Snowmail: Powell backs Obama
Updated on 19 October 2008
Looking ahead to tonight's programme.
Carl Dinnen here with what we've got for you on Channel 4 News at 6.45pm.
There's a boost for Barack Obama today as he was endorsed by George Bush's erstwhile secretary of state, Colin Powell. Powell says he'll vote for Obama but not campaign for him.
Now Powell was never the most convincingly Republican member of the Bush team but his time at the president's side was so recent and his position so senior that his defection to the other side is still a blow to the McCain-Palin ticket. Sarah Smith will bring us the reaction from Washington.
Government plans repossession help
Here the chief secretary to the treasury, Yvette Cooper, says the government wants the banks to go easy on those of us who are struggling to pay our mortgages. She says she wants to stop the banks going for repossession so quickly.
How she can make that happen (without interfering in the running of the banks the government owns) is not clear. We'll be talking to the British Bankers' Association to find out what they make of the idea.
Life-saving heart attack plan
And Tom Clarke will be reporting on a method of treating heart attacks which is so effective the government wants it rolled out across the country. Perhaps they could start in the City of London?
