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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Firefighters Battle Wildfire Near Los Angeles; Martha Stewart Sentenced to Jail; Former Chess Champion Arrested; Polls Up for Kerry
Aired July 16, 2004 - 17:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now. She didn't get her way with the judge. Now within the last hour alone, Martha Stewart has a new wish for her fans. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Martha Stewart's angry. The homemaking diva is sentenced to prison. But she's not going quietly.
MARTHA STEWART: That a small, personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion. And with such venom and such gore. I mean, it's just terrible.
BLITZER: Stewart's months behind bars. Today, advice from those who have been there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There will be people waiting to help her and there will be people waiting to give her a very hard time.
BLITZER: Checkmate. Why former chess champ Bobby Fischer was taken into custody.
School inferno. Scores of children are dead. Most under the age of 10.
And the odds in Nevada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to go back toward those homes again.
BLITZER: Will firefighters gain the upper hand?
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, July 16, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's a -- it's the latest amazing twist in an American success story. Martha Stewart ordered to prison for lying to government investigators about a stock sale. We're on all angles of this story with CNN's Mary Snow, Brian Todd, Jen Rogers, our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, they are all standing by. But let's start with Mary Snow in New York where Stewart spoke to reporters after her sentencing -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, for the first time in her court ordeal, Martha Stewart broke her silence and sounded emotional at times after her sentencing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART: I'll be back. I will be back. Whatever I have to do in the next few months, I hope the months go by quickly.
SNOW: 10 months in all. Far less than the 16-month maximum. Five to be served in prison, immediately followed by five months of house arrest, which Stewart asked to serve at her home in Bedford, New York, rather than at her other homes in Westport or The Hamptons. The judge also ordered two years probation and a $30,000 fine. Stewart called it a shameful day.
STEWART: What was a small, personal matter came over -- became over the last two years an almost fatal circus event of unprecedented proportions. I have been choked and almost suffocated to death during that time. All the while more concerned about the well-being of others than for myself.
SNOW: Stewart made similar remarks in court. Her voice shaky with emotion as she asked Judge Miriam Cedarbaum to, quote, "please remember all the good I have done." Cederbaum indicated she had considered that saying she was impressed by the hundreds of letters the court received supporting Stewart and telling her, quote, "I believe that you have suffered and will continue to suffer enough." Afterwards Stewart said she was thankful for the public support of both herself and her company.
STEWART: Perhaps all of you out there can continue to show your support by subscribing to our magazine, by buying our products, by encouraging our advertisers to come back in full force to our magazines. Our magazines are great. They deserve your support.
SNOW: Shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia badly hurt by the scandal soared after the sentencing, which the judge stayed, giving Stewart's lawyers time to appeal. Among them, Walter Dellinger, a former acting U.S. solicitor-general and considered among the country's top appellate lawyers. He says there are numerous grounds for appeal.
WALTER DELLINGER, STEWART'S ATTORNEY: The trial was also pervaded by a notion clearly erroneously that she was charged with criminal insider trading. She was never charged with that and yet the prosecution was able to mention "secret tips" 17 times in its opening statement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: The judge set terms for the home confinement portion of the sentence and they include wearing an electronic monitor on Stewart's ankle. Also, the judge said that Stewart wouldn't be able to leave her home for more than 48 hours a week and that includes going to work and Stewart would have to spend one day a week at home -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Mary Snow reporting from the courthouse in New York. Mary, thanks very much.
And just a few hours ago, Stewart's broker Peter Bacanovich received an almost identical sentence. He also got five months in prison, five months house arrest and two years probation. But Bacanovic was fined $4,000 compared to Stewart's $30,000 fine. Both were convicted of four felony counts.
In court Bacanovic said and I'm quoting now, "I deeply regret the pain I have caused." And he said the ordeal had been horrible for his family. He did not talk to reporters afterward.
Back to Martha Stewart now. She asked and the judge agreed to recommend that she serve her prison time at a minimum security facility in Danbury, Connecticut. That's near her home in Westport.
CNN's Brian Todd is here with a look at what Martha Stewart is facing behind bars -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, from all indications that we're getting, Martha Stewart's time in detention may not be as cushy as one might imagine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): All jokes aside about thread count and color scheme, prison life for Martha Stewart has a range of possibilities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every room you walk into in a federal institution is a fearful place.
TODD: Some more fearful than others. If Stewart actually goes to prison, the judge has agreed to recommend she be sent to the Federal Correctional Institute at Danbury, Connecticut. Part of that complex is a camp for nonviolent first offenders, now housing about 200 women.
PAUL CALLAN, FMR. NYC PROSECUTOR: Most of these prisons, and Danbury is an example of it, I guess you could compare them to an elementary school that was built maybe in the 1960s, surrounded by barbed wire. They tend to be sort of Spartan surroundings. A lot of cinderblock. Prisoners put two to a cubicle frequently. You know, there are some, you know, you can watch television and there are some facilities. There's gardening and cooking and things like that you can do. But it's a very Spartan existence.
Still in some places at Danbury, there are already Martha Stewart-like touches. Interior pictures are hard to come by but an official at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons tells us these camps are generally like open dormitories with rows of bunks, community bathrooms with banks of showers and commodes.
A typical day. At most camps, inmates are up by about 6:00 a.m. Breakfast shortly thereafter. Just after 7:30 a.m., it's off to work.
STEWART: I am used to all kinds of hard work, as you know, and I am not afraid. I am not afraid whatsoever. TODD: It's a good thing because a prison official tells us at Danbury and camps like it, work is mandatory.
FOSTER WYNANS, FMR. DANBURY INMATE: My advice to Martha would to be get herself a mop. There are jobs in the kitchen, there are jobs at -- some of these facilities have factories that produce things for the federal government.
TODD: Picture Martha Stewart as an orderly, food server, plumber, painter, groundskeeper or general sanitation worker. The workday ends at about 3:30. Head count at 4:00. Dinner at 5:00. Some recreation time until 8:30, lights out by 9:00 on weeknights, 11:30 p.m. on weekends.
People who serve time either at the camps or the low-to-medium security women's prisons say the term Club Fed is a myth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For heaven's sakes, learn to not speak your mind when you get to prison, if you end up there.
SUSAN MCDOUGAL, WHITEWATER CONVICT: When she gets there, there will be people waiting to help her and there will be people waiting to give her a very hard time.
TODD: A hard time for a household name.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Another myth we are disabused of by U.S. prison officials. They tell us there is no golf or tennis at these prison camps and after each visitation, a prison official tells me just about every inmate at Danbury and the other camps is subject to what they call a visual search. It means the clothes come off and the inmate and her clothing are checked for contraband -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brian Todd. No Club Fed as they say for Martha Stewart.
Today's sentencing follows a long and some would say failed public relations campaign. CNN's Jen Rogers is in Los Angeles with that part of the story -- Jen.
JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Martha Stewart's PR campaign has certainly evolved over the last two years. She started off not saying too much. But she had plenty to say today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROGERS (voice-over): Martha Stewart was silent during her six- week trial. But with the trial and sentencing over, Stewart's strategy shifted.
STEWART: I am just very, very sorry that it's come to this. That a small personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion.
ROGERS: Stewart's speech on the courthouse steps capped a PR campaign that many say got off on the wrong foot.
Two years ago as she coolly defended herself while chopping cabbage on CBS' "The Early Show." Since then she's stayed on message never admitting she did anything wrong or apologizing for her actions. From a sit-down with Barbara Walters to an hour on "LARRY KING LIVE."
STEWART: Having done nothing wrong allows you to sleep.
ROGERS: Last year she even took out a full-page ad in "USA Today," proclaiming her innocence.
GREGORY WALLANCE, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: She shows very little contrition, very little remorse, very little willingness to acknowledge that maybe she made a mistake. Just defiance. And I don't think that ultimately is going to hurt her much. But I don't think it's going to help her either, at least in the courts.
ROGERS: But Martha is fighting a two-front war, in the court of law and the court of public opinion. While she didn't testify in front of the jury, she did launch a website, Marthatalks.com, providing frequent trial updates and a forum for her fans.
Among the more than 170,000 e-mails Stewart says her site has received are comments like these. "Please do not despair. No matter where you are, you will still be you."
"I am a 33-year-old guy -- I started watching your show several years ago. I wanted to tell you that you have helped me to become a more organized person."
Stewart's supports have also taken matters into their own hands with savemartha.com and a petition to President Bush asking for a pardon on behalf of the domestic diva.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): With her appeal pending, Stewart is expected to continue to step up to the microphone as she did today -- not only pleading her case, but pleading for customers to support her company -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jen Rogers in Los Angeles, thanks very much.
In the last hour, Martha Stewart has put up on her Web site a new statement to her supporters. Among other things, she says, and I'm quoting now, "If I can ask just one thing of the public that has benefited for many years from my work, it would be to continue to support Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, regardless of what happens to me."
Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was inside the courtroom when the sentence came down. He's joining us now live from New York. What was it like in there as that sentence came down, Jeff?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was really tremendous drama, particularly before when Martha Stewart herself began to speak. Because even though this had been a six-week trial, Martha Stewart had never said word one. So, this was the first time we'd ever heard from her in that courtroom.
And when she began to give her statement, she was audibly weeping. I'd never expected to hear that. But very quickly, within 30 seconds of beginning to speak, she took on -- she got calmed down and began to speak strongly. And the Martha Stewart you saw on the courthouse steps -- that strong, confident, determined woman -- that was the woman you heard in the courtroom after that first moment of hesitation.
BLITZER: Now, she's not going to be going to jail pending this appeal. How long do you think this process will play out?
TOOBIN: Boy, Wolf, NEVILLE: at's really hard to tell. That's really one of the uncertainties that may hurt her and her company, because there's really no way of knowing at this point.
Based on the way federal appeals usually work, the case will probably be argued in the late fall, and maybe there'll be a decision by early next year. Frankly, I assume she doesn't have much chance based on the legal issues that I've seen in this case. And so, I expect that she'll lose probably early next year, go to -- start her prison sentence sometime mid 2005.
But that could move more quickly. It could move more slowly. I expect some time in 2005 she'll go to prison.
BLITZER: So, from a business standpoint, are you suggesting that maybe just as smart to get it over with, spend the five months in prison and then move on with her life?
TOOBIN: It might be, but frankly, Wolf, you know, based on being in the legal system for a long time and watching it for a long time, I have never seen one single person volunteer to go to prison one day before they have to, and that Martha Stewart seems to be following in that tradition.
Even though, on the surface, it does make sense. Five months could pass very quickly. But as long as you have the chance of winning and not going at all, most people just don't go. And she's not going until she has to.
BLITZER: Her appellate attorney, Walter Dellinger, is clearly one of the best in the business. He knows what he's doing. I assume she's getting very strong legal advice from him suggesting she has a good case.
TOOBIN: Walter Dellinger is as good as they come, and I think his chances of winning are very slim. This was a very well tried case. Judge Cedarbaum, in many circumstances in this case, cut Martha Stewart a break during the trial. Remember, she threw out the most serious charge against her: the securities fraud trial. Martha Stewart had great trial attorneys in Robert Morvillo and company.
So, it wasn't as if this trial was some sort of a, you know, route or unfair proceeding. Yes, there was an unusual situation with two people in the trial: one government witness, a Secret Service agent being accused of perjury, a -- one of the jurors apparently lying during jury selection. Those are odd circumstances.
But it sure seems like a long shot to me that those would lead to Martha Stewart getting a new trial.
BLITZER: All right. She's going to try, though, nevertheless.
TOOBIN: That's for sure.
BLITZER: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much for that analysis.
And to our viewers, an important note: Martha Stewart is going to be giving her first and only live post-sentence interview to our own Larry King. She'll also be taking your phone calls in this CNN exclusive. You can see it right here Monday night -- Monday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, only with Larry King.
And here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question of the day is this: Is Martha Stewart's sentence appropriate? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.
Why was Vice President Dick Cheney calling for a doctor at a campaign rally today?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do we have a doctor? Is my Doc out there, Jen (ph)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Unexpected drama on the campaign trail.
And life or death drama in the west, where families are forced to pick up and run while firefighters try to save their homes.
And three years ago, he all but spit on his homeland. Now, the United States government may have chess prodigy Bobby Fischer in a checkmate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A lot of action today on the campaign trail, including a scare that sprung the Vice President Dick Cheney into action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: Do we have a doctor? Is my Doc out there, Jen (ph)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The person needing medical help was someone in the audience who apparently fainted during Cheney's event in Lansing, Michigan. Appearing with Cheney was Senator John McCain, who gave his fellow Republican a ringing endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: In short, my friends, Vice President Cheney is not just another pretty face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: President Bush made a stop in Tampa, Florida, and accused Cuban President Fidel Castro of encouraging sexual tourism. Speaking at a Justice Department conference, the president vowed the United States will lead the fight against sexual slavery and sweatshop labor.
As for the Democrats, Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards is courting Hispanic voters in Los Angeles. If elected, Edwards says he and John Kerry will help to build up the middle class, including Hispanics -- the nation's fastest growing minority group.
Here in Washington, D.C., Senator John Kerry picked up the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers. The move gives Kerry a clean sweep of both of the nation's major teachers' unions. In response, Kerry vowed to back up his promises on education with the necessary funds to carry them out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president of the United States who is determined not to talk about leaving no child behind, but will really leave no child behind. And I will fully fund no child left behind. I will fully fund special needs education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining me now, a veteran of many major political battles and otherwise the Reverend Jesse Jackson. And Reverend Jackson, thanks very much for joining us.
When I take a look at President Bush, I see Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Rod Paige, I see some black faces at the highest levels of the government. I don't see a lot of black faces at the highest levels the Kerry/Edwards campaign.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW-PUSH COALITION: The infrastructure of the Kerry campaign is more diverse and continues to grow. You look -- you see John Kerry go on to NAACP convention and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) convention. You see him going to organized labor.
And for the last three years, Mr. Bush has not met with NAACP, has not met with organized labor, not the National Organization of Women, even his own United...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: He is going to addressing the Urban League next week, an important civil rights group in the United States.
JACKSON: Well, it's significant that he does it. He should have addressed both. But more than that, for three years we've been locked out of any access to the White House or the Department of Justice. Mr. Bush one day put the picture of Dr. King up in the White House, the next day he sent Olson to the Supreme Court to undercut affirmative action.
The next day he a wreath about King's grave site, the next day he puts Pickering on the appellate judiciary during the recess.
BLITZER: But the White House argument, and Dan Bartlett, other White House officials have made this point, if the leadership, Julien Bond, for example, the chairman of the NAACP, if they say what the White House regards as disrespectful things of the president and criticize him forcefully, why should he honor that leadership with a visit.
JACKSON: The president must be bigger than that. It's not about Julien Bond and his analysis of the president's actions or inactions. After all, he's been very disappointing the last three years. We've had a net loss of jobs in every state. In the last few years, he's tried to stack the court with the right-wing judges. In the last 3 years, there's been leave no child behind, have left 1.2 million of them behind.
But there's tax cuts and benefits for the wealthy, 300,000 after school children have been left behind. So, there's a lot of pain.
We have -- there's been a net loss of working class progress in recent years.
BLITZER: Why have so many black leaders, Congressional Black Caucus in particular, in recent days, been so disappointed with these new ads that the Kerry/Edwards campaign, these television ads, these radio ads, that they are putting out trying to get minority voters, blacks in particular, to get out there and vote.
JACKSON: Those criticisms of the past. What really will last now, today, a million African-American votes were disenfranchised, a million were disenfranchised.
BLITZER: A million -- wait a second, what do you mean a million black....
JACKSON: A million -- the data is in that a million -- in Florida, for example, 179,000 votes...
BLITZER: We know there were problems in Duval County, near Jacksonville.
JACKSON: I can give you the entire data. 54 percent of those discounted were African-American. In Cook County in Chicago, where you had the scanning machines inside of the booths, Pate Phillips (ph) the Senate Republican leader would not let them be turned on...
BLITZER: So, what your doing now to make sure that doesn't happen again?
JACKSON: We're in another fight in Florida. They are trying to purge folk off the rolls again. Jeb Bush is leading a drive right now to purge folk from the rolls who should remain on the rolls. And because of our fight, and because of a court order they are now being allowed to stay on.
But just last week -- well, just last week, they sent a memo to 67 county registrars and said if you did not remove those purged, you'll be under criminal investigation. Now, I think they had to admit that, they had to drop away from that, because those rolls should not have been purged.
So, we're fighting massive voter disenfranchisement. And voter intimidation.
BLITZER: You think, as in the last election in 2000, the overwhelming majority, 90 percent or so of African-American voters will vote for the Democratic ticket?
JACKSON: They'll vote their interest, and it will be the Democratic ticket. You look on the case of John Edwards, a southerner with a healing message of hope has great appeal, and from the south...
BLITZER: You like Edwards?
JACKSON: I like Edwards very much. You find in Kerry, a man of a lot of strength, a man who is a military soldier with some valor and some honor who has a sense of the one big tent America. So there is in the Kerry/Edwards ticket inclusiveness and hope and healing.
BLITZER: Tomorrow, the 20th anniversary, if I'm right, when you addressed the Democratic Presidential Convention in 1984, the 40th anniversary of another moment in your life as well. Two questions: first question, are you invited to address this convention in Boston?
JACKSON: No, I am not.
BLITZER: Why?
JACKSON: But you know, it's not a big issue for me. I'm really about serving and changing. I have spoken to five conventions here in a row. It's not a big deal. The big deal for me is massive voter registration and coalition building and putting a focus on working poor people.
What's a big deal -- a big deal to me, I just left Appalachia, for a coal miners (UNINTELLIGIBLE) black lung disease. The kids are going to schools 2 1/2 hours one way each day.
Let's focus on really what matters, working for the people and abandoned children.
BLITZER: We only have 10 seconds, but 40 years ago tomorrow, tell our viewers where you were and how far this country has come since then. JACKSON: Well July 17, 1960 I was in jail in Greenville, South Carolina trying to use the public library. July 22, 1984 I was speaking at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco. Twenty years later today, we are on the threshold of being able to have our vote determine the next presidency of our country and the make-up of its course. And that is progress.
BLITZER: On that note we will leave it. Reverend Jackson, thanks very much.
JACKSON: Thank you.
BLITZER: Bloody, but unbowed, Martha Stewart remains defiant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART, FOUNDER MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: I will be back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You'll hear her complete statement and hear how it's playing in her hometown. That's coming up.
Thousands of acres scorched. Thousands of homes and lives threatened. We'll have a live update from the western wildfires. And later: It sounds like a plotline from Mission Impossible. the spy scandal that's chilled relations between Israel and New Zealand. You'll want to stick around for this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: 90 children are dead after a massive fire at a school in Southern India. Preliminary reports say an electrical short in the kitchen might have ignited the flames. Winds spread the fire to the roof, which collapsed. About 700 children managed to escape.
Officials fear the number of deaths could rise with more than a dozen children now reported in critical condition.
Firefighters are struggling against wildfires in the western part of the United States. Flames near Carson City, Nevada have destroyed several homes and threaten hundreds of others.
But our attention turns to CNN's Miguel Marquez in Lake Hughes, California. That's where a fire has forced the evacuation of hundreds of people -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We are in Lake Hughes area in the Angeles national forest, 50 to 60 miles north of Los Angeles.
I want to show you this area behind me, where firefighters have been working this area with helicopters all day. You can see one right above the ridgeline there. Fire officials call this the asbestos range, because it's been 80 to 100 years since it's burned. A lot of brush, oak and conifer trees up in there. A thousand people so far evacuated. Mandatory evacuations in the Lake Hughes area.
One person has died from an accident in this -- in this fire. Three have been injured. Three homes have been destroyed so far. Another 120 homes or so are threatened.
There were about 14,000 acres that have burned in this fire, and they call it 36 percent contained today. Yesterday they had it at 50 percent contained, but because of these winds that you can see coming through here, the winds have been very erratic, which is part of the problem. The containment went back down today, and it's very difficult for them to get a hold of this fire.
Today they thought they'd have a good day of fighting the fire because they -- they had good winds with them. The humidity had risen just a little bit. But now these winds are back up. And that seems to be the biggest problem with these fires, those dry conditions, hot conditions.
It's about 100 degrees out here right now, and that wind that's erratic, gusting now probably up to about 15 or 20 miles an hour, makes fighting this fire almost impossible -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Miguel Marquez, reporting for us from a dangerous area. Miguel, thanks very much. Good luck to all the people out there.
Martha Stewart's reaction to her sentence. Her comments in their entirety. That's coming up. Plus, reaction from her adopted hometown.
A wanted former chess champ is nabbed. Bobby Fischer's strange odyssey and why American authorities are so eager to get him.
Plus, new numbers in the race for the White House. We'll get the inside edge from our own Carlos Watson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back.
He was once the toast of the nation, but now the United States wants to put chess prodigy Bobby Fischer in jail. Is this checkmate for the former chess champion? We'll get to that.
First, though, a quick check of the stories now in the news.
Martha Stewart learns her sentence: five months in prison, five months home confinement, followed by two years supervised probation about lying for a stock sale. The judge gave the minimum sentence allowed under federal guidelines but also fined her $30,000. Stewart says she's not afraid and adds she will be back.
Hours later, Martha Stewart's former broker, Peter Bacanovic, received a similar sentence. His fine was only $4,000. Bacanovic was accused of tipping Stewart off about ImClone founder Sam Waksal's dumping of his company's stock shares.
Bacanovic and Stewart were convicted in March of conspiracy and making false statements about her questionable stock sale.
After sentencing, Stewart spoke to reporters and supporters gathered outside the courthouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART, FOUNDER, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: Today is a shameful day. It's shameful for me and for my family and for my beloved company, and for all of its employees and partners. What was a small, personal matter came over -- became over the last two years an almost fatal circus event of unprecedented proportions.
I have been choked and almost suffocated to death during that time, all the while more concerned about the well-being of others than for myself, more hurt for them and for their losses than for my own, more worried for their futures than the future of Martha Stewart the person.
More than 200 people have lost their jobs at my company, and as a result of this situation. I want them to know how very, very sorry I am for them and their families.
I would like to thank everybody who stood by me, who wished me well, waved to me on the street like these lovely people over here, smiled at me, called me, wrote to me. We received thousands of support letters and more than 170,000 e-mails to MarthaTalks.com. And I appreciate each and every one of those pieces of correspondence. I really feel good about it.
Perhaps all of you out there can continue to show your support by subscribing to our magazine, by buying our products, by encouraging our advertisers to come back in full force to our magazines.
Our magazines are great. They deserve your support. And whatever happened to me personally shouldn't have any effect whatsoever on the great company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
And I don't want to use this as a sales pitch for my company, but we love that company. We've worked so hard on that company. And we really think it merits great attention from the American public.
And I'll be back. I will be back. Whatever I have to do in the next few months, I hope the months go by quickly. I'm used to all kinds of hard work, as you know, and I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid whatsoever. I'm just very, very sorry that it's come to this, that a small, personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion and with such venom and such gore. I mean, it's just terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Martha Stewart speaking out earlier after her sentence, saying ironically, the stock at the center of the Stewart case is worth more now than when she sold it.
The almost 4,000 shares of ImClone, which she dumped in December 2001 were worth about $228,000. Now the stock is up more than $20, and Stewart's same shares would be worth $315,000. That's $87,000 in potential gains. And a world of trouble saved.
Like much of the country, Stewart's sentence is talk of her adopted hometown. That would be Westport, Connecticut.
CNN's Alina Cho is there, and she's been talking to people. What are they saying, Alina?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends on who you ask, Wolf.
You know, it is not hard at all to find people around town here who have seen Martha Stewart, who know her. And, like in other parts of the country, some people here like her, some don't. Some say she shouldn't go to prison, while others say the sentence is fair.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's justice. You know, this is what the courts decided.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It strikes me as excessive. It really does.
CHO: Along Main Street in Westport, residents were split on whether their neighbor, Martha Stewart, should go to prison.
This woman says no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I don't think she deserves prison, especially when some of these other fat cats who have cost people their jobs, their pensions and everything are going to walk.
CHO: Others wish Stewart would show some contrition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it would help her case if she would acknowledge that what she did was wrong and five months is not a long time. I think she should serve the time and get on with her life.
CHO: Stewart has spent much of her adult life in Westport, one of the most affluent towns in the country along the Connecticut coastline. She moved to this home, which she calls Turkey Hill Farm, in the 1970s with her then husband and daughter. It is where she began her catering business, where she later taped her popular TV show.
STEWART: What a beautiful touch.
CHO: Early on Stewart was socially active here, attending a fundraiser at the town historical society with one of Westport's other famous residents, Paul Newman.
In recent years, Stewart has favored glitzy Manhattan functions, but has still spent much of her time here. Westport's first selectwoman, Diane Farrell, calls her a long-time political supporter and friend.
DIANE FARRELL, WESTPORT FIRST SELECTWOMAN: Most people who know Martha know this is just a chapter in her life. She'll be back. She will be back stronger than ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And keep in mind that Stewart's relationship with her Westport neighbors hasn't always been perfect. When neighbors complained that she was making too much noise during the taping of her television show, Stewart responded by writing an article for "The New York Times" magazine, calling Westport unfriendly.
Some people here have never forgotten that, while others say she made a great contribution to this town and instead of prison time, Wolf, she should do community service.
BLITZER: Alina Cho, reporting for us from Westport. Thanks, Alina, very much.
Searching for Bobby Fischer no more. U.S. officials now know where the former chess champion is. But why do they want him so badly?
Strained relations and anti-Semitic attacks. New developments in an Israel/New Zealand spy scandal. We'll have details.
Plus, the latest inside news on the presidential campaigns.
We'll get to all of that. First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Palestinian militants ambushed a car carrying the Palestinian police chief of the West Bank and Gaza and held him for several hours before releasing him.
The militants said they expect the official to be removed from his job and investigated for alleged corrupt activities.
Deadly floods: Devastating floods have killed dozens of people in eastern India and made life miserable for millions of other. The flooding has been triggered by annual monsoon rains.
Fiery crash: A transport truck crashed and burst into flames on a major highway in northern Germany. The driver apparently lost control of the truck. He and a passenger were seriously injured. Officials say a section of the Autobahn toward Berlin will be closed at least through the weekend.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The long search for Bobby Fischer is over. Considered by many to be the best chess player ever and certainly the most eccentric, Fischer has been wanted by U.S. officials since the early 1990s.
The law caught up with Fischer this week in Japan.
CNN's Atika Schubert is in Tokyo with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bobby Fischer, chess prodigy and grandmaster, was once a national hero. In 1972, Fischer, then 29 years old, roundly beat world chess champion Boris Spaski from the Soviet Union. It was hailed as a victory in the Cold War.
Now 61, he is a wanted man. He's been a fugitive since 1992, when he attended a Yugoslav chess tournament in violation of U.N. sanctions. Famously, spitting on a letter from the U.S. government that warned him not to go.
BOBBY FISCHER, CHESS CHAMPION: So this is my reply to their order not to defend my title here. That's what I answer.
SCHUBERT: After that, Fischer went under ground, shuttling between Europe and Asia, amid rumors that he continued to play chess on the Internet under assumed names.
He surfaced occasionally to broadcast anti-Semitic rants against his home country. The most controversial aired on a radio program just after the World Trade Center attacks.
FISCHER: This is really wonderful news. A sign for the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) U.S. to get their heads kicked in.
SCHUBERT: He also boasted of his place in history.
FISCHER: When I won the world championship in '72, the United States was a football country, a baseball country, but nobody thought of it as an intellectual country. I turned all that around single- handedly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was, I think, a very risky move.
SCHUBERT: Yet he made a strategic error in coming to Japan. Fischer was detained Thursday at Tokyo's Narita Airport on an immigration violation.
Japanese and U.S. officials will not say whether Fischer will be extradited to the U.S. to face charges. An ignominious endgame for the man was once hailed as the world's greatest living chess player.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's rare that the small island nation of New Zealand gets caught up in a controversial international incident involving spies. But that's happening right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): It started with two Israelis convicted of trying illegally to obtain a New Zealand passport, a valuable commodity in the world of international spy craft, one that can open up doors often closed to Israeli passport holders.
But along the way, a hugely embarrassing failure that has resulted in angry allegations of espionage, strained diplomatic relations between Israel and New Zealand, and now apparently, the anti-Semitic desecration of a Jewish cemetery in New Zealand.
DAVID ZWARTZ, NEW ZEALAND JEWISH COUNCIL: It really makes me feel sick and reminds me of the history of the Jewish people where this has happened over and over again but never before in New Zealand.
BLITZER: The Israelis, Urie Kelman (ph) and Eli Cara (ph), are now serving six-month jail terms in New Zealand after pleading guilty of trying to assume the identity of a wheelchair bound New Zealander who has cerebral palsy.
It's a classic spy technique, assume the identity of someone you know can't travel.
Both Israelis are suspected of being agents of Israel's Mussad spy agency.
HELEN CLARK, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: That's completely unacceptable, and I don't think it would be New Zealanders who would say that New Zealand should do nothing in the face of another country's agents trying to breach our sovereignty. We have to take a stand on that, regardless of who the country is.
BLITZER: Prime Minister Clark has strongly condemned the vandalism at the cemetery, which authorities believe is the result of anger towards Israel. She also wants a formal apology from the Israeli government. So far that has not been forthcoming.
SILVAN SHALOM, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Israel is very sorry about the decision that was taken by the government of New Zealand. But we believe that, if we walk one with each other as we used to walk in the past, we will overcome the last day of difficulties.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: This isn't the first time the Israelis or others have blundered in the world of international espionage, and it certainly won't be the last.
I spoke with one Israeli close with the Mussad who made this point. "When it comes to fighting terrorism," he said, "you have to take chances and sometimes you get caught."
We'll give you the inside edge from the campaign trail when we come back.
CNN's Carlos Watson standing by. He'll tell us why some new poll numbers in Florida could be very good news for John Kerry. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There is a new presidential poll numbers coming in from Florida. Our political analyst, Carlos Watson, is joining us to talk about that and other developments with his weekly inside edge.
Carlos, thanks very much. Let's take a look at these numbers coming in from Florida. A new poll just coming in.
Kerry 47 percent, Bush 44 percent, Nader at three percent. If it's just Kerry and Bush, 49 for Kerry, 45 percent for Bush.
What do you make of these numbers?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: These are good numbers. Obviously, Florida is a key battleground state, was four years ago. Again this year. Twenty-seven electoral votes.
But more broadly, what it represents, Wolf, is that Kerry is starting to see a bump in state polls.
BLITZER: Good numbers for Kerry.
WATSON: Good numbers for Kerry. And not only here. Remember, we've seen a good new poll out of North Carolina, and we've seen some good polls in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
And the one that caught my attention the most was in Tennessee, which Al Gore, the hometown son, lost by four percentage points four years ago. And if you believe this one poll, Kerry is pretty close to dead even.
So these are good statewide polls for John Kerry. He's enjoying a little bit of early July momentum.
BLITZER: Doesn't mean it's necessarily going to stay like that. WATSON: Certainly not. We've seen polls swing backwards and forwards. But another good thing that I think that happened with John Kerry right now, I think he's starting to find his rhythm policy-wise.
You see him releasing a number of new policies, whether it's education and No Child Left Behind, whether he's talking about more high school graduates.
Not a bad thing to do as he kind of rounds out his policy over the next several weeks leading up to the convention.
BLITZER: There was a good image today that we all saw, the vice president, Dick Cheney, the senator, John McCain, together on the campaign stump. That -- that should help the Bush/Cheney campaign.
WATSON: They sure hope so, because it's been tough keeping John McCain on the team in lots of ways. You remember, John Kerry flirted with him as a potential V.P. candidate.
But I think you're going to start to see three things out of the Bush campaign out of the next month.
No. 1, bringing all sorts of friends close, whether it's John McCain, whether it's the two Bush daughters or whether -- look to hear a lot from Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, who they'll start to use even more so as a surrogate.
No. 2, I think you'll start to see a tougher brand of politics. I think you'll start to see them more aggressively go after John Kerry, not just on policy grounds as a flip-flopper, but in a more personal way. Maybe in some ways a little return to some of the South Carolina politics that we saw in the 2000 Republican primary.
And last, but not least, don't be surprised to see some new policy initiatives from the Bush team. One of the major issues, not with their base but with swing voters who John McCain is popular with is what will happen in a new four years for president Bush.
And so far that argument hasn't been made on health care, on education and in other areas.
BLITZER: John Kerry's appearance at the NAACP convention this past week in Philadelphia, what -- how did you come away from that?
WATSON: I thought it was a win for him in a lot of ways. Most significantly, not because he talked to a group that warmly received him, but I think John Kerry finally found his voice, Wolf, when it came to kind of giving a stump speech.
Remember, I've long said that, although a lot of folks in Washington make fun of President Bush, actually when he's on a stump and with a crowd, he's a very good speaker. Why? Because he uses humor.
What you saw John Kerry do at the NAACP speech was use humor. He seemed relaxed, some references to religion, which often you don't often hear from Democrats. This was very good. He's got to keep it up for the Democratic convention.
BLITZER: Carlos Watson, thanks very much for that. We'll have you back next week, if not sooner.
WATSON: Look forward to seeing you.
BLITZER: The results of our Web question of the day, that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at these numbers. Very evenly split. Remember, it's not a scientific poll.
I'll see you Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. Among my guests, Jordan's King Abdullah. That will be an exclusive.
Thanks very much for joining us. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 16, 2004 - 17:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now. She didn't get her way with the judge. Now within the last hour alone, Martha Stewart has a new wish for her fans. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Martha Stewart's angry. The homemaking diva is sentenced to prison. But she's not going quietly.
MARTHA STEWART: That a small, personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion. And with such venom and such gore. I mean, it's just terrible.
BLITZER: Stewart's months behind bars. Today, advice from those who have been there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There will be people waiting to help her and there will be people waiting to give her a very hard time.
BLITZER: Checkmate. Why former chess champ Bobby Fischer was taken into custody.
School inferno. Scores of children are dead. Most under the age of 10.
And the odds in Nevada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to go back toward those homes again.
BLITZER: Will firefighters gain the upper hand?
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, July 16, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's a -- it's the latest amazing twist in an American success story. Martha Stewart ordered to prison for lying to government investigators about a stock sale. We're on all angles of this story with CNN's Mary Snow, Brian Todd, Jen Rogers, our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, they are all standing by. But let's start with Mary Snow in New York where Stewart spoke to reporters after her sentencing -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, for the first time in her court ordeal, Martha Stewart broke her silence and sounded emotional at times after her sentencing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEWART: I'll be back. I will be back. Whatever I have to do in the next few months, I hope the months go by quickly.
SNOW: 10 months in all. Far less than the 16-month maximum. Five to be served in prison, immediately followed by five months of house arrest, which Stewart asked to serve at her home in Bedford, New York, rather than at her other homes in Westport or The Hamptons. The judge also ordered two years probation and a $30,000 fine. Stewart called it a shameful day.
STEWART: What was a small, personal matter came over -- became over the last two years an almost fatal circus event of unprecedented proportions. I have been choked and almost suffocated to death during that time. All the while more concerned about the well-being of others than for myself.
SNOW: Stewart made similar remarks in court. Her voice shaky with emotion as she asked Judge Miriam Cedarbaum to, quote, "please remember all the good I have done." Cederbaum indicated she had considered that saying she was impressed by the hundreds of letters the court received supporting Stewart and telling her, quote, "I believe that you have suffered and will continue to suffer enough." Afterwards Stewart said she was thankful for the public support of both herself and her company.
STEWART: Perhaps all of you out there can continue to show your support by subscribing to our magazine, by buying our products, by encouraging our advertisers to come back in full force to our magazines. Our magazines are great. They deserve your support.
SNOW: Shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia badly hurt by the scandal soared after the sentencing, which the judge stayed, giving Stewart's lawyers time to appeal. Among them, Walter Dellinger, a former acting U.S. solicitor-general and considered among the country's top appellate lawyers. He says there are numerous grounds for appeal.
WALTER DELLINGER, STEWART'S ATTORNEY: The trial was also pervaded by a notion clearly erroneously that she was charged with criminal insider trading. She was never charged with that and yet the prosecution was able to mention "secret tips" 17 times in its opening statement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: The judge set terms for the home confinement portion of the sentence and they include wearing an electronic monitor on Stewart's ankle. Also, the judge said that Stewart wouldn't be able to leave her home for more than 48 hours a week and that includes going to work and Stewart would have to spend one day a week at home -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Mary Snow reporting from the courthouse in New York. Mary, thanks very much.
And just a few hours ago, Stewart's broker Peter Bacanovich received an almost identical sentence. He also got five months in prison, five months house arrest and two years probation. But Bacanovic was fined $4,000 compared to Stewart's $30,000 fine. Both were convicted of four felony counts.
In court Bacanovic said and I'm quoting now, "I deeply regret the pain I have caused." And he said the ordeal had been horrible for his family. He did not talk to reporters afterward.
Back to Martha Stewart now. She asked and the judge agreed to recommend that she serve her prison time at a minimum security facility in Danbury, Connecticut. That's near her home in Westport.
CNN's Brian Todd is here with a look at what Martha Stewart is facing behind bars -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, from all indications that we're getting, Martha Stewart's time in detention may not be as cushy as one might imagine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): All jokes aside about thread count and color scheme, prison life for Martha Stewart has a range of possibilities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every room you walk into in a federal institution is a fearful place.
TODD: Some more fearful than others. If Stewart actually goes to prison, the judge has agreed to recommend she be sent to the Federal Correctional Institute at Danbury, Connecticut. Part of that complex is a camp for nonviolent first offenders, now housing about 200 women.
PAUL CALLAN, FMR. NYC PROSECUTOR: Most of these prisons, and Danbury is an example of it, I guess you could compare them to an elementary school that was built maybe in the 1960s, surrounded by barbed wire. They tend to be sort of Spartan surroundings. A lot of cinderblock. Prisoners put two to a cubicle frequently. You know, there are some, you know, you can watch television and there are some facilities. There's gardening and cooking and things like that you can do. But it's a very Spartan existence.
Still in some places at Danbury, there are already Martha Stewart-like touches. Interior pictures are hard to come by but an official at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons tells us these camps are generally like open dormitories with rows of bunks, community bathrooms with banks of showers and commodes.
A typical day. At most camps, inmates are up by about 6:00 a.m. Breakfast shortly thereafter. Just after 7:30 a.m., it's off to work.
STEWART: I am used to all kinds of hard work, as you know, and I am not afraid. I am not afraid whatsoever. TODD: It's a good thing because a prison official tells us at Danbury and camps like it, work is mandatory.
FOSTER WYNANS, FMR. DANBURY INMATE: My advice to Martha would to be get herself a mop. There are jobs in the kitchen, there are jobs at -- some of these facilities have factories that produce things for the federal government.
TODD: Picture Martha Stewart as an orderly, food server, plumber, painter, groundskeeper or general sanitation worker. The workday ends at about 3:30. Head count at 4:00. Dinner at 5:00. Some recreation time until 8:30, lights out by 9:00 on weeknights, 11:30 p.m. on weekends.
People who serve time either at the camps or the low-to-medium security women's prisons say the term Club Fed is a myth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For heaven's sakes, learn to not speak your mind when you get to prison, if you end up there.
SUSAN MCDOUGAL, WHITEWATER CONVICT: When she gets there, there will be people waiting to help her and there will be people waiting to give her a very hard time.
TODD: A hard time for a household name.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Another myth we are disabused of by U.S. prison officials. They tell us there is no golf or tennis at these prison camps and after each visitation, a prison official tells me just about every inmate at Danbury and the other camps is subject to what they call a visual search. It means the clothes come off and the inmate and her clothing are checked for contraband -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brian Todd. No Club Fed as they say for Martha Stewart.
Today's sentencing follows a long and some would say failed public relations campaign. CNN's Jen Rogers is in Los Angeles with that part of the story -- Jen.
JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Martha Stewart's PR campaign has certainly evolved over the last two years. She started off not saying too much. But she had plenty to say today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROGERS (voice-over): Martha Stewart was silent during her six- week trial. But with the trial and sentencing over, Stewart's strategy shifted.
STEWART: I am just very, very sorry that it's come to this. That a small personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion.
ROGERS: Stewart's speech on the courthouse steps capped a PR campaign that many say got off on the wrong foot.
Two years ago as she coolly defended herself while chopping cabbage on CBS' "The Early Show." Since then she's stayed on message never admitting she did anything wrong or apologizing for her actions. From a sit-down with Barbara Walters to an hour on "LARRY KING LIVE."
STEWART: Having done nothing wrong allows you to sleep.
ROGERS: Last year she even took out a full-page ad in "USA Today," proclaiming her innocence.
GREGORY WALLANCE, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: She shows very little contrition, very little remorse, very little willingness to acknowledge that maybe she made a mistake. Just defiance. And I don't think that ultimately is going to hurt her much. But I don't think it's going to help her either, at least in the courts.
ROGERS: But Martha is fighting a two-front war, in the court of law and the court of public opinion. While she didn't testify in front of the jury, she did launch a website, Marthatalks.com, providing frequent trial updates and a forum for her fans.
Among the more than 170,000 e-mails Stewart says her site has received are comments like these. "Please do not despair. No matter where you are, you will still be you."
"I am a 33-year-old guy -- I started watching your show several years ago. I wanted to tell you that you have helped me to become a more organized person."
Stewart's supports have also taken matters into their own hands with savemartha.com and a petition to President Bush asking for a pardon on behalf of the domestic diva.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): With her appeal pending, Stewart is expected to continue to step up to the microphone as she did today -- not only pleading her case, but pleading for customers to support her company -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jen Rogers in Los Angeles, thanks very much.
In the last hour, Martha Stewart has put up on her Web site a new statement to her supporters. Among other things, she says, and I'm quoting now, "If I can ask just one thing of the public that has benefited for many years from my work, it would be to continue to support Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, regardless of what happens to me."
Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was inside the courtroom when the sentence came down. He's joining us now live from New York. What was it like in there as that sentence came down, Jeff?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was really tremendous drama, particularly before when Martha Stewart herself began to speak. Because even though this had been a six-week trial, Martha Stewart had never said word one. So, this was the first time we'd ever heard from her in that courtroom.
And when she began to give her statement, she was audibly weeping. I'd never expected to hear that. But very quickly, within 30 seconds of beginning to speak, she took on -- she got calmed down and began to speak strongly. And the Martha Stewart you saw on the courthouse steps -- that strong, confident, determined woman -- that was the woman you heard in the courtroom after that first moment of hesitation.
BLITZER: Now, she's not going to be going to jail pending this appeal. How long do you think this process will play out?
TOOBIN: Boy, Wolf, NEVILLE: at's really hard to tell. That's really one of the uncertainties that may hurt her and her company, because there's really no way of knowing at this point.
Based on the way federal appeals usually work, the case will probably be argued in the late fall, and maybe there'll be a decision by early next year. Frankly, I assume she doesn't have much chance based on the legal issues that I've seen in this case. And so, I expect that she'll lose probably early next year, go to -- start her prison sentence sometime mid 2005.
But that could move more quickly. It could move more slowly. I expect some time in 2005 she'll go to prison.
BLITZER: So, from a business standpoint, are you suggesting that maybe just as smart to get it over with, spend the five months in prison and then move on with her life?
TOOBIN: It might be, but frankly, Wolf, you know, based on being in the legal system for a long time and watching it for a long time, I have never seen one single person volunteer to go to prison one day before they have to, and that Martha Stewart seems to be following in that tradition.
Even though, on the surface, it does make sense. Five months could pass very quickly. But as long as you have the chance of winning and not going at all, most people just don't go. And she's not going until she has to.
BLITZER: Her appellate attorney, Walter Dellinger, is clearly one of the best in the business. He knows what he's doing. I assume she's getting very strong legal advice from him suggesting she has a good case.
TOOBIN: Walter Dellinger is as good as they come, and I think his chances of winning are very slim. This was a very well tried case. Judge Cedarbaum, in many circumstances in this case, cut Martha Stewart a break during the trial. Remember, she threw out the most serious charge against her: the securities fraud trial. Martha Stewart had great trial attorneys in Robert Morvillo and company.
So, it wasn't as if this trial was some sort of a, you know, route or unfair proceeding. Yes, there was an unusual situation with two people in the trial: one government witness, a Secret Service agent being accused of perjury, a -- one of the jurors apparently lying during jury selection. Those are odd circumstances.
But it sure seems like a long shot to me that those would lead to Martha Stewart getting a new trial.
BLITZER: All right. She's going to try, though, nevertheless.
TOOBIN: That's for sure.
BLITZER: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much for that analysis.
And to our viewers, an important note: Martha Stewart is going to be giving her first and only live post-sentence interview to our own Larry King. She'll also be taking your phone calls in this CNN exclusive. You can see it right here Monday night -- Monday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, only with Larry King.
And here's your chance to weigh in on this important story. Our Web question of the day is this: Is Martha Stewart's sentence appropriate? You can vote right now. Go to cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.
Why was Vice President Dick Cheney calling for a doctor at a campaign rally today?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do we have a doctor? Is my Doc out there, Jen (ph)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Unexpected drama on the campaign trail.
And life or death drama in the west, where families are forced to pick up and run while firefighters try to save their homes.
And three years ago, he all but spit on his homeland. Now, the United States government may have chess prodigy Bobby Fischer in a checkmate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A lot of action today on the campaign trail, including a scare that sprung the Vice President Dick Cheney into action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: Do we have a doctor? Is my Doc out there, Jen (ph)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The person needing medical help was someone in the audience who apparently fainted during Cheney's event in Lansing, Michigan. Appearing with Cheney was Senator John McCain, who gave his fellow Republican a ringing endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: In short, my friends, Vice President Cheney is not just another pretty face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: President Bush made a stop in Tampa, Florida, and accused Cuban President Fidel Castro of encouraging sexual tourism. Speaking at a Justice Department conference, the president vowed the United States will lead the fight against sexual slavery and sweatshop labor.
As for the Democrats, Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards is courting Hispanic voters in Los Angeles. If elected, Edwards says he and John Kerry will help to build up the middle class, including Hispanics -- the nation's fastest growing minority group.
Here in Washington, D.C., Senator John Kerry picked up the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers. The move gives Kerry a clean sweep of both of the nation's major teachers' unions. In response, Kerry vowed to back up his promises on education with the necessary funds to carry them out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY, (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a president of the United States who is determined not to talk about leaving no child behind, but will really leave no child behind. And I will fully fund no child left behind. I will fully fund special needs education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining me now, a veteran of many major political battles and otherwise the Reverend Jesse Jackson. And Reverend Jackson, thanks very much for joining us.
When I take a look at President Bush, I see Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Rod Paige, I see some black faces at the highest levels of the government. I don't see a lot of black faces at the highest levels the Kerry/Edwards campaign.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW-PUSH COALITION: The infrastructure of the Kerry campaign is more diverse and continues to grow. You look -- you see John Kerry go on to NAACP convention and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) convention. You see him going to organized labor.
And for the last three years, Mr. Bush has not met with NAACP, has not met with organized labor, not the National Organization of Women, even his own United...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: He is going to addressing the Urban League next week, an important civil rights group in the United States.
JACKSON: Well, it's significant that he does it. He should have addressed both. But more than that, for three years we've been locked out of any access to the White House or the Department of Justice. Mr. Bush one day put the picture of Dr. King up in the White House, the next day he sent Olson to the Supreme Court to undercut affirmative action.
The next day he a wreath about King's grave site, the next day he puts Pickering on the appellate judiciary during the recess.
BLITZER: But the White House argument, and Dan Bartlett, other White House officials have made this point, if the leadership, Julien Bond, for example, the chairman of the NAACP, if they say what the White House regards as disrespectful things of the president and criticize him forcefully, why should he honor that leadership with a visit.
JACKSON: The president must be bigger than that. It's not about Julien Bond and his analysis of the president's actions or inactions. After all, he's been very disappointing the last three years. We've had a net loss of jobs in every state. In the last few years, he's tried to stack the court with the right-wing judges. In the last 3 years, there's been leave no child behind, have left 1.2 million of them behind.
But there's tax cuts and benefits for the wealthy, 300,000 after school children have been left behind. So, there's a lot of pain.
We have -- there's been a net loss of working class progress in recent years.
BLITZER: Why have so many black leaders, Congressional Black Caucus in particular, in recent days, been so disappointed with these new ads that the Kerry/Edwards campaign, these television ads, these radio ads, that they are putting out trying to get minority voters, blacks in particular, to get out there and vote.
JACKSON: Those criticisms of the past. What really will last now, today, a million African-American votes were disenfranchised, a million were disenfranchised.
BLITZER: A million -- wait a second, what do you mean a million black....
JACKSON: A million -- the data is in that a million -- in Florida, for example, 179,000 votes...
BLITZER: We know there were problems in Duval County, near Jacksonville.
JACKSON: I can give you the entire data. 54 percent of those discounted were African-American. In Cook County in Chicago, where you had the scanning machines inside of the booths, Pate Phillips (ph) the Senate Republican leader would not let them be turned on...
BLITZER: So, what your doing now to make sure that doesn't happen again?
JACKSON: We're in another fight in Florida. They are trying to purge folk off the rolls again. Jeb Bush is leading a drive right now to purge folk from the rolls who should remain on the rolls. And because of our fight, and because of a court order they are now being allowed to stay on.
But just last week -- well, just last week, they sent a memo to 67 county registrars and said if you did not remove those purged, you'll be under criminal investigation. Now, I think they had to admit that, they had to drop away from that, because those rolls should not have been purged.
So, we're fighting massive voter disenfranchisement. And voter intimidation.
BLITZER: You think, as in the last election in 2000, the overwhelming majority, 90 percent or so of African-American voters will vote for the Democratic ticket?
JACKSON: They'll vote their interest, and it will be the Democratic ticket. You look on the case of John Edwards, a southerner with a healing message of hope has great appeal, and from the south...
BLITZER: You like Edwards?
JACKSON: I like Edwards very much. You find in Kerry, a man of a lot of strength, a man who is a military soldier with some valor and some honor who has a sense of the one big tent America. So there is in the Kerry/Edwards ticket inclusiveness and hope and healing.
BLITZER: Tomorrow, the 20th anniversary, if I'm right, when you addressed the Democratic Presidential Convention in 1984, the 40th anniversary of another moment in your life as well. Two questions: first question, are you invited to address this convention in Boston?
JACKSON: No, I am not.
BLITZER: Why?
JACKSON: But you know, it's not a big issue for me. I'm really about serving and changing. I have spoken to five conventions here in a row. It's not a big deal. The big deal for me is massive voter registration and coalition building and putting a focus on working poor people.
What's a big deal -- a big deal to me, I just left Appalachia, for a coal miners (UNINTELLIGIBLE) black lung disease. The kids are going to schools 2 1/2 hours one way each day.
Let's focus on really what matters, working for the people and abandoned children.
BLITZER: We only have 10 seconds, but 40 years ago tomorrow, tell our viewers where you were and how far this country has come since then. JACKSON: Well July 17, 1960 I was in jail in Greenville, South Carolina trying to use the public library. July 22, 1984 I was speaking at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco. Twenty years later today, we are on the threshold of being able to have our vote determine the next presidency of our country and the make-up of its course. And that is progress.
BLITZER: On that note we will leave it. Reverend Jackson, thanks very much.
JACKSON: Thank you.
BLITZER: Bloody, but unbowed, Martha Stewart remains defiant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART, FOUNDER MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: I will be back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You'll hear her complete statement and hear how it's playing in her hometown. That's coming up.
Thousands of acres scorched. Thousands of homes and lives threatened. We'll have a live update from the western wildfires. And later: It sounds like a plotline from Mission Impossible. the spy scandal that's chilled relations between Israel and New Zealand. You'll want to stick around for this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: 90 children are dead after a massive fire at a school in Southern India. Preliminary reports say an electrical short in the kitchen might have ignited the flames. Winds spread the fire to the roof, which collapsed. About 700 children managed to escape.
Officials fear the number of deaths could rise with more than a dozen children now reported in critical condition.
Firefighters are struggling against wildfires in the western part of the United States. Flames near Carson City, Nevada have destroyed several homes and threaten hundreds of others.
But our attention turns to CNN's Miguel Marquez in Lake Hughes, California. That's where a fire has forced the evacuation of hundreds of people -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We are in Lake Hughes area in the Angeles national forest, 50 to 60 miles north of Los Angeles.
I want to show you this area behind me, where firefighters have been working this area with helicopters all day. You can see one right above the ridgeline there. Fire officials call this the asbestos range, because it's been 80 to 100 years since it's burned. A lot of brush, oak and conifer trees up in there. A thousand people so far evacuated. Mandatory evacuations in the Lake Hughes area.
One person has died from an accident in this -- in this fire. Three have been injured. Three homes have been destroyed so far. Another 120 homes or so are threatened.
There were about 14,000 acres that have burned in this fire, and they call it 36 percent contained today. Yesterday they had it at 50 percent contained, but because of these winds that you can see coming through here, the winds have been very erratic, which is part of the problem. The containment went back down today, and it's very difficult for them to get a hold of this fire.
Today they thought they'd have a good day of fighting the fire because they -- they had good winds with them. The humidity had risen just a little bit. But now these winds are back up. And that seems to be the biggest problem with these fires, those dry conditions, hot conditions.
It's about 100 degrees out here right now, and that wind that's erratic, gusting now probably up to about 15 or 20 miles an hour, makes fighting this fire almost impossible -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Miguel Marquez, reporting for us from a dangerous area. Miguel, thanks very much. Good luck to all the people out there.
Martha Stewart's reaction to her sentence. Her comments in their entirety. That's coming up. Plus, reaction from her adopted hometown.
A wanted former chess champ is nabbed. Bobby Fischer's strange odyssey and why American authorities are so eager to get him.
Plus, new numbers in the race for the White House. We'll get the inside edge from our own Carlos Watson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: From our studios in Washington, once again, Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Welcome back.
He was once the toast of the nation, but now the United States wants to put chess prodigy Bobby Fischer in jail. Is this checkmate for the former chess champion? We'll get to that.
First, though, a quick check of the stories now in the news.
Martha Stewart learns her sentence: five months in prison, five months home confinement, followed by two years supervised probation about lying for a stock sale. The judge gave the minimum sentence allowed under federal guidelines but also fined her $30,000. Stewart says she's not afraid and adds she will be back.
Hours later, Martha Stewart's former broker, Peter Bacanovic, received a similar sentence. His fine was only $4,000. Bacanovic was accused of tipping Stewart off about ImClone founder Sam Waksal's dumping of his company's stock shares.
Bacanovic and Stewart were convicted in March of conspiracy and making false statements about her questionable stock sale.
After sentencing, Stewart spoke to reporters and supporters gathered outside the courthouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART, FOUNDER, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: Today is a shameful day. It's shameful for me and for my family and for my beloved company, and for all of its employees and partners. What was a small, personal matter came over -- became over the last two years an almost fatal circus event of unprecedented proportions.
I have been choked and almost suffocated to death during that time, all the while more concerned about the well-being of others than for myself, more hurt for them and for their losses than for my own, more worried for their futures than the future of Martha Stewart the person.
More than 200 people have lost their jobs at my company, and as a result of this situation. I want them to know how very, very sorry I am for them and their families.
I would like to thank everybody who stood by me, who wished me well, waved to me on the street like these lovely people over here, smiled at me, called me, wrote to me. We received thousands of support letters and more than 170,000 e-mails to MarthaTalks.com. And I appreciate each and every one of those pieces of correspondence. I really feel good about it.
Perhaps all of you out there can continue to show your support by subscribing to our magazine, by buying our products, by encouraging our advertisers to come back in full force to our magazines.
Our magazines are great. They deserve your support. And whatever happened to me personally shouldn't have any effect whatsoever on the great company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
And I don't want to use this as a sales pitch for my company, but we love that company. We've worked so hard on that company. And we really think it merits great attention from the American public.
And I'll be back. I will be back. Whatever I have to do in the next few months, I hope the months go by quickly. I'm used to all kinds of hard work, as you know, and I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid whatsoever. I'm just very, very sorry that it's come to this, that a small, personal matter has been able to be blown out of all proportion and with such venom and such gore. I mean, it's just terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Martha Stewart speaking out earlier after her sentence, saying ironically, the stock at the center of the Stewart case is worth more now than when she sold it.
The almost 4,000 shares of ImClone, which she dumped in December 2001 were worth about $228,000. Now the stock is up more than $20, and Stewart's same shares would be worth $315,000. That's $87,000 in potential gains. And a world of trouble saved.
Like much of the country, Stewart's sentence is talk of her adopted hometown. That would be Westport, Connecticut.
CNN's Alina Cho is there, and she's been talking to people. What are they saying, Alina?
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends on who you ask, Wolf.
You know, it is not hard at all to find people around town here who have seen Martha Stewart, who know her. And, like in other parts of the country, some people here like her, some don't. Some say she shouldn't go to prison, while others say the sentence is fair.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's justice. You know, this is what the courts decided.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It strikes me as excessive. It really does.
CHO: Along Main Street in Westport, residents were split on whether their neighbor, Martha Stewart, should go to prison.
This woman says no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I don't think she deserves prison, especially when some of these other fat cats who have cost people their jobs, their pensions and everything are going to walk.
CHO: Others wish Stewart would show some contrition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it would help her case if she would acknowledge that what she did was wrong and five months is not a long time. I think she should serve the time and get on with her life.
CHO: Stewart has spent much of her adult life in Westport, one of the most affluent towns in the country along the Connecticut coastline. She moved to this home, which she calls Turkey Hill Farm, in the 1970s with her then husband and daughter. It is where she began her catering business, where she later taped her popular TV show.
STEWART: What a beautiful touch.
CHO: Early on Stewart was socially active here, attending a fundraiser at the town historical society with one of Westport's other famous residents, Paul Newman.
In recent years, Stewart has favored glitzy Manhattan functions, but has still spent much of her time here. Westport's first selectwoman, Diane Farrell, calls her a long-time political supporter and friend.
DIANE FARRELL, WESTPORT FIRST SELECTWOMAN: Most people who know Martha know this is just a chapter in her life. She'll be back. She will be back stronger than ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And keep in mind that Stewart's relationship with her Westport neighbors hasn't always been perfect. When neighbors complained that she was making too much noise during the taping of her television show, Stewart responded by writing an article for "The New York Times" magazine, calling Westport unfriendly.
Some people here have never forgotten that, while others say she made a great contribution to this town and instead of prison time, Wolf, she should do community service.
BLITZER: Alina Cho, reporting for us from Westport. Thanks, Alina, very much.
Searching for Bobby Fischer no more. U.S. officials now know where the former chess champion is. But why do they want him so badly?
Strained relations and anti-Semitic attacks. New developments in an Israel/New Zealand spy scandal. We'll have details.
Plus, the latest inside news on the presidential campaigns.
We'll get to all of that. First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Palestinian militants ambushed a car carrying the Palestinian police chief of the West Bank and Gaza and held him for several hours before releasing him.
The militants said they expect the official to be removed from his job and investigated for alleged corrupt activities.
Deadly floods: Devastating floods have killed dozens of people in eastern India and made life miserable for millions of other. The flooding has been triggered by annual monsoon rains.
Fiery crash: A transport truck crashed and burst into flames on a major highway in northern Germany. The driver apparently lost control of the truck. He and a passenger were seriously injured. Officials say a section of the Autobahn toward Berlin will be closed at least through the weekend.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The long search for Bobby Fischer is over. Considered by many to be the best chess player ever and certainly the most eccentric, Fischer has been wanted by U.S. officials since the early 1990s.
The law caught up with Fischer this week in Japan.
CNN's Atika Schubert is in Tokyo with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bobby Fischer, chess prodigy and grandmaster, was once a national hero. In 1972, Fischer, then 29 years old, roundly beat world chess champion Boris Spaski from the Soviet Union. It was hailed as a victory in the Cold War.
Now 61, he is a wanted man. He's been a fugitive since 1992, when he attended a Yugoslav chess tournament in violation of U.N. sanctions. Famously, spitting on a letter from the U.S. government that warned him not to go.
BOBBY FISCHER, CHESS CHAMPION: So this is my reply to their order not to defend my title here. That's what I answer.
SCHUBERT: After that, Fischer went under ground, shuttling between Europe and Asia, amid rumors that he continued to play chess on the Internet under assumed names.
He surfaced occasionally to broadcast anti-Semitic rants against his home country. The most controversial aired on a radio program just after the World Trade Center attacks.
FISCHER: This is really wonderful news. A sign for the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) U.S. to get their heads kicked in.
SCHUBERT: He also boasted of his place in history.
FISCHER: When I won the world championship in '72, the United States was a football country, a baseball country, but nobody thought of it as an intellectual country. I turned all that around single- handedly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was, I think, a very risky move.
SCHUBERT: Yet he made a strategic error in coming to Japan. Fischer was detained Thursday at Tokyo's Narita Airport on an immigration violation.
Japanese and U.S. officials will not say whether Fischer will be extradited to the U.S. to face charges. An ignominious endgame for the man was once hailed as the world's greatest living chess player.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: It's rare that the small island nation of New Zealand gets caught up in a controversial international incident involving spies. But that's happening right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): It started with two Israelis convicted of trying illegally to obtain a New Zealand passport, a valuable commodity in the world of international spy craft, one that can open up doors often closed to Israeli passport holders.
But along the way, a hugely embarrassing failure that has resulted in angry allegations of espionage, strained diplomatic relations between Israel and New Zealand, and now apparently, the anti-Semitic desecration of a Jewish cemetery in New Zealand.
DAVID ZWARTZ, NEW ZEALAND JEWISH COUNCIL: It really makes me feel sick and reminds me of the history of the Jewish people where this has happened over and over again but never before in New Zealand.
BLITZER: The Israelis, Urie Kelman (ph) and Eli Cara (ph), are now serving six-month jail terms in New Zealand after pleading guilty of trying to assume the identity of a wheelchair bound New Zealander who has cerebral palsy.
It's a classic spy technique, assume the identity of someone you know can't travel.
Both Israelis are suspected of being agents of Israel's Mussad spy agency.
HELEN CLARK, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: That's completely unacceptable, and I don't think it would be New Zealanders who would say that New Zealand should do nothing in the face of another country's agents trying to breach our sovereignty. We have to take a stand on that, regardless of who the country is.
BLITZER: Prime Minister Clark has strongly condemned the vandalism at the cemetery, which authorities believe is the result of anger towards Israel. She also wants a formal apology from the Israeli government. So far that has not been forthcoming.
SILVAN SHALOM, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Israel is very sorry about the decision that was taken by the government of New Zealand. But we believe that, if we walk one with each other as we used to walk in the past, we will overcome the last day of difficulties.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: This isn't the first time the Israelis or others have blundered in the world of international espionage, and it certainly won't be the last.
I spoke with one Israeli close with the Mussad who made this point. "When it comes to fighting terrorism," he said, "you have to take chances and sometimes you get caught."
We'll give you the inside edge from the campaign trail when we come back.
CNN's Carlos Watson standing by. He'll tell us why some new poll numbers in Florida could be very good news for John Kerry. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There is a new presidential poll numbers coming in from Florida. Our political analyst, Carlos Watson, is joining us to talk about that and other developments with his weekly inside edge.
Carlos, thanks very much. Let's take a look at these numbers coming in from Florida. A new poll just coming in.
Kerry 47 percent, Bush 44 percent, Nader at three percent. If it's just Kerry and Bush, 49 for Kerry, 45 percent for Bush.
What do you make of these numbers?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: These are good numbers. Obviously, Florida is a key battleground state, was four years ago. Again this year. Twenty-seven electoral votes.
But more broadly, what it represents, Wolf, is that Kerry is starting to see a bump in state polls.
BLITZER: Good numbers for Kerry.
WATSON: Good numbers for Kerry. And not only here. Remember, we've seen a good new poll out of North Carolina, and we've seen some good polls in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
And the one that caught my attention the most was in Tennessee, which Al Gore, the hometown son, lost by four percentage points four years ago. And if you believe this one poll, Kerry is pretty close to dead even.
So these are good statewide polls for John Kerry. He's enjoying a little bit of early July momentum.
BLITZER: Doesn't mean it's necessarily going to stay like that. WATSON: Certainly not. We've seen polls swing backwards and forwards. But another good thing that I think that happened with John Kerry right now, I think he's starting to find his rhythm policy-wise.
You see him releasing a number of new policies, whether it's education and No Child Left Behind, whether he's talking about more high school graduates.
Not a bad thing to do as he kind of rounds out his policy over the next several weeks leading up to the convention.
BLITZER: There was a good image today that we all saw, the vice president, Dick Cheney, the senator, John McCain, together on the campaign stump. That -- that should help the Bush/Cheney campaign.
WATSON: They sure hope so, because it's been tough keeping John McCain on the team in lots of ways. You remember, John Kerry flirted with him as a potential V.P. candidate.
But I think you're going to start to see three things out of the Bush campaign out of the next month.
No. 1, bringing all sorts of friends close, whether it's John McCain, whether it's the two Bush daughters or whether -- look to hear a lot from Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, who they'll start to use even more so as a surrogate.
No. 2, I think you'll start to see a tougher brand of politics. I think you'll start to see them more aggressively go after John Kerry, not just on policy grounds as a flip-flopper, but in a more personal way. Maybe in some ways a little return to some of the South Carolina politics that we saw in the 2000 Republican primary.
And last, but not least, don't be surprised to see some new policy initiatives from the Bush team. One of the major issues, not with their base but with swing voters who John McCain is popular with is what will happen in a new four years for president Bush.
And so far that argument hasn't been made on health care, on education and in other areas.
BLITZER: John Kerry's appearance at the NAACP convention this past week in Philadelphia, what -- how did you come away from that?
WATSON: I thought it was a win for him in a lot of ways. Most significantly, not because he talked to a group that warmly received him, but I think John Kerry finally found his voice, Wolf, when it came to kind of giving a stump speech.
Remember, I've long said that, although a lot of folks in Washington make fun of President Bush, actually when he's on a stump and with a crowd, he's a very good speaker. Why? Because he uses humor.
What you saw John Kerry do at the NAACP speech was use humor. He seemed relaxed, some references to religion, which often you don't often hear from Democrats. This was very good. He's got to keep it up for the Democratic convention.
BLITZER: Carlos Watson, thanks very much for that. We'll have you back next week, if not sooner.
WATSON: Look forward to seeing you.
BLITZER: The results of our Web question of the day, that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at these numbers. Very evenly split. Remember, it's not a scientific poll.
I'll see you Sunday on "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk. Among my guests, Jordan's King Abdullah. That will be an exclusive.
Thanks very much for joining us. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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