Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to Resign; Arizona Senate Recall Election; Good Guys to the Rescue
BALDWIN: Breaking news we mentioned at the top of the hour. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will resign. His parliament just approved several budget reforms in a contentious vote. I want to take you straight to Rome, to Matthew Chance. And Matthew, we have been hearing that he might resign. They were shooting that down. Now we know in fact he is leaving. Tell me what you're learning.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been a dramatic few hours, actually, here in the Italian capital. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, under so much pressure, of course, because of the country's economic problems. The financial markets really hitting Italy's situation. Meeting with the Italian president. After discussions there, agreeing to resign, finally, after so much pressure, but only after the country's 2011 is approved by the parliament. That means that he won't be stepping aside until least next week, at least Tuesday next week, is what we are hearing, because the way the scheduling works. But nevertheless, it's likely to be welcomed by the international financial markets, not least because Silvio Berlusconi, his very weak coalition inside Italy has been seen to be not credible, not able to push through the kind of economic reforms that Italy so badly needs to get its economy back on track. And so, in general, it's a positive, I think, in terms of the financial markets, but for Silvio Berlusconi, obviously the end -- now coming to the end of an era of his period in office -- Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: Matthew Chance for us in the Italian capital. Matthew, thank you so much. Back here at home, check your calendars. It's Election Day. So, all of these people that we have in some video here, take a look at this. They must be queued up to cast ballots, right? Not so fast. These people were actually customers waiting at the crack of dawn for video stores to open so they could buy the latest of "Call of Duty," "Modern Warfare 3." OK. So, voting maybe won't make your heart pump like stimulation of combat. Maybe I don't exactly get it, maybe you do. But there are some key races we think you should know about today. First, I want to start in -- here you go, Mississippi. It's a long shot, but Johnny Dupree could be the state's first black governor if he beats Republican Phil Bryant. Another issue we want to point out for you in Mississippi, voters are expected to say yes to Amendment 26 supporting personhood. That would mean that a fertilized human egg will be a person under the law, making abortion equivalent to murder. I'm going to take you West to California. San Francisco may see its first elected Chinese-American mayor. Interim Mayor Ed Lee is seen as the favorite in that city. Next, we want to take you to Kentucky. The Democratic incumbent governor, Steve Beshear is expected to keep his seat despite the Tea Party stronghold in the state of Kentucky. And finally, let's go to Ohio because politicos are watching. The Issue 2 ballot measure, this passage would uphold the law, we covered this extensively in the spring restricting collective bargaining rights for public workers. Many believe how voters decide on Issue 2 in Ohio would be the pre- cursor for the presidential election. Both parties have spent a lot of money campaigning here in Ohio. Finally, in our election roundup, I want to take you to Arizona. We've talked a lot about SB 1070. The state law cracking down on illegal immigrants ignited demonstrations, boycotts, arrests plus really this nationwide divide about how to deal with the problem. So now for some paybacks, protesters are relishing this recall election today for the state senator who supported SB 1070, but get this. His challenger is another fiscal conservative. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has the story.</s>THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the most contentious state legislative races in Arizona history. Republican versus Republican, a recall election in the most conservative district in the state just outside of Phoenix. The incumbent, president of the Arizona State Senate, Russell Pearce. The self-proclaimed father of the anti-illegal immigration movement who has pushed some of the toughest immigration laws that Arizonans and the nation has seen. The challenger, Jerry Lewis, a long time businessman and educator in Mesa, Arizona and it gets more interesting. Both candidates say their fiscal conservatives and are members of the Mormon Church but there is a major difference, immigration.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politicians who continue to talk tough, but never do anything. Arizona, we're going to do something.</s>RUSSELL PEARCE (R), ARIZONA STATE SENATE: I'm all for securing the borders. I'm all for the rule of law. We need to do it in a humane way.</s>GUTIERREZ: Lewis, a leader in the LDS Church says he doesn't believe in mass deportations or separating families. He says Pearce's tough anti-illegal immigrant policies do not line up with the teachings of their faith.</s>PEARCE: I had no political ambitions that I was asked by some good Republican friends of mine to do this, but I felt for a long time that we need better representation of our city and our state and our party.</s>GUTIERREZ: But Republicans in the district are split between the candidates. Polls show they are in a dead heat.</s>DANIEL ORTEGA, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA ROZA: Latinos are being asked to support another Republican in order to recall Senator Russell Pearce. I think what is going to tip the scale is going to be the Latino vote.</s>GUTIERREZ: Latino voters and Democrats who could turn out for a Republican, not a common practice in these parts, but that's how close it is. Senator Pearce says with Sheriff Joe Arpaio campaigning by his side, he's on the right side of the law. The Lewis camp says they're candidate just wants to move toward the center.</s>BALDWIN: Thelma Gutierrez live for us now in Phoenix. We saw the man in your piece. He says Latino vote will tip this overall. Let me just ask how likely are Latinos to vote for a Republican in the district?</s>GUTIERREZ: Well, Brooke, that's a good question. Short answer is very likely to do so. This is the most conservative district in the state and Latinos typically vote democrat. But, you know, given the choice between Russell Pearce who has been a very tough against illegal immigration and Jerry Lewis who is more a moderate and polls are showing that Latinos are likely to go with Lewis. And not just Latinos, Brooke, but also Democrats in this district as well.</s>BALDWIN: Thelma Gutierrez in Phoenix. Thelma, thank you so much. And crime fighters tracing guns from the U.S. all the way to the hands of Mexican drug cartels. What could be wrong with that? A lot.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This should never have happened and it must never happen again.</s>BALDWIN: Today, Attorney General Eric Holder answers the tough questions about "Fast and Furious" even in face of those who want him to resign over the poorly executed program. You're going to hear what happened there, some pretty intense testimony on the Hill today. Plus, we're going to show you that incredible video again of a tornado that swept through Oklahoma just last night. Stay tuned for that.