this year. Candidates and commentators clearly sense the voter anger out there and they want to tap into it. They realize the stakes are especially high for the balance of power this year. He says candidates sense the media is not doing as much fact checking on ads and public statements. They don't think they will be held accountable.</s>HOLMES: Despite what you heard there from Jerry Brown, that recording with an one of his aids calling his opponent, Meg Whitman the word that rhymes with bore, a prominent women's group has announced though they are endorsing Jerry Brown. The California's National Organization of Women, this is what they had to say about the Democratic gubernatorial nominees as quote, "For California women, actions speak louder than words. We know Jerry Brown's record and we know Meg Whitman's record. The choice is clear. We strongly urge California women to vote for Jerry Brown for governor." And of course, you know where to go, all the latest political news, our web site, CNNPolitics.com. What does your spouse do for a living? We have a list of things you hope your spouse does not do because if they do these particular occupation occupations, your marriage could be in trouble. Divorce rates are high for certain occupations. Can you imagine which ones? Should I give a hint before I go? If your spouse mixes drinks you might be in trouble. It's eight minutes past the hour.