Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

A Stopped Amtrak Train in Newark, New Jersey; Does Voting Make You Sexy?

Aired July 22, 2004 - 10:30   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: He was booed, spat at and insulted, But that didn't stop five-time champion Lance Armstrong from winning another stage of the Tour de France. Armstrong covered almost 10 miles of mountainous terrain in under 40 minutes. And the crowd was cheering when he crossed the finish line. There are four stages to go to go to what could be a record sixth-straight win for Armstrong.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

The entertainment world has lost a prolific talent. Chances are you've heard a composition by Jerry Goldsmith. His prolific credits, too long to list, includes scores for "Star Trek," "Basic Instincts," "Alien," "Gunsmoke," "The Omen" and "The Planet of the Apes." Goldsmith died Wednesday, following a long battle with cancer. He was 75.

A story we're keeping a close watch on, a stopped Amtrak train in Newark, New Jersey.

Our Maria Hinojosa is in New York with the latest on this.

Maria, what makes this security sweep so unusual?

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a little bit confusing at this point, Fredricka. What happened is this morning on the train number 170 that was on its way from Washington D.C. to New York's Penn Station, just before 8:00 a.m., apparently a passenger saw a note in a bathroom and alerted one of the Amtrak employees on that board -- on that train about this note. The train was stopped at that point. Police officers got onboard with canine units as well as video cameras. The passengers were allowed to stay onboard.

Let's hear a little bit now from Dan Stessel, who's a spokesperson with Amtrak, about what happened this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN STESSEL, AMTRAK SPOKESPERSON: The passengers were kept on the train, and there was a check of the passenger I.D.s. Because so many passengers on that particular train use monthly passes, it was important that we understood exactly which passengers were on that train. And so when police conducted their investigation, they wrote down the names and I.D. information of everyone onboard.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HINOJOSA: Now, Fredricka, what Amtrak is saying now is that it was a routine stop, so there's a bit of confusion now. There have also been some reports that there was questionable material in this note. But at this point, we have no clarification yet.

We are hearing that the train is coming into Penn Station, and we're hoping then to speak to some of the passengers about exactly what they saw and heard.

Again, right now, Amtrak is saying that it was a routine stop. They did get onboard. They did videotape several passengers. They did bring canine units. Amtrak now saying that this was a routine search because of the activity of the Democratic National Convention that will begin in New York City next week and the Republican National -- I'm sorry, that will begin in Boston next week, and the Republican National Convention that will be held in New York City at the end of August. Amtrak officials saying that this will become more routine as these conventions get under way in this East Coast area -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And a little bit more, though, Maria, on the note that you mentioned at the top of your report. Any inkling of the contents of that note, what was said?

HINOJOSA: At this point, the spokesman from Amtrak is saying that they were not able to disclose the contents of that note. But apparently, if a passenger saw this note, and felt it was important enough to alert one of the Amtrak employees onboard, it raises some questions about just what was on this note, certainly for many of these passengers who make this trip pretty routinely between Washington D.C. And New York. A lot of these passengers have these monthly passes, probably something upsetting for them to suddenly see canine units, police officers with video cameras onboard.

But at this point, Fredricka, we're waiting for this train to pull into Penn Station, where we can get a little bit more clarification -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Maria Hinojosa from New York, thanks very much for that report.

Well, the chairman and co-chair from the 9/11 Commission hand- delivered a copy of the report to President Bush just about an hour ago at the White House.

Let's get the view from there, with CNN's Kathleen Koch.

And pretty much off the top, Kathleen, the president said that these are constructive recommendations and he looks forward to going through all of it thoroughly.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Fredricka. And you know, it's very important to point out that the 9/11 attacks are viewed by many as really being the defining moment of President Bush's presidency. And there was, though, a great deal of concern that this report could prove damaging to his chances for re-election. But as you pointed out, clearly, the president, the White House is pleased with the outcome, with the product.

It was about an hour ago that the chairman, Thomas Kean, vice chairman Lee Hamilton and the president met together in the Rose Garden, where the two men gave the president his own copy of the 575- page report. The president at that point praised the men for doing a really good job, in his words, and making what he called very solid, sound recommendations about how to move forward. And Mr. Bush promised the chairman that where his administration needed to act, it would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's still a threat. And that we in government have an obligation to do everything in our power to safeguard the American people. And the report that they are about to present to me puts out some very constructive recommendations. And I look forward to studying their recommendations, and look forward to working with the responsible parties within my administration to move forward on those recommendations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: The White House has so far resisted saying whether or not the president supports any specific recommendations of the report, in particular, that recommendation that a new intelligence chief be named to oversee all of the intelligence agencies in the United States. Spokesman Scott McClellan in recent days just said that the president really wants to read the final report before taking a position on that.

The White House, though, will certainly take comfort in one conclusion it has reached in an executive summary that's published separately from the report, and that conclusion, that the cause of the offensive actions taken by the Bush administration and also because of homeland defense, the conclusion is that the U.S. is safer now than it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, though still not completely safe -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House, thanks very much.

We'll have live coverage of the report's release, scheduled about an hour from now. That's due at 11:30 Eastern, 8:30 Pacific, right here on CNN.

And stay with us for CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS" with Judy Woodruff. She'll discuss the findings with commission chair Tom Kean and co- chair Lee Hamilton. That's today, at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific.

As Democrats gear up for the big convention in Boston, former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean gave a preview of what to expect when he addresses the delegates on Tuesday.

Dean appeared earlier this morning on AMERICAN MORNING. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush has hurt this country terribly. There are over 900 of our people dead in Iraq, never mind how many Iraqis are dead, for reasons that we still don't know, according to the president. He keeps changing the reasons, as more evidence comes to light that he wasn't being truthful about why we went there in the first place.

And we have lost a million jobs. Many of the ones that are being replaced are being replaced with jobs that pay a lot less than the ones that were lost.

We have half-trillion dollar deficit every single year. We can't go on like that. We need balanced budgets in this country. We need to restrain spending. We need, in my view, a president who's going to lead us and not have his agenda that's out of sync with the agenda of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Dean will meet with his 100-plus delegates on Monday and encourage them to support John Kerry. Speaking of John Kerry, we're still waiting for him to arrive. He's going to be speaking in Detroit in front of the National Urban League. And right now, a long-time good friend of Bill Clinton and also attorney Vernon Jordan is speaking to the guests there at the national convention. He is expected to actually introduce John Kerry. And when that happens, we'll be bringing that to you live.

But in the meantime, let's talk a little bit about voting. With this upcoming election just now a couple of months away, does voting make you sexy? According to a poll at the online dating service, match.com, 91 percent of Americans say they are more likely to fall in love with a registered voter than someone who isn't registered. The Web site has launched an all-out effort to make single people count more in 2004 than they did in 2000.

Joining us from Washington is Trish McDermott, vice president of romance at match.com.

All right, good to see you, Trish.

TRISH MCDERMOTT, V.P. OF ROMANCE, MATCH.COM: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, interesting thoughts on single voters out there. What did you all find?

MCDERMOTT: Well, first of all, we found that single people are less likely to be registered to vote than their married counterparts, which we think is really a shame, because single people as a voting block are more than 80 million strong. They clearly, based on the Gallup survey we just did, have opinions about the issues, they care about these issues, and we really hope to get them to the polls on November 2nd. And as you mentioned, the good news for single people is, if they get engaged in the political process, they apparently may be a little sexier and more eligible as a romantic partner.

WHITFIELD: And so are you finding that the campaigns are conscientious of that, and that they really are targeting the single voter out there?

MCDERMOTT: Not yet, or not in ways that we can understand or measure.

WHITFIELD: Is that disappointing to you?

MCDERMOTT: Well, we hope -- you know, we're just starting this process now, we just released our Gallup findings, and we hope that the campaigns will come to us, we certainly will share all the data and information that we have, and we hope they'll work with us to get single people more engaged in the political processes, so that their voices are part of the many diverse voices that really make up this country.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about the numbers that may not be altogether encouraging, that a recent poll says that 39 million singles choose not to vote, and that was the case in the year 2000. What's the explanation?

MCDERMOTT: Well, you know, we're not sure. We thought maybe they weren't as involved in the issues, or didn't care about the issues. But the Gallup survey shows us that single people care very much care about the war, and economy, and homeland security and health care, just like the rest of us. And so we really think it may just be that they haven't been approached, or given an opportunity to engage in the process like their married counterpoints.

And so we're really trying to do at match.com is identify what we're calling this singles gap, to look at ways in which single people may vote differently, or the same as their married counterparts, and start talking about it. One of the things we noted in the Gallup survey is that single people are more likely to vote Democrat on November 2nd than they are Republican.

WHITFIELD: And you mentioned, so far, none of the campaigns, not Bush, not Kerry, not even Nader, seemed to be really targeting the single voter out there. But also according to this poll, singles found that 46 percent would actually pick Busch, while 54 percent would choose Kerry. No numbers available on Nader. Why are these numbers, you know, just less than 10 percent gap between the two? What's the explanation?

MCDERMOTT: Well, we don't know why they're different necessarily. But we do know that married people are a little more likely to vote for Bush and single people are a little more likely to vote for Kerry. In the end, you know, that's not what concerns match.com. We don't care who you vote for or what you're political affiliation is, we just care that you vote, and we hope on November 2nd, all the single people in this country get out and express their opinions.

WHITFIELD: Trish McDermott of romance, match.com. Thanks very much joining us. Appreciate it.

MCDERMOTT: Thank you.

Well, you can keep an eye on politics at CNN's.com/all politics, with a special report today on the 9/11 Commission report. And while you're there, you can also find the latest news on the 2004 presidential campaign.

Well, John Kerry woos voters in Michigan any moment now. Can he sway the battleground state to his corner with his address to the National Urban League this morning about to happen in moments. Vernon Jordan will be introducing him. Hear for yourself what he has to offer.

And they say two heads are better than one. Well, it appears the Molson and Coors beer companies have rethought that cliche. The explanation in our check of business headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Quickly now to Detroit, and you see there the presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry at the podium, addressing folks at the National Urban League Convention. He's going to thank a few folks, and then in a moment, we're going to return to him, where he'll have some comments there spelling out his plans for cities across America.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

WHITFIELD: Once again, let's take another peek real quick there. In gear, in position, in the Motor City, Democratic presidential contender John Kerry giving a few thanks before he addresses the National Urban League Convention momentarily.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 22, 2004 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: He was booed, spat at and insulted, But that didn't stop five-time champion Lance Armstrong from winning another stage of the Tour de France. Armstrong covered almost 10 miles of mountainous terrain in under 40 minutes. And the crowd was cheering when he crossed the finish line. There are four stages to go to go to what could be a record sixth-straight win for Armstrong.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

The entertainment world has lost a prolific talent. Chances are you've heard a composition by Jerry Goldsmith. His prolific credits, too long to list, includes scores for "Star Trek," "Basic Instincts," "Alien," "Gunsmoke," "The Omen" and "The Planet of the Apes." Goldsmith died Wednesday, following a long battle with cancer. He was 75.

A story we're keeping a close watch on, a stopped Amtrak train in Newark, New Jersey.

Our Maria Hinojosa is in New York with the latest on this.

Maria, what makes this security sweep so unusual?

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a little bit confusing at this point, Fredricka. What happened is this morning on the train number 170 that was on its way from Washington D.C. to New York's Penn Station, just before 8:00 a.m., apparently a passenger saw a note in a bathroom and alerted one of the Amtrak employees on that board -- on that train about this note. The train was stopped at that point. Police officers got onboard with canine units as well as video cameras. The passengers were allowed to stay onboard.

Let's hear a little bit now from Dan Stessel, who's a spokesperson with Amtrak, about what happened this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN STESSEL, AMTRAK SPOKESPERSON: The passengers were kept on the train, and there was a check of the passenger I.D.s. Because so many passengers on that particular train use monthly passes, it was important that we understood exactly which passengers were on that train. And so when police conducted their investigation, they wrote down the names and I.D. information of everyone onboard.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HINOJOSA: Now, Fredricka, what Amtrak is saying now is that it was a routine stop, so there's a bit of confusion now. There have also been some reports that there was questionable material in this note. But at this point, we have no clarification yet.

We are hearing that the train is coming into Penn Station, and we're hoping then to speak to some of the passengers about exactly what they saw and heard.

Again, right now, Amtrak is saying that it was a routine stop. They did get onboard. They did videotape several passengers. They did bring canine units. Amtrak now saying that this was a routine search because of the activity of the Democratic National Convention that will begin in New York City next week and the Republican National -- I'm sorry, that will begin in Boston next week, and the Republican National Convention that will be held in New York City at the end of August. Amtrak officials saying that this will become more routine as these conventions get under way in this East Coast area -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And a little bit more, though, Maria, on the note that you mentioned at the top of your report. Any inkling of the contents of that note, what was said?

HINOJOSA: At this point, the spokesman from Amtrak is saying that they were not able to disclose the contents of that note. But apparently, if a passenger saw this note, and felt it was important enough to alert one of the Amtrak employees onboard, it raises some questions about just what was on this note, certainly for many of these passengers who make this trip pretty routinely between Washington D.C. And New York. A lot of these passengers have these monthly passes, probably something upsetting for them to suddenly see canine units, police officers with video cameras onboard.

But at this point, Fredricka, we're waiting for this train to pull into Penn Station, where we can get a little bit more clarification -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Maria Hinojosa from New York, thanks very much for that report.

Well, the chairman and co-chair from the 9/11 Commission hand- delivered a copy of the report to President Bush just about an hour ago at the White House.

Let's get the view from there, with CNN's Kathleen Koch.

And pretty much off the top, Kathleen, the president said that these are constructive recommendations and he looks forward to going through all of it thoroughly.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Fredricka. And you know, it's very important to point out that the 9/11 attacks are viewed by many as really being the defining moment of President Bush's presidency. And there was, though, a great deal of concern that this report could prove damaging to his chances for re-election. But as you pointed out, clearly, the president, the White House is pleased with the outcome, with the product.

It was about an hour ago that the chairman, Thomas Kean, vice chairman Lee Hamilton and the president met together in the Rose Garden, where the two men gave the president his own copy of the 575- page report. The president at that point praised the men for doing a really good job, in his words, and making what he called very solid, sound recommendations about how to move forward. And Mr. Bush promised the chairman that where his administration needed to act, it would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's still a threat. And that we in government have an obligation to do everything in our power to safeguard the American people. And the report that they are about to present to me puts out some very constructive recommendations. And I look forward to studying their recommendations, and look forward to working with the responsible parties within my administration to move forward on those recommendations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: The White House has so far resisted saying whether or not the president supports any specific recommendations of the report, in particular, that recommendation that a new intelligence chief be named to oversee all of the intelligence agencies in the United States. Spokesman Scott McClellan in recent days just said that the president really wants to read the final report before taking a position on that.

The White House, though, will certainly take comfort in one conclusion it has reached in an executive summary that's published separately from the report, and that conclusion, that the cause of the offensive actions taken by the Bush administration and also because of homeland defense, the conclusion is that the U.S. is safer now than it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, though still not completely safe -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House, thanks very much.

We'll have live coverage of the report's release, scheduled about an hour from now. That's due at 11:30 Eastern, 8:30 Pacific, right here on CNN.

And stay with us for CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS" with Judy Woodruff. She'll discuss the findings with commission chair Tom Kean and co- chair Lee Hamilton. That's today, at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific.

As Democrats gear up for the big convention in Boston, former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean gave a preview of what to expect when he addresses the delegates on Tuesday.

Dean appeared earlier this morning on AMERICAN MORNING. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush has hurt this country terribly. There are over 900 of our people dead in Iraq, never mind how many Iraqis are dead, for reasons that we still don't know, according to the president. He keeps changing the reasons, as more evidence comes to light that he wasn't being truthful about why we went there in the first place.

And we have lost a million jobs. Many of the ones that are being replaced are being replaced with jobs that pay a lot less than the ones that were lost.

We have half-trillion dollar deficit every single year. We can't go on like that. We need balanced budgets in this country. We need to restrain spending. We need, in my view, a president who's going to lead us and not have his agenda that's out of sync with the agenda of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Dean will meet with his 100-plus delegates on Monday and encourage them to support John Kerry. Speaking of John Kerry, we're still waiting for him to arrive. He's going to be speaking in Detroit in front of the National Urban League. And right now, a long-time good friend of Bill Clinton and also attorney Vernon Jordan is speaking to the guests there at the national convention. He is expected to actually introduce John Kerry. And when that happens, we'll be bringing that to you live.

But in the meantime, let's talk a little bit about voting. With this upcoming election just now a couple of months away, does voting make you sexy? According to a poll at the online dating service, match.com, 91 percent of Americans say they are more likely to fall in love with a registered voter than someone who isn't registered. The Web site has launched an all-out effort to make single people count more in 2004 than they did in 2000.

Joining us from Washington is Trish McDermott, vice president of romance at match.com.

All right, good to see you, Trish.

TRISH MCDERMOTT, V.P. OF ROMANCE, MATCH.COM: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, interesting thoughts on single voters out there. What did you all find?

MCDERMOTT: Well, first of all, we found that single people are less likely to be registered to vote than their married counterparts, which we think is really a shame, because single people as a voting block are more than 80 million strong. They clearly, based on the Gallup survey we just did, have opinions about the issues, they care about these issues, and we really hope to get them to the polls on November 2nd. And as you mentioned, the good news for single people is, if they get engaged in the political process, they apparently may be a little sexier and more eligible as a romantic partner.

WHITFIELD: And so are you finding that the campaigns are conscientious of that, and that they really are targeting the single voter out there?

MCDERMOTT: Not yet, or not in ways that we can understand or measure.

WHITFIELD: Is that disappointing to you?

MCDERMOTT: Well, we hope -- you know, we're just starting this process now, we just released our Gallup findings, and we hope that the campaigns will come to us, we certainly will share all the data and information that we have, and we hope they'll work with us to get single people more engaged in the political processes, so that their voices are part of the many diverse voices that really make up this country.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about the numbers that may not be altogether encouraging, that a recent poll says that 39 million singles choose not to vote, and that was the case in the year 2000. What's the explanation?

MCDERMOTT: Well, you know, we're not sure. We thought maybe they weren't as involved in the issues, or didn't care about the issues. But the Gallup survey shows us that single people care very much care about the war, and economy, and homeland security and health care, just like the rest of us. And so we really think it may just be that they haven't been approached, or given an opportunity to engage in the process like their married counterpoints.

And so we're really trying to do at match.com is identify what we're calling this singles gap, to look at ways in which single people may vote differently, or the same as their married counterparts, and start talking about it. One of the things we noted in the Gallup survey is that single people are more likely to vote Democrat on November 2nd than they are Republican.

WHITFIELD: And you mentioned, so far, none of the campaigns, not Bush, not Kerry, not even Nader, seemed to be really targeting the single voter out there. But also according to this poll, singles found that 46 percent would actually pick Busch, while 54 percent would choose Kerry. No numbers available on Nader. Why are these numbers, you know, just less than 10 percent gap between the two? What's the explanation?

MCDERMOTT: Well, we don't know why they're different necessarily. But we do know that married people are a little more likely to vote for Bush and single people are a little more likely to vote for Kerry. In the end, you know, that's not what concerns match.com. We don't care who you vote for or what you're political affiliation is, we just care that you vote, and we hope on November 2nd, all the single people in this country get out and express their opinions.

WHITFIELD: Trish McDermott of romance, match.com. Thanks very much joining us. Appreciate it.

MCDERMOTT: Thank you.

Well, you can keep an eye on politics at CNN's.com/all politics, with a special report today on the 9/11 Commission report. And while you're there, you can also find the latest news on the 2004 presidential campaign.

Well, John Kerry woos voters in Michigan any moment now. Can he sway the battleground state to his corner with his address to the National Urban League this morning about to happen in moments. Vernon Jordan will be introducing him. Hear for yourself what he has to offer.

And they say two heads are better than one. Well, it appears the Molson and Coors beer companies have rethought that cliche. The explanation in our check of business headlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Quickly now to Detroit, and you see there the presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry at the podium, addressing folks at the National Urban League Convention. He's going to thank a few folks, and then in a moment, we're going to return to him, where he'll have some comments there spelling out his plans for cities across America.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

WHITFIELD: Once again, let's take another peek real quick there. In gear, in position, in the Motor City, Democratic presidential contender John Kerry giving a few thanks before he addresses the National Urban League Convention momentarily.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com