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CNN Live Today
Peterson Murder Trial; America Votes 2004; Campaign Battleground; 'Daily Dose'; 'Napoleon Dynamite'
Aired July 20, 2004 - 11:30 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening right now 'In the News.'
Former Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz will go to Abu Dhabi for a medical examination. He was freed today after two weeks of captivity. His release comes one day after the Philippines withdrew the remainder of its troops from Iraq. That's happening one month ahead of schedule.
Federal investigators have subpoenaed a former employee of Halliburton of a subsidiary of that company. The government is probing the company for possible overcharges for contract work in Iraq. The Justice Department is also seeking documents from a Halliburton subsidiary in regard to Iran as well. Vice President Dick Cheney used to head up that firm.
Former President Clinton will be the keynote speaker at a fund- raising event tonight in Denver. The event is a benefit for the Columbine Memorial Fund, which will honor the victims of the April 1999 school massacre. The memorial is due to be completed in 2006 in a park next to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
And in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected to drive next weekend despite a fiery wreck last Sunday. Earnhardt has been released from the hospital with second-degree burns on his face and his legs. The accident happened in Sonoma, California during a warm- up lap.
To California now, a detective who was grilled by Scott Peterson's defense team returns to the stand when the trial resumes next hour. The defense hoping to turn police testimony in its favor by trying to show that detectives conducted a sloppy investigation.
Our Rusty Dornin is in Redwood City, California with the latest.
Rusty, good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well you know this is the phase of the trial where the prosecution is supposed to be driving home the really strong points of their case. But time and time again, the defense is able to take these prosecution witnesses, most often Modesto police detectives, and use their testimony to try and prove their claims that leads were not followed up on, there was sloppy police work and that they didn't investigate many suspects that they should have. This time, it was several parolees and sex offenders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Different day, same witness, same line of questioning. Again, defense attorney Mark Geragos drove home the message that investigators found little or no evidence that linked Scott Peterson to the murder of his wife. Detective Dodge Hendee said yesterday that stains suspected as blood in the back of Peterson's truck and on the steering wheel were not caused by blood. However, one stain on the truck door did test positive. And he testified Scott Peterson told one of the detectives he had cut his hand.
Geragos fired questions at Hendee about a demonstration where investigators wanted to see if someone could throw a 150-pound person, what they believed to be Laci Peterson's weight, out of Peterson's boat. They never did it. Geragos claimed police didn't do it because he said it was impossible. Legal observers say prosecutors probably had a good reason for not doing the experiment.
DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: Maybe as a strategic move they figured let's not even try it, because if we get a bad result, then it's going to come back to bite us on the back of the neck in the middle of trial.
DORNIN: Detective Ray Coyle was recalled to the stand. Coyle says there are still 25 sex offenders and parolees out of more than 300 that he has not been able to contact or account for. The defense claimed investigators did minimal follow-up with offenders.
In a police report, one offender told investigators he murdered someone named Lisa Peterson in Modesto and dumped the body in the Bay Area. But he was eliminated as a suspect due to prior mental illness. Detective Coyle told the court the sex offender was not eliminated in his mind, nobody is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Geragos brought out several other of the sex offenders and claimed that police didn't even follow up on their alibis. Again through questions to these prosecution witnesses, the defense is able to expound their theory that someone else might have killed Laci Peterson. Meantime, Detective Ray Coyle will be on the stand when court resumes this morning -- Daryn.
KAGAN: You know what I ask.
DORNIN: It's the same answer, though, I think she's expected to come sometime next week.
KAGAN: She, being Amber, Amber Frey, sometime next week. You'll be at your post. Thank you so much.
DORNIN: Yes.
KAGAN: I know it gets old, but people want to know. Rusty, thank you.
To politics now, Democrats gathering in Boston next week to officially nominate their candidate for president. The CNN Campaign Express has already rolled into the city.
Our Judy Woodruff examined parts of Boston's political history in today's edition of 'America Votes.'
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're here in Boston for a full week looking ahead to next week's Democratic Convention. And we found one of the permanent attractions of the city, the library of the last Massachusetts politician to be elected president, John F. Kennedy. Here we learn just how far ahead of his time Kennedy was when he campaigned for president back in 1960 using Hollywood celebrities to do TV ads for him.
We had a special tour of the library. You're going to see that on "INSIDE POLITICS" this afternoon at 3:30.
Continuing our focus on the Kennedy family, we have a rare interview with Senator Edward Kennedy and his son, Congressman Patrick Kennedy. We see how even though they differed earlier this year on their favorites during the presidential primaries, by now, they've come together.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Patrick understands loyalty and stayed with Dick Gephardt. And Dick Gephardt is an extraordinary Democrat. We all -- we all love him. He's had a remarkable service to the party. And so it wasn't, but we're glad he's back home, Patrick.
WOODRUFF: The Kennedy's, father and son, and a walk back in time through the presidential campaign of 1960 today on "INSIDE POLITICS" at 3:30 Eastern. We'll see you then.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Look forward to seeing Judy then.
President Bush, meanwhile, is campaigning today in Iowa and Missouri, battleground states that he and John Kerry are both fighting very hard to win.
Our political analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at all the swing states and which way voters there are leaning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Let's see where the electoral map stands going into the Democratic Convention.
Start with the 2000 map, red states for Bush, blue states for Gore. Have any states changed since 2000? Nonpartisan polls have been done in 26 states in June and July. Most of those states are voting the same way they did in 2000. But four Bush states look a little shaky. Recent polls in Florida, West Virginia and Ohio show Kerry slightly ahead. And a New Hampshire poll shows a dead heat.
Only one 2000 Gore state looks shaky for Kerry, Wisconsin. One Wisconsin poll shows Kerry slightly ahead; one shows Bush slightly ahead.
In addition, polls in two Bush states show Bush still ahead, but by a narrow margin: North Carolina, John Edwards' home state and Colorado, where Kerry has run TV ads.
There's one Gore state where polls show Kerry ahead by a narrow margin: New Jersey. It, too, could end up in the battleground column.
Add up the electoral votes in the question mark states, and you get 80 shaky electoral votes for Bush and 25 shaky Democratic electoral votes. Bottom line, the electoral map is tipping toward Kerry.
Keep in mind the 2000 battleground states are still battlegrounds. Not a single poll in any battleground state shows Bush or Kerry getting over 50 percent of the vote.
Then, there's the Nader effect.
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think this is going to be viewed as an assistance to President Bush.
SCHNEIDER: He'd better think again. Polls that asked people how they would vote with and without Ralph Nader on the ballot show Nader taking more votes from Kerry in eight states. In five, Nader makes no difference.
There's only one state, Wisconsin, where polls show Nader taking slightly more votes from Bush.
(on camera): We could not find a single state in which President Bush is doing better in the polls right now than he did in 2000, not even Idaho, his best state in 2000. He got 67 percent of the vote in Idaho last time. The most recently poll this summer shows him getting 55.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well it is one thing that both Republicans and Democrats can agree on...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This land is your land, this land is my land. I'm a Texas Tiger, you're a liberal wiener. I'm a great crusader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: All right, this one is equal opportunity giggles. Neither Republicans or Democrats might like it, there is little animated movie. It's making its rounds on the Internet. It's a political production that pokes fun at both President Bush and John Kerry. No one is sacred in this ad. And we're going to show you more of the movie, talk to the two brothers who created it. They'll be our guests tomorrow in this hour, right here, 11:00 a.m., CNN LIVE TODAY.
I'm telling you, you cannot watch this thing without giggling. And it offends both sides. It's good. It's good.
All right, speaking of offensive, how about colonic cleansing to the milk diet? If Hollywood's doing it, it's got to work for you, right? Well we don't really want to know. Keep that private. Up next, why are celebrity diets all the rage and which ones might actually work? We'll take a look up next.
And later, he is the high school geek with the weird hair, the weird leisure suits and the really strange name. The star of "Napoleon Dynamite" joins me live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you drawing?
JON HEDER, ACTOR, "NAPOLEON DYNAMITE": A liker (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: A lot of you thinking about trying to lose weight out there? Americans often look to the stars, we're talking celebrities, not, you know, the celestial objects in the sky.
Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examined some of the Hollywood diet trends in our 'Daily Dose' of health news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So who cares how Hollywood keeps in shape? A lot of us, apparently.
BONNIE TAUB-DIX, NUTRITIONIST: If someone says, oh, I, you know, drink milk every day, then all of a sudden it could become the milk diet. If it's someone who is really, you know, hot in the media.
GUPTA: A milk diet may be a stretch, but celebrities are usually the first to jump on the hottest weight loss craze. The latest on the bandwagon, colonics, which flush several liters of water into the intestines, then draw it out, along with waste.
The We Care spa in California says it treats droves of celebrity clients who indulge in detoxification regimen, including daily colonics. Colonic critics say you may lose too much water in the process and set your body chemistry off balance.
How about a quick fix for fat, called mesotherapy? Dr. Marion Shapiro says mesotherapy can melt away fat cells, and that her practice sees its own fair share of celebrities. A cocktail of herbs, vitamins and medications is injected into the middle layer of the skin, where fat resides.
DR. MARION SHAPIRO, MESOTHERAPIST: It's a noninvasive way of reducing their bodies, without any obvious tell-tale signs.
GUPTA: But many doctors are skeptical. There are no long-term studies suggesting mesotherapy is safe or effective.
Another hot trend, according to chef Sarmamelan Gallas (ph), raw food, with no meat, no dairy, no cooking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something very sexy about it. So I think that that's part of the appeal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very fashionable crowd and a very fashionable movement.
GUPTA: Model Carol Alt is writing a book advocating the raw food diet. Raw food has proclaimed benefits, such as reducing allergies and extending life. They say cooking leaches vital nutrients. But...
TAUB-DIX: There could be a lack of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, because they don't encourage dairy products.
GUPTA: But with so little research to support them, why do these weight loss plans have such celebrity appeal?
TAUB-DIX: Celebrities are no different than the rest of us, and everybody basically wants a quick fix.
GUPTA: Most experts still agree, moderation and not the latest celebrity craze is the better premise for your next diet.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Your 'Daily Dose' of health news is always just a click away. Log on to CNN.com/health for the latest medical news. There's also a health guide from CNN and the Mayo Clinic.
The name kind of says it all, "Napoleon Dynamite" is not your average high school kid or maybe he is and maybe that's what's making an independent movie about him such a hit. Up next, Jon Heder. He is "Napoleon Dynamite." You can see how excited he is to be here with us on CNN LIVE TODAY. He'll be with us in just a minute. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was school?
HEDER: The worst day of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: All right, we'll work on the sound there on that film clip. But we can tell you that geek is the new cool. And you can think Nappy D (ph), AKA "Napoleon Dynamite," for a generous assist in helping to turn teenage outcasts into hipsters.
"Napoleon Dynamite" is a breakout comedy hit about a group of high school misfits who triumph over the social food chain. The movie was a runaway success at the Sundance Film Festival and it was picked as best feature film at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
Now let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEDER: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm LaFonda (ph).
HEDER: What are you doing here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm waiting for Kip.
HEDER: Chip?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you so sweaty?
HEDER: I've been practicing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Practicing what?
HEDER: Some dance moves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: OK, he's not sweaty anymore. Napoleon is played by actor Jon Heder, and he is joining us this morning from New York City.
Jon, good morning, a pleasure to have you here with us.
HEDER: Good morning.
KAGAN: Interested, just as interested in your own personal story as I am in this runaway hit movie. I'm wondering what's a nice animation college student like you starring -- doing starring in one of the hit movies of the summer?
HEDER: Jared Hess and I, we were friends at school. And that's when we met, at college, and I was in -- well we had been in a couple of the same classes, worked on short projects together. And he thought I could play a dork, I guess, so he...
KAGAN: So let me get this straight, you don't have acting experience but your buddy comes up to you and says I'm making this movie about a geek and you are "Napoleon Dynamite?"
HEDER: Well I'd put it that way, yes. I have a lot of acting. I did a few short student films in college, but this is my first feature film.
KAGAN: So tell us about Napoleon. Tell us about this character.
HEDER: All right. Well he's this type, you know, teenage geek. He is really clueless, awkwardly. He just has no clue as to how awkward and how stupid he is. I mean he's a good kid and he means well, but he is -- you know he feels like the whole world is against him. And he's like the ultimate younger brother. He feels that life isn't fair, so he's just always trying to do everything he can to, you know, get skills and to get talents and to be somewhere in life.
KAGAN: And clearly uncomfortable in his own skin. There's a lot of physical comedy here. Did you have to learn that or is that true of you, too?
HEDER: Yes. You know it was just kind of stuff I just did. I just, you know, got out there and the director would say all right, jump over that fence and make sure it's an awkward fall. And so I'm like all right that's no problem.
KAGAN: Not a problem to do awkward. Do you think it is that there's a little part of Napoleon in all of us, that we all feel a little bit awkward in our own skin and like misfits, that's why this is touching so many audiences?
HEDER: For sure. I think there's a little bit of dork in all of us, maybe some of Napoleon. But you know every character in the film is very awkward, very -- there's something not right upstairs. And I think, yes, I think a lot of people can, you know, relate to that. And I mean everybody in high school, at one point, had their awkward moments, so.
KAGAN: Yes, Napoleon just lives it 24/7.
HEDER: Yes, exactly. He's a walking awkward moment.
KAGAN: And that makes him an outsider. What's also interesting about the success of this film, you guys are all outsiders in terms of the whole Hollywood hip community.
HEDER: Yes, we -- we're all kind of just came from different places and met at college and we just made the movie.
KAGAN: And when we talk about meeting at college, we're not talking about like S.C. Film School.
HEDER: No, we're not.
KAGAN: And so are you guys just shaking your heads over the success?
HEDER: Yes, we're just really excited. We're like, hey, this is kind of what we hoped for. What we just hoped that it would find some kind of audience and that you know people would be entertained. And that's exactly what's been happening so far.
KAGAN: Another interesting marketing concept here. You guys finished the movie, it was released in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, now it's going to go into nationwide release. But you've gone back. The Hess' brought everybody back to re-shoot like a five- minute epilogue. What's the idea and thinking behind that?
HEDER: I -- you know Fox, like they really wanted to promote -- you know there's a huge fan base for the movie. And so this is kind of the first time anyone's ever done this, where they shot this extra ending that's going to be tagged on to the end of all the films that will be out at the end of -- at the end of the film. And it's kind of a secret, you know, there's like there's a wedding but we don't know who's getting married.
KAGAN: Right, so don't -- yes, don't give it away, but do you think it -- was...
HEDER: No, I'm not going to give it away.
KAGAN: ... it a good idea to do that or did you like the movie as it was before?
HEDER: Movie as it was before. And it's not really part of the movie, it's just kind of an extra ending that's just, you know, a little added bonus for our huge fans to go see it a couple of more times and for anybody else who hasn't seen it at all yet.
KAGAN: A little bonus.
HEDER: So it was a lot of fun.
KAGAN: Well I'd wish you luck with it, but clearly you guys are doing great without the best wishes, but I'll send them along.
HEDER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Jon Heder, the movie is "Napoleon Dynamite." You're either going to see a lot of him in acting or he is going to be the most boffo 3D animator bringing some type of entertainment to your home.
HEDER: Hopefully both.
KAGAN: Both, why chose?
HEDER: That'd be great.
KAGAN: Exactly. Jon, thank you.
HEDER: All right, thank you. KAGAN: Very good.
Let's go to the New York Stock Exchange, speaking of good business. Here's Rhonda Schaffler.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Rhonda, doesn't that movie look funny?
SCHAFFLER: It does look like a good time, for sure.
KAGAN: Yes.
SCHAFFLER: Interesting. I'm sorry, go ahead.
KAGAN: And good times -- any good times on Wall Street today?
SCHAFFLER: We're trying to get them here, Daryn.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SCHAFFLER: CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We have time for a final check of the weather. Jacqui Jeras handling that for us.
Hi -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Daryn.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: All relative. Thank you. I'm suddenly feeling chilly. Jacqui, thank you for that.
And that's going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan.
Wolf Blitzer taking over from Washington, D.C.
Hi -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn, thanks very much.
We're following several important developments, a busy hour ahead.
First some headlines right now 'In the News.'
A former top official of the Clinton administration admits removing sensitive documents connected to possible terrorist threats. They were taken from the National Archives by the former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger. And some are apparently still missing. A criminal investigation is now under way. Coming up, a live report on Berger's explanation of what's going on.
The United Nations General Assembly is set to take a stand on the barrier being built by Israel to insulate itself from terror threats coming from the West Bank. The International Court of Justice in The Hague already has ruled the structure should come down. The resolution before the U.N. calls on Israel to comply. General Assembly resolutions, as opposed to Security Council resolutions, though, are nonbinding. CNN's Richard Roth will bring us up to date.
And a day to remember a dream come true. It's hard to believe it's been this long, 35 years since two American astronauts landed on the moon. Later this hour, we'll remember one of human kind's defining triumphs. CNN's Miles O'Brien, he'll join us live from the Air and Space Museum here in Washington.
We're keeping you informed. CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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Aired July 20, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening right now 'In the News.'
Former Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz will go to Abu Dhabi for a medical examination. He was freed today after two weeks of captivity. His release comes one day after the Philippines withdrew the remainder of its troops from Iraq. That's happening one month ahead of schedule.
Federal investigators have subpoenaed a former employee of Halliburton of a subsidiary of that company. The government is probing the company for possible overcharges for contract work in Iraq. The Justice Department is also seeking documents from a Halliburton subsidiary in regard to Iran as well. Vice President Dick Cheney used to head up that firm.
Former President Clinton will be the keynote speaker at a fund- raising event tonight in Denver. The event is a benefit for the Columbine Memorial Fund, which will honor the victims of the April 1999 school massacre. The memorial is due to be completed in 2006 in a park next to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
And in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected to drive next weekend despite a fiery wreck last Sunday. Earnhardt has been released from the hospital with second-degree burns on his face and his legs. The accident happened in Sonoma, California during a warm- up lap.
To California now, a detective who was grilled by Scott Peterson's defense team returns to the stand when the trial resumes next hour. The defense hoping to turn police testimony in its favor by trying to show that detectives conducted a sloppy investigation.
Our Rusty Dornin is in Redwood City, California with the latest.
Rusty, good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Well you know this is the phase of the trial where the prosecution is supposed to be driving home the really strong points of their case. But time and time again, the defense is able to take these prosecution witnesses, most often Modesto police detectives, and use their testimony to try and prove their claims that leads were not followed up on, there was sloppy police work and that they didn't investigate many suspects that they should have. This time, it was several parolees and sex offenders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Different day, same witness, same line of questioning. Again, defense attorney Mark Geragos drove home the message that investigators found little or no evidence that linked Scott Peterson to the murder of his wife. Detective Dodge Hendee said yesterday that stains suspected as blood in the back of Peterson's truck and on the steering wheel were not caused by blood. However, one stain on the truck door did test positive. And he testified Scott Peterson told one of the detectives he had cut his hand.
Geragos fired questions at Hendee about a demonstration where investigators wanted to see if someone could throw a 150-pound person, what they believed to be Laci Peterson's weight, out of Peterson's boat. They never did it. Geragos claimed police didn't do it because he said it was impossible. Legal observers say prosecutors probably had a good reason for not doing the experiment.
DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: Maybe as a strategic move they figured let's not even try it, because if we get a bad result, then it's going to come back to bite us on the back of the neck in the middle of trial.
DORNIN: Detective Ray Coyle was recalled to the stand. Coyle says there are still 25 sex offenders and parolees out of more than 300 that he has not been able to contact or account for. The defense claimed investigators did minimal follow-up with offenders.
In a police report, one offender told investigators he murdered someone named Lisa Peterson in Modesto and dumped the body in the Bay Area. But he was eliminated as a suspect due to prior mental illness. Detective Coyle told the court the sex offender was not eliminated in his mind, nobody is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Geragos brought out several other of the sex offenders and claimed that police didn't even follow up on their alibis. Again through questions to these prosecution witnesses, the defense is able to expound their theory that someone else might have killed Laci Peterson. Meantime, Detective Ray Coyle will be on the stand when court resumes this morning -- Daryn.
KAGAN: You know what I ask.
DORNIN: It's the same answer, though, I think she's expected to come sometime next week.
KAGAN: She, being Amber, Amber Frey, sometime next week. You'll be at your post. Thank you so much.
DORNIN: Yes.
KAGAN: I know it gets old, but people want to know. Rusty, thank you.
To politics now, Democrats gathering in Boston next week to officially nominate their candidate for president. The CNN Campaign Express has already rolled into the city.
Our Judy Woodruff examined parts of Boston's political history in today's edition of 'America Votes.'
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're here in Boston for a full week looking ahead to next week's Democratic Convention. And we found one of the permanent attractions of the city, the library of the last Massachusetts politician to be elected president, John F. Kennedy. Here we learn just how far ahead of his time Kennedy was when he campaigned for president back in 1960 using Hollywood celebrities to do TV ads for him.
We had a special tour of the library. You're going to see that on "INSIDE POLITICS" this afternoon at 3:30.
Continuing our focus on the Kennedy family, we have a rare interview with Senator Edward Kennedy and his son, Congressman Patrick Kennedy. We see how even though they differed earlier this year on their favorites during the presidential primaries, by now, they've come together.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Patrick understands loyalty and stayed with Dick Gephardt. And Dick Gephardt is an extraordinary Democrat. We all -- we all love him. He's had a remarkable service to the party. And so it wasn't, but we're glad he's back home, Patrick.
WOODRUFF: The Kennedy's, father and son, and a walk back in time through the presidential campaign of 1960 today on "INSIDE POLITICS" at 3:30 Eastern. We'll see you then.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Look forward to seeing Judy then.
President Bush, meanwhile, is campaigning today in Iowa and Missouri, battleground states that he and John Kerry are both fighting very hard to win.
Our political analyst Bill Schneider takes a look at all the swing states and which way voters there are leaning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Let's see where the electoral map stands going into the Democratic Convention.
Start with the 2000 map, red states for Bush, blue states for Gore. Have any states changed since 2000? Nonpartisan polls have been done in 26 states in June and July. Most of those states are voting the same way they did in 2000. But four Bush states look a little shaky. Recent polls in Florida, West Virginia and Ohio show Kerry slightly ahead. And a New Hampshire poll shows a dead heat.
Only one 2000 Gore state looks shaky for Kerry, Wisconsin. One Wisconsin poll shows Kerry slightly ahead; one shows Bush slightly ahead.
In addition, polls in two Bush states show Bush still ahead, but by a narrow margin: North Carolina, John Edwards' home state and Colorado, where Kerry has run TV ads.
There's one Gore state where polls show Kerry ahead by a narrow margin: New Jersey. It, too, could end up in the battleground column.
Add up the electoral votes in the question mark states, and you get 80 shaky electoral votes for Bush and 25 shaky Democratic electoral votes. Bottom line, the electoral map is tipping toward Kerry.
Keep in mind the 2000 battleground states are still battlegrounds. Not a single poll in any battleground state shows Bush or Kerry getting over 50 percent of the vote.
Then, there's the Nader effect.
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think this is going to be viewed as an assistance to President Bush.
SCHNEIDER: He'd better think again. Polls that asked people how they would vote with and without Ralph Nader on the ballot show Nader taking more votes from Kerry in eight states. In five, Nader makes no difference.
There's only one state, Wisconsin, where polls show Nader taking slightly more votes from Bush.
(on camera): We could not find a single state in which President Bush is doing better in the polls right now than he did in 2000, not even Idaho, his best state in 2000. He got 67 percent of the vote in Idaho last time. The most recently poll this summer shows him getting 55.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well it is one thing that both Republicans and Democrats can agree on...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This land is your land, this land is my land. I'm a Texas Tiger, you're a liberal wiener. I'm a great crusader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: All right, this one is equal opportunity giggles. Neither Republicans or Democrats might like it, there is little animated movie. It's making its rounds on the Internet. It's a political production that pokes fun at both President Bush and John Kerry. No one is sacred in this ad. And we're going to show you more of the movie, talk to the two brothers who created it. They'll be our guests tomorrow in this hour, right here, 11:00 a.m., CNN LIVE TODAY.
I'm telling you, you cannot watch this thing without giggling. And it offends both sides. It's good. It's good.
All right, speaking of offensive, how about colonic cleansing to the milk diet? If Hollywood's doing it, it's got to work for you, right? Well we don't really want to know. Keep that private. Up next, why are celebrity diets all the rage and which ones might actually work? We'll take a look up next.
And later, he is the high school geek with the weird hair, the weird leisure suits and the really strange name. The star of "Napoleon Dynamite" joins me live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you drawing?
JON HEDER, ACTOR, "NAPOLEON DYNAMITE": A liker (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: A lot of you thinking about trying to lose weight out there? Americans often look to the stars, we're talking celebrities, not, you know, the celestial objects in the sky.
Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta examined some of the Hollywood diet trends in our 'Daily Dose' of health news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So who cares how Hollywood keeps in shape? A lot of us, apparently.
BONNIE TAUB-DIX, NUTRITIONIST: If someone says, oh, I, you know, drink milk every day, then all of a sudden it could become the milk diet. If it's someone who is really, you know, hot in the media.
GUPTA: A milk diet may be a stretch, but celebrities are usually the first to jump on the hottest weight loss craze. The latest on the bandwagon, colonics, which flush several liters of water into the intestines, then draw it out, along with waste.
The We Care spa in California says it treats droves of celebrity clients who indulge in detoxification regimen, including daily colonics. Colonic critics say you may lose too much water in the process and set your body chemistry off balance.
How about a quick fix for fat, called mesotherapy? Dr. Marion Shapiro says mesotherapy can melt away fat cells, and that her practice sees its own fair share of celebrities. A cocktail of herbs, vitamins and medications is injected into the middle layer of the skin, where fat resides.
DR. MARION SHAPIRO, MESOTHERAPIST: It's a noninvasive way of reducing their bodies, without any obvious tell-tale signs.
GUPTA: But many doctors are skeptical. There are no long-term studies suggesting mesotherapy is safe or effective.
Another hot trend, according to chef Sarmamelan Gallas (ph), raw food, with no meat, no dairy, no cooking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something very sexy about it. So I think that that's part of the appeal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very fashionable crowd and a very fashionable movement.
GUPTA: Model Carol Alt is writing a book advocating the raw food diet. Raw food has proclaimed benefits, such as reducing allergies and extending life. They say cooking leaches vital nutrients. But...
TAUB-DIX: There could be a lack of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, because they don't encourage dairy products.
GUPTA: But with so little research to support them, why do these weight loss plans have such celebrity appeal?
TAUB-DIX: Celebrities are no different than the rest of us, and everybody basically wants a quick fix.
GUPTA: Most experts still agree, moderation and not the latest celebrity craze is the better premise for your next diet.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Your 'Daily Dose' of health news is always just a click away. Log on to CNN.com/health for the latest medical news. There's also a health guide from CNN and the Mayo Clinic.
The name kind of says it all, "Napoleon Dynamite" is not your average high school kid or maybe he is and maybe that's what's making an independent movie about him such a hit. Up next, Jon Heder. He is "Napoleon Dynamite." You can see how excited he is to be here with us on CNN LIVE TODAY. He'll be with us in just a minute. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was school?
HEDER: The worst day of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: All right, we'll work on the sound there on that film clip. But we can tell you that geek is the new cool. And you can think Nappy D (ph), AKA "Napoleon Dynamite," for a generous assist in helping to turn teenage outcasts into hipsters.
"Napoleon Dynamite" is a breakout comedy hit about a group of high school misfits who triumph over the social food chain. The movie was a runaway success at the Sundance Film Festival and it was picked as best feature film at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.
Now let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEDER: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm LaFonda (ph).
HEDER: What are you doing here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm waiting for Kip.
HEDER: Chip?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you so sweaty?
HEDER: I've been practicing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Practicing what?
HEDER: Some dance moves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: OK, he's not sweaty anymore. Napoleon is played by actor Jon Heder, and he is joining us this morning from New York City.
Jon, good morning, a pleasure to have you here with us.
HEDER: Good morning.
KAGAN: Interested, just as interested in your own personal story as I am in this runaway hit movie. I'm wondering what's a nice animation college student like you starring -- doing starring in one of the hit movies of the summer?
HEDER: Jared Hess and I, we were friends at school. And that's when we met, at college, and I was in -- well we had been in a couple of the same classes, worked on short projects together. And he thought I could play a dork, I guess, so he...
KAGAN: So let me get this straight, you don't have acting experience but your buddy comes up to you and says I'm making this movie about a geek and you are "Napoleon Dynamite?"
HEDER: Well I'd put it that way, yes. I have a lot of acting. I did a few short student films in college, but this is my first feature film.
KAGAN: So tell us about Napoleon. Tell us about this character.
HEDER: All right. Well he's this type, you know, teenage geek. He is really clueless, awkwardly. He just has no clue as to how awkward and how stupid he is. I mean he's a good kid and he means well, but he is -- you know he feels like the whole world is against him. And he's like the ultimate younger brother. He feels that life isn't fair, so he's just always trying to do everything he can to, you know, get skills and to get talents and to be somewhere in life.
KAGAN: And clearly uncomfortable in his own skin. There's a lot of physical comedy here. Did you have to learn that or is that true of you, too?
HEDER: Yes. You know it was just kind of stuff I just did. I just, you know, got out there and the director would say all right, jump over that fence and make sure it's an awkward fall. And so I'm like all right that's no problem.
KAGAN: Not a problem to do awkward. Do you think it is that there's a little part of Napoleon in all of us, that we all feel a little bit awkward in our own skin and like misfits, that's why this is touching so many audiences?
HEDER: For sure. I think there's a little bit of dork in all of us, maybe some of Napoleon. But you know every character in the film is very awkward, very -- there's something not right upstairs. And I think, yes, I think a lot of people can, you know, relate to that. And I mean everybody in high school, at one point, had their awkward moments, so.
KAGAN: Yes, Napoleon just lives it 24/7.
HEDER: Yes, exactly. He's a walking awkward moment.
KAGAN: And that makes him an outsider. What's also interesting about the success of this film, you guys are all outsiders in terms of the whole Hollywood hip community.
HEDER: Yes, we -- we're all kind of just came from different places and met at college and we just made the movie.
KAGAN: And when we talk about meeting at college, we're not talking about like S.C. Film School.
HEDER: No, we're not.
KAGAN: And so are you guys just shaking your heads over the success?
HEDER: Yes, we're just really excited. We're like, hey, this is kind of what we hoped for. What we just hoped that it would find some kind of audience and that you know people would be entertained. And that's exactly what's been happening so far.
KAGAN: Another interesting marketing concept here. You guys finished the movie, it was released in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, now it's going to go into nationwide release. But you've gone back. The Hess' brought everybody back to re-shoot like a five- minute epilogue. What's the idea and thinking behind that?
HEDER: I -- you know Fox, like they really wanted to promote -- you know there's a huge fan base for the movie. And so this is kind of the first time anyone's ever done this, where they shot this extra ending that's going to be tagged on to the end of all the films that will be out at the end of -- at the end of the film. And it's kind of a secret, you know, there's like there's a wedding but we don't know who's getting married.
KAGAN: Right, so don't -- yes, don't give it away, but do you think it -- was...
HEDER: No, I'm not going to give it away.
KAGAN: ... it a good idea to do that or did you like the movie as it was before?
HEDER: Movie as it was before. And it's not really part of the movie, it's just kind of an extra ending that's just, you know, a little added bonus for our huge fans to go see it a couple of more times and for anybody else who hasn't seen it at all yet.
KAGAN: A little bonus.
HEDER: So it was a lot of fun.
KAGAN: Well I'd wish you luck with it, but clearly you guys are doing great without the best wishes, but I'll send them along.
HEDER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Jon Heder, the movie is "Napoleon Dynamite." You're either going to see a lot of him in acting or he is going to be the most boffo 3D animator bringing some type of entertainment to your home.
HEDER: Hopefully both.
KAGAN: Both, why chose?
HEDER: That'd be great.
KAGAN: Exactly. Jon, thank you.
HEDER: All right, thank you. KAGAN: Very good.
Let's go to the New York Stock Exchange, speaking of good business. Here's Rhonda Schaffler.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Rhonda, doesn't that movie look funny?
SCHAFFLER: It does look like a good time, for sure.
KAGAN: Yes.
SCHAFFLER: Interesting. I'm sorry, go ahead.
KAGAN: And good times -- any good times on Wall Street today?
SCHAFFLER: We're trying to get them here, Daryn.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SCHAFFLER: CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: We have time for a final check of the weather. Jacqui Jeras handling that for us.
Hi -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Daryn.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: All relative. Thank you. I'm suddenly feeling chilly. Jacqui, thank you for that.
And that's going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan.
Wolf Blitzer taking over from Washington, D.C.
Hi -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn, thanks very much.
We're following several important developments, a busy hour ahead.
First some headlines right now 'In the News.'
A former top official of the Clinton administration admits removing sensitive documents connected to possible terrorist threats. They were taken from the National Archives by the former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger. And some are apparently still missing. A criminal investigation is now under way. Coming up, a live report on Berger's explanation of what's going on.
The United Nations General Assembly is set to take a stand on the barrier being built by Israel to insulate itself from terror threats coming from the West Bank. The International Court of Justice in The Hague already has ruled the structure should come down. The resolution before the U.N. calls on Israel to comply. General Assembly resolutions, as opposed to Security Council resolutions, though, are nonbinding. CNN's Richard Roth will bring us up to date.
And a day to remember a dream come true. It's hard to believe it's been this long, 35 years since two American astronauts landed on the moon. Later this hour, we'll remember one of human kind's defining triumphs. CNN's Miles O'Brien, he'll join us live from the Air and Space Museum here in Washington.
We're keeping you informed. CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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