Anderson talks with his panel about the challenges Barack Obama faces once he’s in office, such as the Gaza fighting.

Joe Johns | Bio
CNN Correspondent

I really wasn’t ready for what I saw when I pulled up a little bleary-eyed at Richard Bowling Elementary School in Norfolk.

It was pouring rain, and the polls weren’t set to open for another 30 minutes or so.

There was no place to park.
Standing room only on the sidewalk.
Umbrellas, raincoats, hoodies.

There was a line of 200 to 300 people waiting for the polls to open so they could vote.

And through the morning it stayed steady.

We’re talking about 18-year-olds and senior citizens, students and retired people. People headed to work.

So many of them were talking about history - many wanted to see Barack Obama the first black president.

One man said the rain wasn’t bothering him but I think he was in the minority.

Interesting to find out how the new voters got registered.

- The DMV;
- Somebody walking through the neighborhood at the last minute;
- One guy, 23 years old, said people on campus at Norfolk State got him registered.

This was a pro-Obama crowd.

I asked one man and woman if they ever thought they’d see the day when a black man was on a major presidential ticket.

Both said no, one of them adding, “I never thought I’d see the day but it’s here. It’s here.”

AC360 artist's interpretation of Joe Johns' favorite Halloween costume based on his blog

Editor’s Note: Happy Halloween! We asked some of our favorite CNN personalities to share with us their Halloween memories. We asked them a few ‘Trick or Treat’ questions…. here’s what they had to say:

Joe Johns | BIO
CNN Correspondent

Favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

My favorite costume as a kid (elementary school) had to be Dracula. I loved the cape and the fangs and ‘hypnotizing’ girls I had a crush on. I was very vampire when I was a kid. If I had grown up much later than I did I would have been very attracted to the Gothic scene!

Favorite scary movie?

Favorite movie was the old black and white Dracula with Béla Lugosi. There are pics of me in high school because I actually played Dracula in my high school play (I was the only one who who could do a poor imitation of a Romanian accent. But those are too sensitive to be released!

We assembled two panels - one black, one white - both evenly divided among McCain and Obama supporters, to talk about some of the more controversial statements on the campaign trail.  Watch AC360° at 10p ET to see what each panel had to say about McCain’s question “Who is the real Obama?”, whether Reverend Wright is fair game, and Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers.

Here you can watch extended clips of both panels.  You can watch the caucasian panel here with Tom Foreman and catch the African American panel with Joe Johns below.

See the report by AC360°’s Joe Johns and Steve Turnham on AIG tonight, the first in our new series “10 Most Wanted: Culprits of the Collapse.”

Former CEO of AIG Martin Sullivan, center, waits to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday.

Steve Turnham
AC360° Producer

Remember all those stories about welfare moms driving cadillacs? They were 99% myth. Here’s one that isn’t. The insurance giant AIG takes 85 billion in taxpayer money, throws a nice little 400,000 dollar pedicure party for it’s top earners, then comes back for another 37 billion welfare check.

AIG has an explanation. And you’ll hear it tonight on AC360° as we begin our countrywide hunt for the top ten most wanted culprits of the collapse.

Joe Johns | BIO
CNN CorrespondentFederal prosecutors today released details of what they called a plan by a 23 year old man to set off bombs to coincide with the Republican National Convention.

Matthew DePalma of Flint, Michigan is the suspect.

He is charged with possessing Molotov cocktails. The criminal complaint also alleges that DePalma in July 2008 (at something called the Crimethinc Convergence, which looks vaguely on-line like an Anarchists’ Convention), told an FBI confidential source that he wanted to travel to the RNC to “make some bombs” and “blow sh*t up.”

Later in August, the affidavit says DePalma now begin recorded on FBI audio and video, told the source that he wanted to build a chemical bomb to cause a power outage at the RNC.

He also expressed his interest in Molotov cocktails. The source apparently went with the defendant to buy gasoline and diesel fuel, and witnessed the suspect creating a “flammable gelatin” for Molotov cocktails.

Still the document indicated that the defendant indicated a power outage at the convention hall was his main purpose. He was locked up August 30th.

Not clear how far he got on the main plan. The complaint said there was cause to believe he had five Molotov cocktails in his possession when it was filed.

Police fire tear gas after some protesters said they would breach a security fence.

Editor’s Note: St. Paul police fired chemical agents and projectiles into a large crowd of protesters outside the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night. Witnesses said the protesters marched from the grounds of the state Capitol after a concert there ended abruptly. CNN’s Joe Johns was covering the standoff last night when the protest changed directions. We share his observations here:

Joe Johns | BIO
CNN Correspondent

I was about to hit the ’send’ button on this, telling you how this was a peaceful standoff when the police set off a some type of tear gas that made your throat burn and eyes water.

It didn’t incapacitate me like old fashioned tear gas. Guessing the strong winds made its effects less potent.

Police say they released the gas because they were trying to scatter protesters who they said were trying to get past security fences into the convention’s perimeter. Here is what i was about to send before the gas was set off. Amazing to see what a difference a few minutes makes:
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Protestors vandalize police cars in the streets outside the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center, Monday.

Joe Johns
CNN Correspondent | Bio

At Fifth and Jackson streets in St. Paul, anarchists threw newspaper stands and bus benches into the streets, broke windows and otherwise created minor bedlam to accompany the abbreviated first day of the Republican Convention.

As civil unrest goes–and I’ve witnessed my share–it was. . . well. . . uncivil, but hardly shocking.

The police got worked up, especially when the protestors broke the windows of one of their cruisers.

The officers, dressed in riot gear, and some on motorcycles, chased the troublemakers around blocks of downtown St. Paul, almost to the mild amusement of nonplussed Midwesterners. They’re not quite accustomed to this kind of thing but find it curious.

“Lord no!” one man in a baseball cap answered when I asked if they’d ever had this type of excitement around these parts.

When I looked up one of the anarchists was lobbing a bottle of Dasani water at a police car. Call it a Molotov Cocktail, minus the Molotov, and minus the Cocktail.

A woman, who didn’t see the water bottle fly, but noticed me writing this, pointed out that “texting and walking is a danergous thing.”

Some other random items:

- Noticed I was walking in a small crowd of people following the anarchists.

- Asked one couple: Are you just following them around to see what they do? The wife answered Yes; it was either that or go to the mall.

Labor day I guess.

Joe Johns
AC360° Correspondent

Wanted to send a quick note about the lines outside of INVESCO field:

There actually appear to be a couple lines leading in different directions.

The line we walked has got to be a couple miles long up to this point. Some police told us it is six miles long, but It snakes and undulates, making it quite difficult to judge.

It moves rapidly across the Auraria Blvd overpass then slows down once u get to the other side,
Just a continuous stream of people walking across a bridge on the boulevard near here
From the way they are dressed really a collection of every type of person…

From working class people in blue collar uniforms to men in suits and women in high heels.
It’s warm out and people who aren’t in the greatest shape are naturally huffing and puffing a bit.

I talked to one guy who said this is a little like getting to the Super Bowl… Which seems about right because that is another national ‘special security event‘ like the conventions.

Take a look at some of these photos:

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Policemen prepare to guard the front entrance to the Pepsi Center, site of this week's Democratic National Convention, before a protest march Sunday, in Denver.

Justine Redman
CNN Producer

In the wee hours last night (it was a long one here at the CNN Grill) photographer Emmanuel Tambakakis and I saw the police setting up more fences and more tents and metal detectors for admitting people into the convention center area. We’d spent the last two days reporting with Joe Johns on the security set up here in Denver, on how people were waiting up to an hour and a half to clear security, and how a pretty small and quiet protest had actually caused the whole security entrance to be closed down for a while yesterday, causing a decent amount of chaos for people needing to get in and out of the convention center. So we took note that the authorities were recognizing the problems with their set up and trying to fix it. None of us wants to spend hours standing in line when there’s news we need to get to.

Two hours later, at 4:30 in the morning, I was back with Joe, in a hurry, needing to get to our satellite truck to file our story to New York. This time, I admit, I was cursing the upgraded security under my breath. Actually some of it might have been more over than under… We’d walked the long walk from the parking lot to the security entrance, with all our heavy bags. Everything was going fine until we got a few yards away from the gate and were told we couldn’t get through that way anymore, and we’d have to backtrack what seemed like about a mile. That was when I thrust all my bags on Joe Johns and started running, worried about getting to the truck in time for the satellite window we had booked. I’m no runner, but I made it… less than pleased about my early morning sprint.

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