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CNN Live Sunday

Refinery Repairs Help Lower Gasoline Prices; Protests Begin In Boston On Eve Of Convention;

Aired July 26, 2004 - 18:00   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Carol Lin. "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" just ahead, but first a quick look at what's now happening in the news.
Tempers are flaring in Boston on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. Police had to escort an antigay, antiabortion protester out of the Boston common today after he was assaulted by other demonstrators. Full pre-convention coverage coming up.

Gasoline prices are down nearly a penny from two weeks ago. The Lundburg survey says completion of maintenance and repair at U.S. refineries helped bring down the national average of self serve regular to $1.92.

And six wins in six years. That is the record Lance Armstrong set it today. The former cancer patient sipped champagne in the saddle after finishing the race in Paris. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

I'm Carol Lin. Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. The Democratic convention kicks off tomorrow and we've got a lot going on. Of course we're checking in with the candidates as they head towards Boston.

Also, Richard Quest is making a rare appearance on this side of the Atlantic. He's stopping in Florida where he hit the beach to talk with voters. It's a story only Richard can tell.

As you know, one of the main issues in this campaign is Iraq. Later in the hour, our series "From the Frontlines," the story of one soldier's life and death through his letters to his mother.

Right now, John Kerry is on the frontlines of his political career. He is landing in Florida later tonight, significant because Florida is going to be a battleground for the White House again. A research 2000 poll shows 47 percent of Floridians support Kerry, 44 percent would vote for President Bush. Now, Kerry started his day in the key state of Ohio. John Edwards was in Texas and is heading to North Carolina. We start with CNN's Frank Buckley who's traveling with John Kerry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John Kerry here in Ohio, a key battleground state, in Franklin County, a key swing county in Ohio that could go either Republican or Democrat in this coming election. We saw an indication of that when Senator Kerry arrived here in this neighborhood for a cul-de-sac event.

A vocal group of Bush-Cheney supporters confronted the senator. The senator then used that small demonstration to make a point.

JOHN KERRY, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I see people on the other side of the fence saying "four more years," I sometimes say to myself four more years what? Four more years of -- four more years of jobs being lost, four more years of the deficit growing bigger and bigger, four more years of losing our allies around the world?

BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry's focus here on job losses in Ohio, the campaign saying that 231,000 jobs have been lost in Ohio since the Bush administration moved into the White House. A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign saying, however, that Senator Kerry's focus on job losses ignores recent indicators that suggest that jobs are coming back. The spokesman saying that 17,000 new jobs have been created in Ohio this year.

This intense battle for Ohio will continue right up to Election Day. Ohio went for George W. Bush in 2000. Senator Kerry believes that he can get voters here to vote for him in 2004. President Bush just as determined to keep it in his column, especially given the historic importance of Ohio, two Republicans, no GOP president has won the White House without Ohio. Frank Buckley, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Elaine Quijano in San Antonio, Texas with the Edwards campaign. Senator John Edwards is here in order to raise money ahead of his trip to Boston next week. At the same time, his campaign has announced, in response to a "Newsweek" article, it has returned $44,000 to a contributor who is under scrutiny for using straw donors in the LA mayoral race. The campaign insists it has done everything possible to ensure compliance with campaign finance laws, including requiring donors to sign pledge cards stating that the money being contributed is theirs.

Now, aides also say that the decision to return the money goes above and beyond what is required and the decision was made, they say, in large part to keep the campaign focused on its work and focused on its message. As part of that, Senator Edwards sounded a theme familiar from the Bush campaign, Senator Edwards saying that he and Senator Kerry believe that government support of faith-based groups can be effective, but Senator Edwards insisted that their plan would be constitutional.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You should be proud of what you've done, all of you. I might add it's a perfect example of how the government and funding from the government can work with the church and faith-based institutions in a way that's productive in the community, in no way divides the community, doesn't take away anybody's rights and protects civil liberties and civil rights.

QUIJANO: Senator Edwards now heads back to his home state of North Carolina where he'll have a couple appearances before making his way to Boston where he's said to give that highly anticipated speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Elaine Quijano, CNN, San Antonio Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Our own polling shows that a third of those surveyed say they still don't know enough about John Kerry to actually vote for him. Now obviously the Kerry campaign sees the convention as a critical opportunity to shape an image for those voters. So today, a senior adviser says they will tell the story of John Kerry's life. And one of the primetime speakers at the convention is already in Boston. Former President Clinton signed copies of his memoir earlier today and he's going to address the delegates tomorrow.

Already hundreds of protesters were demonstrating in Boston, some of them even going after each other. CNN's Dan Lothian joins us now from Boston with more of those details. Dan, they got an early start.

DAN LOTHIAN, BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: They certainly did. More than 35,000 visitors are either here or on their way to Boston for the big Democratic celebration. Also here thousands of protesters were on the streets behind me earlier today trying to be seen and heard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): At a rally before antiwar demonstrators began marching to the Fleet Center, a clash. Anger directed at an antiabortion protester who was waving a graphic sign. The situation was quickly brought under control. In a separate incident, a group of antiabortion demonstrators laid down in the streets and blocked traffic, making a visual statement before moving on.

A reported 3,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Boston and past the Fleet Center, separated from the venue by concrete barriers, tall fences and armed police. Much of the rhetoric, signs and props focused on the Iraq war, but protesters are also angry about a voice they believe is routinely being silenced.

LARRY HOLMES, RALLY ORGANIZER: The police are finding more and more excuses to inhibit, prohibit demonstrations, build pens that you can't even see over to put demonstrators in.

LOTHIAN: Law enforcement officials say a heavy police presence is unavoidable.

CMDR. KATHLEEN O'TOOLE, BOSTON POLICE: This is a post-9/11 world. Unfortunately we have to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

LOTHIAN: The statehouse was guarded by police in full riot gear. Other heavy equipment is at the convention site, ready to be deployed if needed. Still four days to go, but officials say they are pleased with their security plans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: One of the things that we were expecting to happen later tonight will not be taking place, the Boston police union members who were going to be protesting all of the delegation parties, an official with the union telling CNN that that will not be happening, because they now have a contract and this morning a contract with the firefighters' union was also signed. Carol.

LIN: Dan, give me a quick sense of how tight security really is because I see people walking behind you, cars driving on the street.

LOTHIAN: Right. We are in an area that is outside the secure perimeter, so out here people can move about freely. But all you have to do is move a few blocks to my left and the security is extreme. There are fences. There are barriers, barricades, and armed police. So you cannot get close to the Fleet Center itself unless you have the proper credentials.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Dan Lothian reporting live.

Republicans are going to be at the DNC as well in unprecedented numbers. They're forming what they call a rapid-response truth squad to challenge the Democrat's message. They've even set up a war room near the convention site. And it's a high-tech operation. They'll e- mail Kerry's voting record to the media in real time during all prime time speeches and they're set to hold news conferences and offer interviews with Republican officials. I'm going to be talking with our own rapid-response team, Paul Begala and Bob Novak in "Crossfire" at the bottom of the hour to get their take on the Democratic National Convention.

But, in the meantime, there is a different feud going on around Boston that is playing into the run for the White House, a Massachusetts case study in the differences between country people and city folk. Here is CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Democrats will not be coming to Alex Dowse's farm 20 miles outside Boston, but he's scrambling just the same. That's how people make a living in the rapidly changing landscape of rural America.

ALEX DOWSE, APPLE FARMER: It's night and day difference from what it was 20 years ago, and we see that in an increase in people and the traffic and what people would like to do when they come out into this area.

FOREMAN: Population booms in cities such as Boston and their suburbs are sending dramatic ripples through rural areas. Near the cities, the American farmland trust estimates that two acres of prime farmland are being lost every minute to development, to shopping centers, houses, roads. Then prices soar and many long-time rural families can't afford to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it's gone from a real, you know, old- fashioned small town to a mess.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See why I let her do most of the talking?

FOREMAN: Further out, as long people leave for the big money, faster city life, help becomes impossible to find and groups like the Farm Bureau must spend more time educating city politicians on even the basic issues of their business.

ALEX KEYSSAR, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVT.: The problems faced by farmers the lives of farmers, people living in rural agricultural areas are simply not known and not understood in any way by urban Americans.

FOREMAN (on-camera): Not all of this is bad. As cities have expanded, many surrounding towns have enjoyed new businesses, new jobs, unimagined wealth. Yet, the changes even in these places are profound and not always welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This land to me is more valuable this way than it would be as house lot (ph).

FOREMAN: John Kerry says he wants to stop urban sprawl, but even as he heads to Boston, many outside the city wonder if anything can save their towns, their way of life, the vanishing rural horizon. Tom Foreman, CNN, Natick, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: There's one of the angles and we've got all of them. So stay with CNN's complete opening day primetime convention coverage on Monday. Anderson Cooper begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern, followed by an America votes 2004 special at 8:00 and then it's "LARRY KING LIVE" from the Fleet Center. At 10:00 Eastern we're going to bring you former President Bill Clinton's keynote speech live and stick around for a special news night with Aaron Brown at 11 Eastern. And then it's "LARRY KING LIVE" once again at midnight.

So what's President Bush doing while the Democrats are taking the spotlight? Well, he's in Texas where he's expected to move within days on the 9/11 Commission's findings. Precisely which of the panel's 40 plus proposals he's going to adopt is uncertain. But lawmakers want action and so do the relatives of the 9/11 victims. Here is White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: 9/11 families are divided over the commission's report. Rosemary Dillard who lost her husband on Flight 77.

ROSEMARY DILLARD, LOST HUSBAND ON 9/11: I think the report is good. I'm very hopeful. But it's going to take work.

MALVEAUX: Beverly Eckert, now also a widow after September 11th is disappointed it didn't name names.

BEVERLY ECKERT, LOST HUSBAND ON 9/11: Sometimes you do have to identify the people within the organization who are not functioning the way they should be.

MALVEAUX: But its chairs say naming names would have been impractical.

LEE HAMILTON, 9/11 COMMISSION VICE CHAIRMAN: It would have been hugely divisive, and we would not have been able to agree on the factual record, not been able to agree on recommendations.

MALVEAUX: Former counter terrorism chief Richard Clarke called the report toothless, saying in the "New York Times," because the commission had a goal of creating a unanimous report from a bipartisan group, it softened the edges and left it to the public to draw many conclusions. The Bush administration did little on terrorism before 9/11 and that by invading Iraq, the administration has left us less safe as a nation. While the commission chair says analyzing Iraq policy was not its task, he did weigh in on the controversy.

THOMAS KEAN, 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: It's a gamble in Iraq. If Iraq works out the way the Bush administration and others hope it will, it could transform the Middle East. If it doesn't, it could be a source of continuing problems and irritation and a home for future terrorists.

MALVEAUX: Now that the commission's work is complete, members, five Democrats and five Republicans, say they'll forgo participating in the presidential campaigns and instead take to the road to lobby for their recommendations. Welcomed news for those still grieving.

DILLARD: We got caught once. We will not be caught again and you can see the steps we're taking to ensure that everyone here can go to bed at night and wake up in the morning.

MALVEAUX (on-camera): President Bush brought the 9/11 Commission report with him to his Crawford ranch and is conferring with his staff on how to immediately implement some of those recommendations. Monday he meets with his National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: "Free range" has become a buzzword for meat eaters in search of a more humane product, but it might mean a lot less freedom than many consumers realize. What we found out may surprise you.

And searching for answers in Salt Lake City. Have police recovered an important clue from a missing woman's apartment?

And still to come...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

If you are hearing this, I guess I didn't make it back. I hope that I fought bravely and made you proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: A fallen soldier's last words to his mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Police in Salt Lake City say they may issue an arrest warrant in the next few days in the case of a missing pregnant woman. For all the latest developments in this case, let's go to Salt Lake City and CNN's Ted Rowlands. Ted, the last time I talked to you, they had found some evidence, possible evidence in a dumpster.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes and there are reports there could be more evidence here. It was another excruciating day for family members as they wait word one way or another on Lori Hacking. She has been missing since Monday, reported missing by her husband Mark Hacking and all indications say that police are centered squarely on Mark Hacking.

Police however today would neither confirm or deny a local report about a blood-stained knife with strands of hair found reportedly in the Hackings' Salt Lake City apartment. Police do tell CNN that they are waiting forensic test results to come back and if those results confirm what they expect, an arrest warrant could be issued in a matter of hours or days. The family here held a news conference today to say they still support Mark Hacking. They also said that they support each other. There is no division between these two families. Hundreds of volunteers, almost 1,000 volunteers came out here again looking for any clue of Lori Hacking, still, no news coming back from those volunteer searches. There's also a candlelight vigil scheduled here for 9:00 local time. The family did say in their news conference that it would be their last news conference, saying that they are simply exhausted and can no longer deal with the media interviews. Carol?

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Ted Rowlands on that very interesting story.

We want to shift now to a follow-up story, one that we told you about this past week. You may remember seeing an animal rights' group's undercover pictures of workers stomping on chickens at a Country Pride processing plant, but what about those chickens labeled free range at the super market? Well it turns out some of them may not have been exactly free to roam. CNN's Sean Callebs reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Free range chicken, an enticing name for consumers with an appetite for humane treatment for animals, but what does it truly mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That they aren't cooped up in a chicken coop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That they're allowed to roam freely.

CALLEBS: Not really. According to the USDA, producers simply need to provide birds access to go outdoors. That can mean one small door in a crowded coop. The industry admits most free-range chickens don't stretch their legs.

RICHARD LOBB, NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL: Even in a free-range type of style of production, you're basically going to find most of them inside the grow out facility where the food and water is located.

CALLEBS: Once again, the question of animal cruelty is creeping into our collective consciousness, due in large part to a disturbing video of poultry workers abusing chickens at a Pilgrim's Pride facility in West Virginia that is not free range. The company fired 11 workers for their actions. The fast-food company KFC says it won't buy birds from this plant until it's assured it has cleaned up its act.

PAUL SHAPIRO, COMPASSION OVER KILLING: Most people have no idea how abused farmed animals really are.

CALLEBS: But the poultry industry says there is a reason mainstream commercial growers resist free-range chickens.

LOBB: When you let chickens outdoors, they can mix with wild birds and possibly pick up certain disease problems from wild birds. Ducks and geese, for example are known to be carriers of avian influenza.

CALLEBS: Under government guidelines, just because they are free range, that doesn't mean they aren't getting growth hormones. The animals rights group, Compassion Over Killing says keeping birds in cramped coops leads to this, tiny legs overburdened by bodies swollen by hormones to the point chickens die because they can't reach the water source.

SHAPIRO: Improved animal welfare generally will mean increased cost. However, it's a small price to pay to ensure that animal cruelty ceases.

CALLEBS: The poultry industry denies its birds are stressed or abused, saying if that was the case, the product wouldn't be healthy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: But critics are vowing to continue to raise their voices, saying right now, free range sounds much kinder than it actually is. Sean Callebs, CNN, Washington.

LIN: Well, he's taken on the world's best and won six years in a row. Lance Armstrong caps an historic feat in the streets of Paris today. We're going to have highlights next.

And still ahead, a special quest to go inside the minds of Florida voters. Yes, that's a pun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: I want to make a quick correction. In that investigative undercover video of those chickens being stomped on, it was not Country Pride, but Pilgrim's Pride processing plant. Our apologies.

Well, it has never been done before, but Lance Armstrong has become a legend for exceeding expectations. Never before has a rider won a sixth Tour de France. The Texan did it at the ripe old age of 32. CNN's Jim Bittermann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's won the race five times before and even days ago it seemed certain he would ride to victory for a record-breaking sixth time. Nonetheless, the minute Lance Armstrong slowed down, he was mobbed by jubilant fans. The Texan says it will take some time for the achievement to sink in.

Yet, there must have been some confidence around even before the U.S. Postal Service team left the hotel this morning, because already they were packing ice chests of champagne in the team bus and their confidence was well-founded. Armstrong dominated this year's tour as never before, wearing the leader's yellow jersey again and again and constantly reminding those riders who dared challenge him, of just how strong he is.

UNIDENTIFIED CYCLIST: We would like to have a more open race, but the team's so strong and he's so strong, there's nothing you can do.

BITTERMANN: Armstrong's secret fellow riders say, is in what you don't see, his arduous training. His resting pulse is an incredibly slow 34 beats per minute, and above all teammates say, his will to win.

FLOYD LANDIS, US POSTAL TEAM: There's a lot of talented guys. Most of the guys aren't quite as determined as him.

BITTERMANN: Just 7 1/2 years ago Armstrong was receiving chemotherapy for cancer. Six of the years since, he's won the tour. His mother is familiar with his willpower.

LINDA ARMSTRONG KELLY, LANCE ARMSTRONG'S MOTHER: He's very goal- oriented and loves to win. It's simple.

BITTERMANN: Simple for Armstrong, perhaps, but as the other riders wound up and down the Champs Elysees at the end of what is one of the most grueling competitions in sports, a number of them said they were happy to be heading home after a race one only seemed destined to win.

(on-camera): Armstrong says he'll ride in another Tour de France one day, although some of his teammates say he may sit out next year's French circuit in order to concentrate on other races.

(voice-over): In any case, his record here will stand for years to come. In a sport where victory depends more on individual than team effort, Armstrong remains one individual who will be tough to catch. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: More of CNN LIVE SUNDAY in just a moment, but first a quick look at what's happening now in the news.

Heading from Ohio to Florida, John Kerry arrives in the sunshine state this evening, ahead of tomorrow's start of the DNC in Boston. His visit comes as new poll numbers show he and President Bush are in a statistical dead heat in the battleground state.

Three people were wounded when an Israeli warplane fired missiles on a Gaza building today. Israel said the building was a weapons workshop used by Hamas. The strike came three days after a similar strike in the area killed to Islamic Jihad militants.

A Utah family steps out of the media spot light. After nearly a week of holding press conferences, the family of Lori Hacking appointed a spokesperson today. The search continues for the missing woman who disappeared last Monday.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

On to politics, Florida polls show Kerry and President Bush are neck and neck in the sunshine state. But it's a different story when the numbers are broken down by gender. Kerry has an edge among female voters in Florida. Fifty-one percent say they'll vote for him, 39 percent support President Bush. Two percent are behind Ralph Nader.

But among men in Florida, 43 percent say they are going to vote for Kerry. Almost half support Bush and four percent are behind Nader.

Will those numbers change after the Democratic Convention? Joining me from Boston now from Boston are Paul Begala and Bob Novak, co-hosts of CNN's "CROSSFIRE." Good to see you gentlemen.

Let's talk about some of these poll numbers. What do they tell you that they are statistically so close, but how they break down by gender? How significant is that in the turnout in Florida?

ROBERT NOVAK, HOST, CNN CROSSFIRE: It's not very surprising, Carol, particularly in Florida. As I remember, it was a very close vote in 2000. We remember that, don't we?

LIN: That's an understatement.

NOVAK: And it's been close ever since. I don't want to tell the pollsters not to keep polling, but you don't really have to take the temperature down there every week until something happens. There is a gender gap yes. In particularly there is a huge gender gap when you talk about women who work outside the home.

But the other side of the gender gap is that most American men, particularly American white men don't want to vote for John Kerry, and I doubt they ever will.

LIN: Paul, let me ask you this. There are a couple different polls out of Florida. One in particular says that John Kerry is actually five points ahead of President Bush except or until you include Ralph Nader. Is there be a Nader factor in key battleground states like Florida?

PAUL BEGALA, HOST, CNN CROSSFIRE: I don't think so. Not at the end of the day. If John Kerry does his job, and he will, I think the Nader vote will collapse, as Pat Buchanan's vote did the last time. He was a conservative third party, forth-party candidate, if you will against Bush and Al Gore in the last election.

But at the end, his vote collapsed down to less than one percent. I think Nader's could very well do the same this time, and here is why. The last time Nader ran, he got about two percent of the vote. And people got - President Bush -- those people who voted for Ralph Nader are unhappy with George W. Bush. I suspect they don't want to let the same thing happen again.

I think they understand now, that there are enormous consequences to that vote. So when you say that four percent of the men in Florida are voting for Ralph Nader now, that will be one percent or less by the time we get to Election Day. And every one of them will move to John Kerry.

LIN: I was picking up on something you said. You said if John Kerry does his job. Today a Kerry adviser says John Kerry has to reintroduce himself to the American public, to those undecided voters. They threw out a couple things. His Vietnam War service, stronger domestic agenda, rebuild international relations. But frankly, Paul is that frankly sexy enough, interesting enough? Compelling enough to draw in the 30 percent of the people who say they don't have enough information?

BEGALA: I don't know. I think he's a political consultant's dream Carol. Certainly he doesn't have -- I worked for Bill Clinton in 1992. They knew a lot of sexy things about him, not all of them very good. If you tell me that I had a candidate who had never run nationally before, was tied with the incumbent president, and had a record as a war hero and as a strong voice in the United States Senate for 19 years.

And that 30% of the country, Carol, still can't even rate him. You add on to that that his wife might be one of the most charming interesting person on the American political scene, the country is going to fall in love with her, and his running mate isn't bad either. I think this is going to be a really good week for the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

NOVAK: I don't know how many people are going to fall in love -- I fall in love with any billionaire woman --

LIN: Oh, bob.

NOVAK: She doesn't have to be nice, but I think she's probably a liability to him. I would say this, Carol. It isn't a matter of reintroducing John Kerry. It's introducing him. A lot of people don't know who he is. And what he's going to do in his acceptance speech is he is going to be as moderate and centrist as you can be.

He's not even talking to the crazy left-wing delegates in the Fleet Center. He's talking to Americans, and particularly the three percent of Americans who live in swing states, and haven't made up their minds. They're just a tiny constituency that he is going to be appealing to. And he is not going to come over with all kinds of grandiose stuff, and he's not going to come over bashing Bush.

The editors which are under the control of the Kerry campaign are sending back speeches that are written by speakers at this convention that sound like James Carville and Paul Begala in bashing George W. Bush. They don't want that in this convention.

LIN: But Bob, isn't the democratic mantra anybody but Bush? I mean the party faithful are coming together?

NOVAK: They've got those people. You don't have to bash Bush. I had a Kerry person tell me the other day to keep bashing Bush and you'll get 43 percent of the vote. What they've got to get is the people who have not been won over by the Bush bashing. That will be a very interesting exercise. John Kerry is a clever politician. He may be able to do it.

BEGALA: Carol, he's following the footsteps of Ronald Reagan. When Ronald Reagan was the governor of California, and running against Jimmy Carter the incumbent president, Carter said Reagan was too ideologically extreme. Couldn't be trusted on National Security. Go back to Ronald Reagan's 1980 convention speech Carol, which I have reread recently. It's very interesting.

He doesn't say anything about abortion or school prayer or bussing or any of the hot-button right-wing issues that conservatives wanted to hear. Ronald Reagan spoke to the centrists. He talked about energy policy, national security, and the economy. And that is it. I think John Kerry is likely to follow that same sort of sensible blueprint that Ronald Reagan won on in 1980.

NOVAK: The people who are sitting in the Fleet Center Carol, they would like some raw meat. But John Kerry is not a butcher. He is not in the raw meat business.

LIN: Listen, I was talking with Carlos Watson last night. He's predicting that Al Sharpton is going to steal the show on Wednesday night. What do you think, Paul?

BEGALA: He's great. He is funny, he proved himself in his campaign. He came on "CROSSFIRE" at the beginning of the campaign. And it was probably the most contentious interview I've ever done.

I was rougher on him then I have ever been on any conservative. And now at the end of the campaign, he's impressed me. He's funny. He's smart. He does a very good job of trying to turn out voters. I hope he does do a good job. Again, my sleeper here, the person America will fall in love with this week, Teresa Heinz Kerry. You watch. People are going to --

NOVAK: You've already said that. I say billionaire women are OK.

LIN: She's already won over bob.

NOVAK: But I'll say this, Al Sharpton, the more we can see of Al Sharpton, the more I want him, because he's the real voice of the Democratic Party.

LIN: You tell me the next Republican who actually gets his own reality-based show, Bob, and then we'll talk. Bob Novak, Paul Begala. Thanks very much for being with us today.

Moving on to the war, Iraqi troops under the protection of U.S. heavy artillery are going after insurgents around Baghdad. Thirteen rebels were killed in fighting in the dusty streets in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) northeast of the capital today.

Iraqi national guards soldiers were conducting a raid when insurgents attacked them. There was a stream of other attacks also around the country. Five people were killed in Kirkuk, and a U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in the northern part of the country.

Ambushes are frighteningly common in Iraq, and have taken deadly tolls on the U.S. forces. Back in June, Specialist Patrick McCaffrey (ph) became the 848th American troop to die in Iraq. He wrote often to his mother about his experiences there. His words provide a unique glimpse from the frontlines. Our Thelma Gutierrez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA MCCAFFREY, MOTHER OF PATRICK MCCAFFREY: This is the way my son came home. Inside this coffin with a flag on it. This is the way that he came home before the 4th of July.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On this street in Tracy, California, Nadia McCaffrey mourns her only child.

MCCAFFREY: What can I say? I would have given my life for him.

GUTIERREZ: Army specialist Patrick McCaffrey was on patrol with three other soldiers when they were ambushed outside of Baghdad.

MCCAFFREY: He was assaulted by two people on each side of his body with automatic weapons.

GUTIERREZ: Witnesses say McCaffrey went down fighting.

MCCAFFREY: If you are reading this, I guess I didn't make it back. I hope that I fought bravely and made you proud. I don't know where to begin, but to tell you all that I love you.

GUTIERREZ: Nadia holds on to her son's final words and she reads them over and over.

MCCAFFREY: And all I wanted was a better life for my children and a happy and prosperous life for my wife. I am forever grateful to God for letting me meet you and knowing a true love and family life.

GUTIERREZ: McCaffrey joined the National Guard the day after September 11th. But he never thought he would see combat.

MCCAFFREY: Don't worry, mom. I know God is looking out for me. And I know, because you and Celia (ph) are praying for me.

GUTIERREZ: He wrote often about Iraqi children.

MCCAFFREY: I love the little children, though. They remind me of my own, and I always give them food and water, even though we're not supposed to. You know I could use a box of flattened soccer balls with a pump and some Frisbees. I could get them to the children as I pass through the small town.

GUTIERREZ: In May his heart grew heavy.

MCCAFFREY: I know you saw pictures of the prison episodes with those prisoners and the abuse. We had a few bad, bad soldiers. Believe me, a lot of us are ashamed of them, and they don't deserve to wear our colors. Because of what they did, it has become very hard for us to deal with all of the Iraqis. But you and everyone else are to remember that we are constantly under attack.

GUTIERREZ: Again, it was the children who raised his spirits in his darkest hours.

MCCAFFREY: This last picture, the last picture was taken of him where Patrick is holding the white flowers. He's glowing with joy, because of this little present that he got from the children. That was approximately 45 minutes before he was shot.

GUTIERREZ: Patrick McCaffrey was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, small consolation for Nadia.

MCCAFFREY: I can't give him a hug anymore. And I can't pick up the phone from him calling from Iraq and saying, hi, Mom. I love you. No, I won't be able to hear that anymore.

GUTIERREZ: When Patrick's casket arrived in Sacramento, Nadia allowed the media to attend. Images of remains returning home are rarely seen.

MCCAFFREY: And I want the whole world to witness this, not just for Patrick. This is not just for my son. He didn't die in vain. I want people to know who he is.

GUTIERREZ: At his memorial service, hundreds of yellow balloons were released with his name. One ended up in Pennsylvania. That person wrote this e-mail to Nadia.

MCCAFFREY: For me, I just finally put a face on the war. I promise you that I will tell what I have learned about Patrick to everyone.

GUTIERREZ: For the baby who weighed just five pounds at birth, who grew up to be an inquisitive boy, who became a caring father and a brave soldier. Patrick's battle is over, but his mother's fight to keep his memory alive has just begun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It used to be that the people covering political conventions worked for the big media outlets. With the advent of the Internet that's not always the case. Bloggers are giving the big networks and newspapers big competition. What is a blog? It's a personal web side that provides updated headlines and news articles of other sites that are of interest to the user. No holds barred.

Mickey Kaus used to be the senior editor at the "New Republic," and wrote for "Newsweek." Now, he's the blogger behind www.kausfiles.com. And a slate (ph) contributor. He's attending the DNC for slate. Mickey, reading your site, it's pretty funny. It's pretty interesting. In one entry, you called Kerry soporific, frozen- featured. Can you hear me?

MICKEY KAUS, WWW.KAUSFILES.COM: Yes. You can be very opinionated in a blog in a way you can't be in the conventional press obsessively. And you can be personal and rude. If you think somebody is blowing it, you can name names and say, I think this person is really mucking up the campaign. And that's the advantage. We have a lot of freedoms that conventional press doesn't have. And I think sometimes the conventional press may be a little jealous of that.

LIN: Isn't that why they call journalism? Because there are boundaries. Because there is an appropriate way of covering stories? It's a statement of facts?

KAUS: Well, I think the press has adopted these rules to enhance its credibility. But there are other countries where they have a free press that don't have these rules. In fact, most countries don't have our rules of objectivity. People take sides. People express their opinions. I think there's a difference between expressing your opinion and not telling the truth.

I think as long as you tell the truth as a blogger, even if you're not in the professional press, people learn to trust you. I can still say I think Kerry is soporific. But I'm not going to say Kerry was born somewhere where he's not or get a fact wrong. I think as long as you stick to that rule, you're OK. The press has all these other rules that I think are somewhat unnecessary.

LIN: All right Mickey. So you're going to be covering the Democratic National Convention, right?

KAUS: Right.

LIN: What do you think you are going to be covering? Or what subjects are you going to be covering that you think the conventional media is not? What are you going to bring to the table?

KAUS: Conventions are tough, because everybody is here, and they're all competing for the same stories. You can bring sort of wacky theories. For example, there was a theory that it would be good for Kerry if some actor acted out in an anti-Bush way, and he could have a sister soldier moment, and sort of put down this person, and say no, we don't want to be nasty to Bush. It's crazy for a theory. It's too crazy for the conventional press to report, but it's not too crazy for a blogger to report, and some of those theories will turn out to be true. You can speculate in sort of crazy ways. You can print things you hear at cocktail parties that other people can't print, maybe.

You can print that Richard Holbrook is happy that Sandy Berger is in trouble, which they would not print in the regular press, but is probably true. You can -- you have a better, bigger advantage when it's not a convention, I admit.

LIN: Mickey, 13 million people read web blogs. Thirteen million people. That's almost twice the number of people who watch a program like "World News Tonight" with Peter Jennings. What do you think the power and influence of bloggers are going to be on mainstream media, if at all? Do you ever intend on replacing mainstream media?

KAUS: I don't think they're ever going to replace mainstream media. In fact, the two big cases of blogger power, they helped bring down Trent Lott, and they helped bring down Howell Raines, the editor of the "New York Times," were both done with the assist of major media. They didn't really happen until major media pitched in also.

A blog is just a statement of opinion. It's only as powerful as the number of people who agree with it. The biggest blogger in America probably only gets 100,000 views a day. So he's not bigger than Peter Jennings. If you add them all up, there's tremendous power in numbers.

If you get 20 bloggers beating on an issue, it will have some power, but it's not going to have any power unless people in the mainstream media and elsewhere agree with it.

LIN: Interesting. That's a good point Mickey.

KAUS: You'll never see a blogger remove a politician from office until the mainstream media finally climbs on board.

LIN: Thanks Mickey. We are going to look forward to your coverage. Logging on. Thanks very much. Mickey Kaus at the Democratic National Convention. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We need to correct a misstatement in the report we had a few minutes ago on free-range chickens. According to the USDA, no hormones are used in the raising of chickens.

CNN's intrepid British correspondent Richard Quest is starting a seven-week American quest to learn what the public is really thinking about the race for the White House. Quest begins his mission on the sands of Florida, embedded with the Ft. Lauderdale Outrigger Canoe Club. Hard duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD QUEST, CNN BRITISH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The locals are out and making a fuss. It's a picture-perfect weekend. If we want to discover what people are thinking, we head to the beach.

QUEST (on-camera): Sometimes you've just got to do what you've just got to do to get the interview. Florida was where the White House was won four years ago in an election infamous for those hanging chads (ph). George Bush only became president after the U.S. Supreme Court brought to a close a month of confusion in Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Florida got a really bad rap with the hanging chads and things like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a disaster. It was a disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anything's going to go wacky, it will go wacky in America.

QUEST (voice-over): To find out how things have changed, I've joined the Ft. Lauderdale Outrigger Canoe Club for an hour or two. I'm learning how to dig into the water and dig into politics. What do you think you've learned four years on (ph) about the whole way everything is run here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every vote counts, that's for sure, as close as it was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think there's going to be a lot of different demographics that go out this time around. A lot of youth and more minority votes will probably happen this year for this election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not everybody is 100 percent happy on what's going on overseas, as well as the budgets and what's happening to the general public, and the average worker, who is a blue-collar worker.

QUEST: Most Americans we spoke to aren't embarrassed about what happened here four years ago. This time around, they know the race is close, but they don't think it will happen again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was one of those rare things that happens where the popular vote is that close. And it was unfortunate what happened in Florida, but I think it was handled as well as it could be under the situation.

QUEST: Pummeling (ph) this canoe is harder than it looks, bit like politics in Florida in 2004. Because four year on, Florida is again one of the floating swing states in a race where Kerry and Bush are just about tied. And Florida once again could tip the balance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job, Richard. Glad to have you on the team.

QUEST: Richard quest, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Coming up next, a check of the headlines, and PEOPLE IN THE NEWS. 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 26, 2004 - 18:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Carol Lin. "CNN LIVE SUNDAY" just ahead, but first a quick look at what's now happening in the news.
Tempers are flaring in Boston on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. Police had to escort an antigay, antiabortion protester out of the Boston common today after he was assaulted by other demonstrators. Full pre-convention coverage coming up.

Gasoline prices are down nearly a penny from two weeks ago. The Lundburg survey says completion of maintenance and repair at U.S. refineries helped bring down the national average of self serve regular to $1.92.

And six wins in six years. That is the record Lance Armstrong set it today. The former cancer patient sipped champagne in the saddle after finishing the race in Paris. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

I'm Carol Lin. Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. The Democratic convention kicks off tomorrow and we've got a lot going on. Of course we're checking in with the candidates as they head towards Boston.

Also, Richard Quest is making a rare appearance on this side of the Atlantic. He's stopping in Florida where he hit the beach to talk with voters. It's a story only Richard can tell.

As you know, one of the main issues in this campaign is Iraq. Later in the hour, our series "From the Frontlines," the story of one soldier's life and death through his letters to his mother.

Right now, John Kerry is on the frontlines of his political career. He is landing in Florida later tonight, significant because Florida is going to be a battleground for the White House again. A research 2000 poll shows 47 percent of Floridians support Kerry, 44 percent would vote for President Bush. Now, Kerry started his day in the key state of Ohio. John Edwards was in Texas and is heading to North Carolina. We start with CNN's Frank Buckley who's traveling with John Kerry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John Kerry here in Ohio, a key battleground state, in Franklin County, a key swing county in Ohio that could go either Republican or Democrat in this coming election. We saw an indication of that when Senator Kerry arrived here in this neighborhood for a cul-de-sac event.

A vocal group of Bush-Cheney supporters confronted the senator. The senator then used that small demonstration to make a point.

JOHN KERRY, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I see people on the other side of the fence saying "four more years," I sometimes say to myself four more years what? Four more years of -- four more years of jobs being lost, four more years of the deficit growing bigger and bigger, four more years of losing our allies around the world?

BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry's focus here on job losses in Ohio, the campaign saying that 231,000 jobs have been lost in Ohio since the Bush administration moved into the White House. A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign saying, however, that Senator Kerry's focus on job losses ignores recent indicators that suggest that jobs are coming back. The spokesman saying that 17,000 new jobs have been created in Ohio this year.

This intense battle for Ohio will continue right up to Election Day. Ohio went for George W. Bush in 2000. Senator Kerry believes that he can get voters here to vote for him in 2004. President Bush just as determined to keep it in his column, especially given the historic importance of Ohio, two Republicans, no GOP president has won the White House without Ohio. Frank Buckley, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Elaine Quijano in San Antonio, Texas with the Edwards campaign. Senator John Edwards is here in order to raise money ahead of his trip to Boston next week. At the same time, his campaign has announced, in response to a "Newsweek" article, it has returned $44,000 to a contributor who is under scrutiny for using straw donors in the LA mayoral race. The campaign insists it has done everything possible to ensure compliance with campaign finance laws, including requiring donors to sign pledge cards stating that the money being contributed is theirs.

Now, aides also say that the decision to return the money goes above and beyond what is required and the decision was made, they say, in large part to keep the campaign focused on its work and focused on its message. As part of that, Senator Edwards sounded a theme familiar from the Bush campaign, Senator Edwards saying that he and Senator Kerry believe that government support of faith-based groups can be effective, but Senator Edwards insisted that their plan would be constitutional.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You should be proud of what you've done, all of you. I might add it's a perfect example of how the government and funding from the government can work with the church and faith-based institutions in a way that's productive in the community, in no way divides the community, doesn't take away anybody's rights and protects civil liberties and civil rights.

QUIJANO: Senator Edwards now heads back to his home state of North Carolina where he'll have a couple appearances before making his way to Boston where he's said to give that highly anticipated speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Elaine Quijano, CNN, San Antonio Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Our own polling shows that a third of those surveyed say they still don't know enough about John Kerry to actually vote for him. Now obviously the Kerry campaign sees the convention as a critical opportunity to shape an image for those voters. So today, a senior adviser says they will tell the story of John Kerry's life. And one of the primetime speakers at the convention is already in Boston. Former President Clinton signed copies of his memoir earlier today and he's going to address the delegates tomorrow.

Already hundreds of protesters were demonstrating in Boston, some of them even going after each other. CNN's Dan Lothian joins us now from Boston with more of those details. Dan, they got an early start.

DAN LOTHIAN, BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: They certainly did. More than 35,000 visitors are either here or on their way to Boston for the big Democratic celebration. Also here thousands of protesters were on the streets behind me earlier today trying to be seen and heard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): At a rally before antiwar demonstrators began marching to the Fleet Center, a clash. Anger directed at an antiabortion protester who was waving a graphic sign. The situation was quickly brought under control. In a separate incident, a group of antiabortion demonstrators laid down in the streets and blocked traffic, making a visual statement before moving on.

A reported 3,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Boston and past the Fleet Center, separated from the venue by concrete barriers, tall fences and armed police. Much of the rhetoric, signs and props focused on the Iraq war, but protesters are also angry about a voice they believe is routinely being silenced.

LARRY HOLMES, RALLY ORGANIZER: The police are finding more and more excuses to inhibit, prohibit demonstrations, build pens that you can't even see over to put demonstrators in.

LOTHIAN: Law enforcement officials say a heavy police presence is unavoidable.

CMDR. KATHLEEN O'TOOLE, BOSTON POLICE: This is a post-9/11 world. Unfortunately we have to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

LOTHIAN: The statehouse was guarded by police in full riot gear. Other heavy equipment is at the convention site, ready to be deployed if needed. Still four days to go, but officials say they are pleased with their security plans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: One of the things that we were expecting to happen later tonight will not be taking place, the Boston police union members who were going to be protesting all of the delegation parties, an official with the union telling CNN that that will not be happening, because they now have a contract and this morning a contract with the firefighters' union was also signed. Carol.

LIN: Dan, give me a quick sense of how tight security really is because I see people walking behind you, cars driving on the street.

LOTHIAN: Right. We are in an area that is outside the secure perimeter, so out here people can move about freely. But all you have to do is move a few blocks to my left and the security is extreme. There are fences. There are barriers, barricades, and armed police. So you cannot get close to the Fleet Center itself unless you have the proper credentials.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Dan Lothian reporting live.

Republicans are going to be at the DNC as well in unprecedented numbers. They're forming what they call a rapid-response truth squad to challenge the Democrat's message. They've even set up a war room near the convention site. And it's a high-tech operation. They'll e- mail Kerry's voting record to the media in real time during all prime time speeches and they're set to hold news conferences and offer interviews with Republican officials. I'm going to be talking with our own rapid-response team, Paul Begala and Bob Novak in "Crossfire" at the bottom of the hour to get their take on the Democratic National Convention.

But, in the meantime, there is a different feud going on around Boston that is playing into the run for the White House, a Massachusetts case study in the differences between country people and city folk. Here is CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Democrats will not be coming to Alex Dowse's farm 20 miles outside Boston, but he's scrambling just the same. That's how people make a living in the rapidly changing landscape of rural America.

ALEX DOWSE, APPLE FARMER: It's night and day difference from what it was 20 years ago, and we see that in an increase in people and the traffic and what people would like to do when they come out into this area.

FOREMAN: Population booms in cities such as Boston and their suburbs are sending dramatic ripples through rural areas. Near the cities, the American farmland trust estimates that two acres of prime farmland are being lost every minute to development, to shopping centers, houses, roads. Then prices soar and many long-time rural families can't afford to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it's gone from a real, you know, old- fashioned small town to a mess.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See why I let her do most of the talking?

FOREMAN: Further out, as long people leave for the big money, faster city life, help becomes impossible to find and groups like the Farm Bureau must spend more time educating city politicians on even the basic issues of their business.

ALEX KEYSSAR, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVT.: The problems faced by farmers the lives of farmers, people living in rural agricultural areas are simply not known and not understood in any way by urban Americans.

FOREMAN (on-camera): Not all of this is bad. As cities have expanded, many surrounding towns have enjoyed new businesses, new jobs, unimagined wealth. Yet, the changes even in these places are profound and not always welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This land to me is more valuable this way than it would be as house lot (ph).

FOREMAN: John Kerry says he wants to stop urban sprawl, but even as he heads to Boston, many outside the city wonder if anything can save their towns, their way of life, the vanishing rural horizon. Tom Foreman, CNN, Natick, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: There's one of the angles and we've got all of them. So stay with CNN's complete opening day primetime convention coverage on Monday. Anderson Cooper begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern, followed by an America votes 2004 special at 8:00 and then it's "LARRY KING LIVE" from the Fleet Center. At 10:00 Eastern we're going to bring you former President Bill Clinton's keynote speech live and stick around for a special news night with Aaron Brown at 11 Eastern. And then it's "LARRY KING LIVE" once again at midnight.

So what's President Bush doing while the Democrats are taking the spotlight? Well, he's in Texas where he's expected to move within days on the 9/11 Commission's findings. Precisely which of the panel's 40 plus proposals he's going to adopt is uncertain. But lawmakers want action and so do the relatives of the 9/11 victims. Here is White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: 9/11 families are divided over the commission's report. Rosemary Dillard who lost her husband on Flight 77.

ROSEMARY DILLARD, LOST HUSBAND ON 9/11: I think the report is good. I'm very hopeful. But it's going to take work.

MALVEAUX: Beverly Eckert, now also a widow after September 11th is disappointed it didn't name names.

BEVERLY ECKERT, LOST HUSBAND ON 9/11: Sometimes you do have to identify the people within the organization who are not functioning the way they should be.

MALVEAUX: But its chairs say naming names would have been impractical.

LEE HAMILTON, 9/11 COMMISSION VICE CHAIRMAN: It would have been hugely divisive, and we would not have been able to agree on the factual record, not been able to agree on recommendations.

MALVEAUX: Former counter terrorism chief Richard Clarke called the report toothless, saying in the "New York Times," because the commission had a goal of creating a unanimous report from a bipartisan group, it softened the edges and left it to the public to draw many conclusions. The Bush administration did little on terrorism before 9/11 and that by invading Iraq, the administration has left us less safe as a nation. While the commission chair says analyzing Iraq policy was not its task, he did weigh in on the controversy.

THOMAS KEAN, 9/11 COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: It's a gamble in Iraq. If Iraq works out the way the Bush administration and others hope it will, it could transform the Middle East. If it doesn't, it could be a source of continuing problems and irritation and a home for future terrorists.

MALVEAUX: Now that the commission's work is complete, members, five Democrats and five Republicans, say they'll forgo participating in the presidential campaigns and instead take to the road to lobby for their recommendations. Welcomed news for those still grieving.

DILLARD: We got caught once. We will not be caught again and you can see the steps we're taking to ensure that everyone here can go to bed at night and wake up in the morning.

MALVEAUX (on-camera): President Bush brought the 9/11 Commission report with him to his Crawford ranch and is conferring with his staff on how to immediately implement some of those recommendations. Monday he meets with his National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Crawford, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: "Free range" has become a buzzword for meat eaters in search of a more humane product, but it might mean a lot less freedom than many consumers realize. What we found out may surprise you.

And searching for answers in Salt Lake City. Have police recovered an important clue from a missing woman's apartment?

And still to come...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

If you are hearing this, I guess I didn't make it back. I hope that I fought bravely and made you proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: A fallen soldier's last words to his mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Police in Salt Lake City say they may issue an arrest warrant in the next few days in the case of a missing pregnant woman. For all the latest developments in this case, let's go to Salt Lake City and CNN's Ted Rowlands. Ted, the last time I talked to you, they had found some evidence, possible evidence in a dumpster.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes and there are reports there could be more evidence here. It was another excruciating day for family members as they wait word one way or another on Lori Hacking. She has been missing since Monday, reported missing by her husband Mark Hacking and all indications say that police are centered squarely on Mark Hacking.

Police however today would neither confirm or deny a local report about a blood-stained knife with strands of hair found reportedly in the Hackings' Salt Lake City apartment. Police do tell CNN that they are waiting forensic test results to come back and if those results confirm what they expect, an arrest warrant could be issued in a matter of hours or days. The family here held a news conference today to say they still support Mark Hacking. They also said that they support each other. There is no division between these two families. Hundreds of volunteers, almost 1,000 volunteers came out here again looking for any clue of Lori Hacking, still, no news coming back from those volunteer searches. There's also a candlelight vigil scheduled here for 9:00 local time. The family did say in their news conference that it would be their last news conference, saying that they are simply exhausted and can no longer deal with the media interviews. Carol?

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Ted Rowlands on that very interesting story.

We want to shift now to a follow-up story, one that we told you about this past week. You may remember seeing an animal rights' group's undercover pictures of workers stomping on chickens at a Country Pride processing plant, but what about those chickens labeled free range at the super market? Well it turns out some of them may not have been exactly free to roam. CNN's Sean Callebs reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Free range chicken, an enticing name for consumers with an appetite for humane treatment for animals, but what does it truly mean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That they aren't cooped up in a chicken coop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That they're allowed to roam freely.

CALLEBS: Not really. According to the USDA, producers simply need to provide birds access to go outdoors. That can mean one small door in a crowded coop. The industry admits most free-range chickens don't stretch their legs.

RICHARD LOBB, NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL: Even in a free-range type of style of production, you're basically going to find most of them inside the grow out facility where the food and water is located.

CALLEBS: Once again, the question of animal cruelty is creeping into our collective consciousness, due in large part to a disturbing video of poultry workers abusing chickens at a Pilgrim's Pride facility in West Virginia that is not free range. The company fired 11 workers for their actions. The fast-food company KFC says it won't buy birds from this plant until it's assured it has cleaned up its act.

PAUL SHAPIRO, COMPASSION OVER KILLING: Most people have no idea how abused farmed animals really are.

CALLEBS: But the poultry industry says there is a reason mainstream commercial growers resist free-range chickens.

LOBB: When you let chickens outdoors, they can mix with wild birds and possibly pick up certain disease problems from wild birds. Ducks and geese, for example are known to be carriers of avian influenza.

CALLEBS: Under government guidelines, just because they are free range, that doesn't mean they aren't getting growth hormones. The animals rights group, Compassion Over Killing says keeping birds in cramped coops leads to this, tiny legs overburdened by bodies swollen by hormones to the point chickens die because they can't reach the water source.

SHAPIRO: Improved animal welfare generally will mean increased cost. However, it's a small price to pay to ensure that animal cruelty ceases.

CALLEBS: The poultry industry denies its birds are stressed or abused, saying if that was the case, the product wouldn't be healthy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: But critics are vowing to continue to raise their voices, saying right now, free range sounds much kinder than it actually is. Sean Callebs, CNN, Washington.

LIN: Well, he's taken on the world's best and won six years in a row. Lance Armstrong caps an historic feat in the streets of Paris today. We're going to have highlights next.

And still ahead, a special quest to go inside the minds of Florida voters. Yes, that's a pun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: I want to make a quick correction. In that investigative undercover video of those chickens being stomped on, it was not Country Pride, but Pilgrim's Pride processing plant. Our apologies.

Well, it has never been done before, but Lance Armstrong has become a legend for exceeding expectations. Never before has a rider won a sixth Tour de France. The Texan did it at the ripe old age of 32. CNN's Jim Bittermann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's won the race five times before and even days ago it seemed certain he would ride to victory for a record-breaking sixth time. Nonetheless, the minute Lance Armstrong slowed down, he was mobbed by jubilant fans. The Texan says it will take some time for the achievement to sink in.

Yet, there must have been some confidence around even before the U.S. Postal Service team left the hotel this morning, because already they were packing ice chests of champagne in the team bus and their confidence was well-founded. Armstrong dominated this year's tour as never before, wearing the leader's yellow jersey again and again and constantly reminding those riders who dared challenge him, of just how strong he is.

UNIDENTIFIED CYCLIST: We would like to have a more open race, but the team's so strong and he's so strong, there's nothing you can do.

BITTERMANN: Armstrong's secret fellow riders say, is in what you don't see, his arduous training. His resting pulse is an incredibly slow 34 beats per minute, and above all teammates say, his will to win.

FLOYD LANDIS, US POSTAL TEAM: There's a lot of talented guys. Most of the guys aren't quite as determined as him.

BITTERMANN: Just 7 1/2 years ago Armstrong was receiving chemotherapy for cancer. Six of the years since, he's won the tour. His mother is familiar with his willpower.

LINDA ARMSTRONG KELLY, LANCE ARMSTRONG'S MOTHER: He's very goal- oriented and loves to win. It's simple.

BITTERMANN: Simple for Armstrong, perhaps, but as the other riders wound up and down the Champs Elysees at the end of what is one of the most grueling competitions in sports, a number of them said they were happy to be heading home after a race one only seemed destined to win.

(on-camera): Armstrong says he'll ride in another Tour de France one day, although some of his teammates say he may sit out next year's French circuit in order to concentrate on other races.

(voice-over): In any case, his record here will stand for years to come. In a sport where victory depends more on individual than team effort, Armstrong remains one individual who will be tough to catch. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: More of CNN LIVE SUNDAY in just a moment, but first a quick look at what's happening now in the news.

Heading from Ohio to Florida, John Kerry arrives in the sunshine state this evening, ahead of tomorrow's start of the DNC in Boston. His visit comes as new poll numbers show he and President Bush are in a statistical dead heat in the battleground state.

Three people were wounded when an Israeli warplane fired missiles on a Gaza building today. Israel said the building was a weapons workshop used by Hamas. The strike came three days after a similar strike in the area killed to Islamic Jihad militants.

A Utah family steps out of the media spot light. After nearly a week of holding press conferences, the family of Lori Hacking appointed a spokesperson today. The search continues for the missing woman who disappeared last Monday.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

On to politics, Florida polls show Kerry and President Bush are neck and neck in the sunshine state. But it's a different story when the numbers are broken down by gender. Kerry has an edge among female voters in Florida. Fifty-one percent say they'll vote for him, 39 percent support President Bush. Two percent are behind Ralph Nader.

But among men in Florida, 43 percent say they are going to vote for Kerry. Almost half support Bush and four percent are behind Nader.

Will those numbers change after the Democratic Convention? Joining me from Boston now from Boston are Paul Begala and Bob Novak, co-hosts of CNN's "CROSSFIRE." Good to see you gentlemen.

Let's talk about some of these poll numbers. What do they tell you that they are statistically so close, but how they break down by gender? How significant is that in the turnout in Florida?

ROBERT NOVAK, HOST, CNN CROSSFIRE: It's not very surprising, Carol, particularly in Florida. As I remember, it was a very close vote in 2000. We remember that, don't we?

LIN: That's an understatement.

NOVAK: And it's been close ever since. I don't want to tell the pollsters not to keep polling, but you don't really have to take the temperature down there every week until something happens. There is a gender gap yes. In particularly there is a huge gender gap when you talk about women who work outside the home.

But the other side of the gender gap is that most American men, particularly American white men don't want to vote for John Kerry, and I doubt they ever will.

LIN: Paul, let me ask you this. There are a couple different polls out of Florida. One in particular says that John Kerry is actually five points ahead of President Bush except or until you include Ralph Nader. Is there be a Nader factor in key battleground states like Florida?

PAUL BEGALA, HOST, CNN CROSSFIRE: I don't think so. Not at the end of the day. If John Kerry does his job, and he will, I think the Nader vote will collapse, as Pat Buchanan's vote did the last time. He was a conservative third party, forth-party candidate, if you will against Bush and Al Gore in the last election.

But at the end, his vote collapsed down to less than one percent. I think Nader's could very well do the same this time, and here is why. The last time Nader ran, he got about two percent of the vote. And people got - President Bush -- those people who voted for Ralph Nader are unhappy with George W. Bush. I suspect they don't want to let the same thing happen again.

I think they understand now, that there are enormous consequences to that vote. So when you say that four percent of the men in Florida are voting for Ralph Nader now, that will be one percent or less by the time we get to Election Day. And every one of them will move to John Kerry.

LIN: I was picking up on something you said. You said if John Kerry does his job. Today a Kerry adviser says John Kerry has to reintroduce himself to the American public, to those undecided voters. They threw out a couple things. His Vietnam War service, stronger domestic agenda, rebuild international relations. But frankly, Paul is that frankly sexy enough, interesting enough? Compelling enough to draw in the 30 percent of the people who say they don't have enough information?

BEGALA: I don't know. I think he's a political consultant's dream Carol. Certainly he doesn't have -- I worked for Bill Clinton in 1992. They knew a lot of sexy things about him, not all of them very good. If you tell me that I had a candidate who had never run nationally before, was tied with the incumbent president, and had a record as a war hero and as a strong voice in the United States Senate for 19 years.

And that 30% of the country, Carol, still can't even rate him. You add on to that that his wife might be one of the most charming interesting person on the American political scene, the country is going to fall in love with her, and his running mate isn't bad either. I think this is going to be a really good week for the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

NOVAK: I don't know how many people are going to fall in love -- I fall in love with any billionaire woman --

LIN: Oh, bob.

NOVAK: She doesn't have to be nice, but I think she's probably a liability to him. I would say this, Carol. It isn't a matter of reintroducing John Kerry. It's introducing him. A lot of people don't know who he is. And what he's going to do in his acceptance speech is he is going to be as moderate and centrist as you can be.

He's not even talking to the crazy left-wing delegates in the Fleet Center. He's talking to Americans, and particularly the three percent of Americans who live in swing states, and haven't made up their minds. They're just a tiny constituency that he is going to be appealing to. And he is not going to come over with all kinds of grandiose stuff, and he's not going to come over bashing Bush.

The editors which are under the control of the Kerry campaign are sending back speeches that are written by speakers at this convention that sound like James Carville and Paul Begala in bashing George W. Bush. They don't want that in this convention.

LIN: But Bob, isn't the democratic mantra anybody but Bush? I mean the party faithful are coming together?

NOVAK: They've got those people. You don't have to bash Bush. I had a Kerry person tell me the other day to keep bashing Bush and you'll get 43 percent of the vote. What they've got to get is the people who have not been won over by the Bush bashing. That will be a very interesting exercise. John Kerry is a clever politician. He may be able to do it.

BEGALA: Carol, he's following the footsteps of Ronald Reagan. When Ronald Reagan was the governor of California, and running against Jimmy Carter the incumbent president, Carter said Reagan was too ideologically extreme. Couldn't be trusted on National Security. Go back to Ronald Reagan's 1980 convention speech Carol, which I have reread recently. It's very interesting.

He doesn't say anything about abortion or school prayer or bussing or any of the hot-button right-wing issues that conservatives wanted to hear. Ronald Reagan spoke to the centrists. He talked about energy policy, national security, and the economy. And that is it. I think John Kerry is likely to follow that same sort of sensible blueprint that Ronald Reagan won on in 1980.

NOVAK: The people who are sitting in the Fleet Center Carol, they would like some raw meat. But John Kerry is not a butcher. He is not in the raw meat business.

LIN: Listen, I was talking with Carlos Watson last night. He's predicting that Al Sharpton is going to steal the show on Wednesday night. What do you think, Paul?

BEGALA: He's great. He is funny, he proved himself in his campaign. He came on "CROSSFIRE" at the beginning of the campaign. And it was probably the most contentious interview I've ever done.

I was rougher on him then I have ever been on any conservative. And now at the end of the campaign, he's impressed me. He's funny. He's smart. He does a very good job of trying to turn out voters. I hope he does do a good job. Again, my sleeper here, the person America will fall in love with this week, Teresa Heinz Kerry. You watch. People are going to --

NOVAK: You've already said that. I say billionaire women are OK.

LIN: She's already won over bob.

NOVAK: But I'll say this, Al Sharpton, the more we can see of Al Sharpton, the more I want him, because he's the real voice of the Democratic Party.

LIN: You tell me the next Republican who actually gets his own reality-based show, Bob, and then we'll talk. Bob Novak, Paul Begala. Thanks very much for being with us today.

Moving on to the war, Iraqi troops under the protection of U.S. heavy artillery are going after insurgents around Baghdad. Thirteen rebels were killed in fighting in the dusty streets in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) northeast of the capital today.

Iraqi national guards soldiers were conducting a raid when insurgents attacked them. There was a stream of other attacks also around the country. Five people were killed in Kirkuk, and a U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in the northern part of the country.

Ambushes are frighteningly common in Iraq, and have taken deadly tolls on the U.S. forces. Back in June, Specialist Patrick McCaffrey (ph) became the 848th American troop to die in Iraq. He wrote often to his mother about his experiences there. His words provide a unique glimpse from the frontlines. Our Thelma Gutierrez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA MCCAFFREY, MOTHER OF PATRICK MCCAFFREY: This is the way my son came home. Inside this coffin with a flag on it. This is the way that he came home before the 4th of July.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On this street in Tracy, California, Nadia McCaffrey mourns her only child.

MCCAFFREY: What can I say? I would have given my life for him.

GUTIERREZ: Army specialist Patrick McCaffrey was on patrol with three other soldiers when they were ambushed outside of Baghdad.

MCCAFFREY: He was assaulted by two people on each side of his body with automatic weapons.

GUTIERREZ: Witnesses say McCaffrey went down fighting.

MCCAFFREY: If you are reading this, I guess I didn't make it back. I hope that I fought bravely and made you proud. I don't know where to begin, but to tell you all that I love you.

GUTIERREZ: Nadia holds on to her son's final words and she reads them over and over.

MCCAFFREY: And all I wanted was a better life for my children and a happy and prosperous life for my wife. I am forever grateful to God for letting me meet you and knowing a true love and family life.

GUTIERREZ: McCaffrey joined the National Guard the day after September 11th. But he never thought he would see combat.

MCCAFFREY: Don't worry, mom. I know God is looking out for me. And I know, because you and Celia (ph) are praying for me.

GUTIERREZ: He wrote often about Iraqi children.

MCCAFFREY: I love the little children, though. They remind me of my own, and I always give them food and water, even though we're not supposed to. You know I could use a box of flattened soccer balls with a pump and some Frisbees. I could get them to the children as I pass through the small town.

GUTIERREZ: In May his heart grew heavy.

MCCAFFREY: I know you saw pictures of the prison episodes with those prisoners and the abuse. We had a few bad, bad soldiers. Believe me, a lot of us are ashamed of them, and they don't deserve to wear our colors. Because of what they did, it has become very hard for us to deal with all of the Iraqis. But you and everyone else are to remember that we are constantly under attack.

GUTIERREZ: Again, it was the children who raised his spirits in his darkest hours.

MCCAFFREY: This last picture, the last picture was taken of him where Patrick is holding the white flowers. He's glowing with joy, because of this little present that he got from the children. That was approximately 45 minutes before he was shot.

GUTIERREZ: Patrick McCaffrey was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, small consolation for Nadia.

MCCAFFREY: I can't give him a hug anymore. And I can't pick up the phone from him calling from Iraq and saying, hi, Mom. I love you. No, I won't be able to hear that anymore.

GUTIERREZ: When Patrick's casket arrived in Sacramento, Nadia allowed the media to attend. Images of remains returning home are rarely seen.

MCCAFFREY: And I want the whole world to witness this, not just for Patrick. This is not just for my son. He didn't die in vain. I want people to know who he is.

GUTIERREZ: At his memorial service, hundreds of yellow balloons were released with his name. One ended up in Pennsylvania. That person wrote this e-mail to Nadia.

MCCAFFREY: For me, I just finally put a face on the war. I promise you that I will tell what I have learned about Patrick to everyone.

GUTIERREZ: For the baby who weighed just five pounds at birth, who grew up to be an inquisitive boy, who became a caring father and a brave soldier. Patrick's battle is over, but his mother's fight to keep his memory alive has just begun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It used to be that the people covering political conventions worked for the big media outlets. With the advent of the Internet that's not always the case. Bloggers are giving the big networks and newspapers big competition. What is a blog? It's a personal web side that provides updated headlines and news articles of other sites that are of interest to the user. No holds barred.

Mickey Kaus used to be the senior editor at the "New Republic," and wrote for "Newsweek." Now, he's the blogger behind www.kausfiles.com. And a slate (ph) contributor. He's attending the DNC for slate. Mickey, reading your site, it's pretty funny. It's pretty interesting. In one entry, you called Kerry soporific, frozen- featured. Can you hear me?

MICKEY KAUS, WWW.KAUSFILES.COM: Yes. You can be very opinionated in a blog in a way you can't be in the conventional press obsessively. And you can be personal and rude. If you think somebody is blowing it, you can name names and say, I think this person is really mucking up the campaign. And that's the advantage. We have a lot of freedoms that conventional press doesn't have. And I think sometimes the conventional press may be a little jealous of that.

LIN: Isn't that why they call journalism? Because there are boundaries. Because there is an appropriate way of covering stories? It's a statement of facts?

KAUS: Well, I think the press has adopted these rules to enhance its credibility. But there are other countries where they have a free press that don't have these rules. In fact, most countries don't have our rules of objectivity. People take sides. People express their opinions. I think there's a difference between expressing your opinion and not telling the truth.

I think as long as you tell the truth as a blogger, even if you're not in the professional press, people learn to trust you. I can still say I think Kerry is soporific. But I'm not going to say Kerry was born somewhere where he's not or get a fact wrong. I think as long as you stick to that rule, you're OK. The press has all these other rules that I think are somewhat unnecessary.

LIN: All right Mickey. So you're going to be covering the Democratic National Convention, right?

KAUS: Right.

LIN: What do you think you are going to be covering? Or what subjects are you going to be covering that you think the conventional media is not? What are you going to bring to the table?

KAUS: Conventions are tough, because everybody is here, and they're all competing for the same stories. You can bring sort of wacky theories. For example, there was a theory that it would be good for Kerry if some actor acted out in an anti-Bush way, and he could have a sister soldier moment, and sort of put down this person, and say no, we don't want to be nasty to Bush. It's crazy for a theory. It's too crazy for the conventional press to report, but it's not too crazy for a blogger to report, and some of those theories will turn out to be true. You can speculate in sort of crazy ways. You can print things you hear at cocktail parties that other people can't print, maybe.

You can print that Richard Holbrook is happy that Sandy Berger is in trouble, which they would not print in the regular press, but is probably true. You can -- you have a better, bigger advantage when it's not a convention, I admit.

LIN: Mickey, 13 million people read web blogs. Thirteen million people. That's almost twice the number of people who watch a program like "World News Tonight" with Peter Jennings. What do you think the power and influence of bloggers are going to be on mainstream media, if at all? Do you ever intend on replacing mainstream media?

KAUS: I don't think they're ever going to replace mainstream media. In fact, the two big cases of blogger power, they helped bring down Trent Lott, and they helped bring down Howell Raines, the editor of the "New York Times," were both done with the assist of major media. They didn't really happen until major media pitched in also.

A blog is just a statement of opinion. It's only as powerful as the number of people who agree with it. The biggest blogger in America probably only gets 100,000 views a day. So he's not bigger than Peter Jennings. If you add them all up, there's tremendous power in numbers.

If you get 20 bloggers beating on an issue, it will have some power, but it's not going to have any power unless people in the mainstream media and elsewhere agree with it.

LIN: Interesting. That's a good point Mickey.

KAUS: You'll never see a blogger remove a politician from office until the mainstream media finally climbs on board.

LIN: Thanks Mickey. We are going to look forward to your coverage. Logging on. Thanks very much. Mickey Kaus at the Democratic National Convention. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We need to correct a misstatement in the report we had a few minutes ago on free-range chickens. According to the USDA, no hormones are used in the raising of chickens.

CNN's intrepid British correspondent Richard Quest is starting a seven-week American quest to learn what the public is really thinking about the race for the White House. Quest begins his mission on the sands of Florida, embedded with the Ft. Lauderdale Outrigger Canoe Club. Hard duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD QUEST, CNN BRITISH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The locals are out and making a fuss. It's a picture-perfect weekend. If we want to discover what people are thinking, we head to the beach.

QUEST (on-camera): Sometimes you've just got to do what you've just got to do to get the interview. Florida was where the White House was won four years ago in an election infamous for those hanging chads (ph). George Bush only became president after the U.S. Supreme Court brought to a close a month of confusion in Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Florida got a really bad rap with the hanging chads and things like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a disaster. It was a disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anything's going to go wacky, it will go wacky in America.

QUEST (voice-over): To find out how things have changed, I've joined the Ft. Lauderdale Outrigger Canoe Club for an hour or two. I'm learning how to dig into the water and dig into politics. What do you think you've learned four years on (ph) about the whole way everything is run here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every vote counts, that's for sure, as close as it was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think there's going to be a lot of different demographics that go out this time around. A lot of youth and more minority votes will probably happen this year for this election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not everybody is 100 percent happy on what's going on overseas, as well as the budgets and what's happening to the general public, and the average worker, who is a blue-collar worker.

QUEST: Most Americans we spoke to aren't embarrassed about what happened here four years ago. This time around, they know the race is close, but they don't think it will happen again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was one of those rare things that happens where the popular vote is that close. And it was unfortunate what happened in Florida, but I think it was handled as well as it could be under the situation.

QUEST: Pummeling (ph) this canoe is harder than it looks, bit like politics in Florida in 2004. Because four year on, Florida is again one of the floating swing states in a race where Kerry and Bush are just about tied. And Florida once again could tip the balance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job, Richard. Glad to have you on the team.

QUEST: Richard quest, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Coming up next, a check of the headlines, and PEOPLE IN THE NEWS. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com