Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Fierce Fighting in Najaf; Battleground Ohio; Michael Jackson Hearing

Aired August 19, 2004 - 10:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new survey finds a strong link between teenagers' social behavior and their risk of smoking, drinking and using illegal drugs. The annual survey was conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. We're going to talk with the center's director before the half-hour.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

It is 11:00 a.m. straight up here in New York City, 8:00 a.m. on the West Coast. I am live from New York today. Good morning. I'm Daryn Kagan.

Up first on CNN, fierce fighting in the Iraqi city of Najaf. The fighting following the demand for radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to make a public statement and end the two-week standoff.

Our Matthew Chance joins us by videophone. He's in Najaf with the latest.

Matthew, hello.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, thanks very much.

Indeed, there is fierce fighting in the holy city of Najaf. But as the U.S. military says, these are just routine patrols that have come under attack from fighters of the Mehdi Army. And this is in no way an indication that the start of that widely-anticipated offensive against the Mehdi Army, led, of course, by the radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, has begun in anyway. Certainly, though, fierce fighting in the area of the holy Shrine of Imam Ali.

A CNN producer had actually got into that -- that shrine which is the second holy -- or one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. She's reporting that women and children inside the shrine compound, alongside fighters of the Mehdi Army. She's also saying that the mosque has been damaged in several areas, particularly two minarets as a result of the fierce fighting that's been raging around there for the past several weeks. That despite the efforts of the U.S. military to prevent any damage to that ancient structure.

Iraqi government officials, though, are voicing increasing impatience with the situation, saying that they will storm the mosque unless Muqtada al-Sadr essentially surrenders his position and makes a public statement saying that he's leaving the mosque and disbanding his Mehdi Army militia. The facts on the ground though, it certainly seems from our perspective that that is not happening. And so, inevitably, the focus is shifting back to the military options that presents themselves to the Iraqi interim government. They said that any operation to storm the mosque would be led by Iraqi troops and only involve U.S. forces in a backup role. But, nevertheless, there's still a great deal of concern that any attack on this sacred place could spark wide-scale arrest, wide-scale opposition amongst the majority Shia population in this country -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And I believe at this point, Matthew, there are questions about Muqtada al-Sadr's whereabouts.

CHANCE: Well, there's been questions about his whereabouts for several weeks since the outbreak of this latest violence on August the 5th. The assumption is that he's operating in and around the mosque of Imam Ali, because at least there there's a degree of -- of it being a safe haven because of the reluctance and the sensitivity of the U.S. forces in not striking hard at that sacred place.

I was in the operations room here in this Najaf base earlier, looking at the radar pictures of the mortar fire coming out of that mosque towards U.S. patrols in and around the city of Najaf. They say they knew exactly where the mortar rounds were coming from, from inside the compound of the mosque, but they didn't fire back because they say they're sensitive to the concerns about the safety of that building. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of Muqtada al-Sadr certainly is not known. The assumption is he's inside the mosque, as I say -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Matthew Chance reporting live from Najaf. Thank you.

You heard Matthew talking about this, how the U.S. military is treading cautiously around the Imam Ali mosque, careful to let Iraqi forces take the lead at the revered shrine. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, telling us more about that this morning.

Barbara, hello.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.

Well, that is exactly the U.S. military strategy, as you and Matthew both say. U.S. forces are very close by the holy shrine, U.S. Army, Marine corps troops in Najaf with their heavy weapons, their tanks, their armor. But their goal right now is to clearly stay out of the shrine.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made it very clear that it is highly unlikely U.S. troops would enter the shrine. This would be quite a difficult situation for them.

There is one caveat, however. If the fighting grows intense, if a major offensive does get under way, and U.S. troops were to be attacked, Iraqi troops were to be attacked from inside the shrine, then, of course, the U.S. would exercise its right towards troops to defend themselves. But the goal is to stay out of there right now. There is a great deal of military activity in the city. The U.S. troops are essentially a perimeter of security outside the shrine, outside this very holy area.

They basically want to keep the militia members in place, where they are, not have them roam the city in any greater numbers than they are. So they're keeping them contained at the moment, and they will be ready to move the U.S. troops if the order comes for that major offensive. Again, yes, it will be led by Iraqi forces, but officials here say there's every indication at this point, if an offensive is ordered, that U.S. troops would play a significant role -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you for that.

Want to focus now on a breaking news story out of Florida. That is, a news chopper -- a news helicopter has crashed in the Everglades. These pictures coming to us from WSBN.

The information we're getting, the helicopter belongs to the station WINK, Wink. That is the CBS affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida.

Our information says that only one person was on board, that being the pilot, and that he has sustained serious injuries. This crash taking place in the Everglades about 60 miles east of Fort Myers.

All of these television stations, WINK, WSBN, all the Florida stations have been working way past overtime in trying to show the effects of Hurricane Charley. And the people trying to recover from that devastating storm.

So, once again, the pilot, one person, seriously injured in a helicopter crash in the Everglades. WINK, Wink Television, their chopper going down.

And now on to presidential politics and the fight for votes in key swing states. Ohio consider a critical battle ground. Last night, more than 200 voters, many of them undecided, gathered for a town hall meeting hosted by our Paula Zahn. They heard from representatives of the Kerry and Bush campaigns about the high-stakes battle for votes in their state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": What is at stake here in Ohio for the Bush campaign? Is it a make-it-or-break state? There are a lot of people who say that no Republican has ever won the presidency without winning here in Ohio.

TUCKER ESKEW, BUSH CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, first, Paula, let me say, there was a lot of electricity in the air until Tad and I came in.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: It's your fault. All right. Someone has to take a hit tonight. I'll blame it on you.

ESKEW: The stakes are very high. This is a critically important state. The president returns here often, has many friends from Ohio and people involved in his administration from this state. So -- and has worked very hard on the issues here.

So I think if you look at the economic agenda of this president, and his fight to make America prouder, safer and stronger, Ohio is at the heart of that. It's the heart of our country. And I think this is a great place to have this sort of discussion.

ZAHN: But both of you have to be looking at these numbers, which basically show your two candidates in a statistical dead heat and say, we have to go and get some of these undecided voters out there.

TAD DEVINE, KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Yes. I think, you know, we're in the epicenter of American politics tonight. I think if any one of our candidates wins most of the people in this room, he's going to be the next president of the United States. I mean, I think it's fair to say that.

This is a very representative sample of -- of this place and this nation. So we're going to work real hard. We're running out of days, but we're anxious to talk to voters, we've been doing it for months now. This is the most engaged election at the earliest point in time, I think, in our country's history. And I think there's good reason for it.

The issues are big. They're enormous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Ohio is one of about 17 states that could decide the presidential election. It has 20 electoral votes. President Bush won there by less than 4 percent in 2000. Ohio's population is about 85 percent white, and the state has a large union vote.

A new CNN-"USA Today-Gallup poll shows Kerry leading President Bush 52 to 42 percent among registered voters in Ohio. But among those considered likely to vote in November, that margin narrows to 48 percent for Kerry and 46 percent for Bush.

Did authorities violate attorney-client privilege in the Michael Jackson case? That's what the defense is trying to show in court today. We'll have a live report from California.

Plus, teenagers having sex, does that increase their risk of drinking and drug use? Results from a new study out this morning.

And sleeping off a bender, how authorities caught a drunken bear?

All ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange, where stocks are heading lower after their recent run-up. This as oil prices soar to yet another all-time high. Right now, crude hovering around $48 a barrel.

Checking numbers here on Wall Street, the Dow industrial average off 37 points, Nasdaq losing half of one percent. And we're keeping a close eye on Google. It's expected to begin trading at the Nasdaq anytime now. The company set its IPO price at $85 a share.

That's a quick check on Wall Street. CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And let's take a look at what is on our legal docket for the day. Scott Peterson's double murder trial is on hold until Monday. The defense wants to use some of Amber Frey's taped phone conferring with Peterson that haven't been admitted. The prosecution tried to block any tapes not already introduced. Peterson's former mistress is expected to undergo cross-examination beginning on Monday.

The defense plans to put the accuser's stepfather on the stand today when a pretrial hearing for Michael Jackson resumes this hour. Let's go to Santa Maria, California, and our correspondent, Miguel Marquez.

Miguel, good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

They're putting him on the stand because they hope to prove that investigators knew that the search of Brad -- Bradley Miller's office, a private investigator from Beverly Hills, that they knew he was working for Mark Geragos, Jackson's former attorney. Hoping, then, that if they can prove that point, then they stand a better chance of having all the evidence seized in that office thrown out and covered under attorney-client privilege.

On the stand, as you said, is the accuser's stepfather, only known as John Doe. And William Dickerman, the former attorney for the accuser's family, the accuser's mother, he was instrumental in a lot of these memos back and forth between Geragos and Dickerman over property that the mother had stored with -- with Dickerman -- or with Bradley Miller. And the prosecutors and court documents, though, contend that even if they knew that Bradley Miller was in fact working for Geragos, it probably wouldn't have mattered, they probably still would have gotten the -- the search warrant because they say in court documents that they believe he was engaged in illegal activity.

The other thing that may be going on here today is that Michael Jackson may be making some sort of statement, releasing some sort of statement. The court has approved that statement. It's not clear exactly what the content of it would be or how it would be released, or whether -- whether it would be released. There's some indication right now that maybe it wouldn't be released at all -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria. Thank you. We move on now to teenagers' whose friends are sexually active are at higher risk of smoking, drinking or using illegal drugs. That is according to the annual survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse released last hour. The center's chairman and president, Joseph Califano, joining me from Washington.

Joe, always good to have you on board here.

JOSEPH CALIFANO, CENTER ON ADDICTION, SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Nice to be with you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Good morning. Let's look at some of the numbers.

First of all, when I -- when I first started looking at this, I've got to tell you, I'm reading this -- OK, so teenagers who are having sex more likely to use drugs. That seemed kind of obvious to me. But when you get under some of the other statistics, that's kind of a little bit more eye opening. But let's just start with that, that first premise that if someone is having sex they're more likely to be using drugs.

CALIFANO: Well, what we found was that kids who have a lot of sexually active friends, kids who spend a lot time with their boyfriend or girlfriend, and girls who date boys a couple of years older than they are, are much likely to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs than those who aren't engaged in those activities. We also found that kids who have a lot of friends who are downloading pornography from the Internet are likely to smoke, drink and use drugs. Now, it's not a causation here.

KAGAN: Right. It's not saying like if you download porn, you're going to run out and smoke pot. That's not what you're saying.

CALIFANO: Right. But what we are saying is this is a signal to panes.

This says, look, if your kid is spending 25 hours or more a week with your -- her girlfriend or his boyfriend, if your kid is running in a crowd of a lot of sexually active kids, if your daughter's going out with somebody that's much older than she is, you better be looking for substance abuse, because there's a strong likelihood that there's some involved there.

KAGAN: So, basically, what you're saying, if you think your kid is in a bad crowd, your kid might be doing bad things. But maybe even worse things than you perhaps would have suspected.

CALIFANO: Exactly. The point -- the point is -- the point is that this kind of activity is a signal to parents that there may be drinking, getting drunk, using drugs. And that's very important.

Parents need these signals. I mean, just the way they need signals about high stress or a lot of boredom among their kids. And it's important because parents are the greatest influence on keeping kids out of this stuff. KAGAN: I thought one of the most impactful things that I read in your study was about access. When you ask kids, how quickly could you get your hands on buying pot, the kind of response you got to that?

CALIFANO: Well, we got 20 -- 21 percent of the kids said they can buy marijuana within an hour.

KAGAN: Amazing.

CALIFANO: Forty percent of America's 12 to 13-year-olds can get marijuana within a day. The other thing that's troubling, Daryn, is there's a deterioration in the situation for teenagers.

Significantly higher percentage of them, 29 percent, said drugs were their number one problem. And we saw big increases over last year in the number of teens who said that they have friends who regularly use drugs, who regularly drink and who regularly smoke.

KAGAN: OK. Bottom line, in our final seconds, message to parents, be aware, talk to your teenagers and what else?

CALIFANO: And have dinner with your kids. That's one of the greatest protective factors.

The more often parents have dinner with their kids, the less likely those kids are to smoke, drink and use drugs. And we're promoting something called Family Day on September 27, the fourth Monday in September, to remind parents to have dinner with their kids.

KAGAN: All right. You come back mid-September and we'll talk more about that. OK?

CALIFANO: Oh, we will. I'd love to. Thank you.

KAGAN: Something so simple, just have dinner with your kids. Joe Califano, always a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you.

CALIFANO: Thank you, Daryn. Nice to be with you.

KAGAN: We're going to talk politics just ahead. The swift boat scuffle. John Kerry goes on the attack. Kerry campaign adviser Max Cleland joining me straight ahead.

Plus, fit for a feline. A dining experience like you have never seen before when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Heavy rain in Mexico causing a dam to burst, sending a wall of water and mud into a small town. Reports say two people were killed and dozens of homes destroyed. The Army, police and Red Cross are scrambling to help flood victims.

Plenty of weather challenges right here in the U.S. Orelon Sidney is watching that for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: All right. Orelon, thank you.

Still more politics ahead. Courting the Latino vote. Why could this be the group which decides presidential election?

CNN LIVE TODAY is back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan in New York City today. Let's check what's happening "Now in the News" for this Thursday, August 19.

Iraq's government is giving final notice to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his fighters: stand down at the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf or be forced out. Al-Sadr appeared to accept a peace deal yesterday, but today attached conditions. Fighting has raged in the city for two weeks.

Back here in the states, a news helicopter assigned to Florida station WINK, Wink, crashed today 60 miles east of Fort Myers in the Everglades. The pilot was the only person on board. He reported serious injuries by cell phone following the crash.

Speaking of Florida, crews there say all roads are to reopen today, six days after Hurricane Charley's devastating rampage. Twenty-two storm-related deaths are now reported. Power remains out to 390,000 customers in southwest Florida.

And an explosion ripped an underground natural gas storage facility outside of Houston today. Roads were closed and houses evacuated in a one-mile radius around the site.

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

Senator John Kerry is launching a two-front counterattack today in response to an ad challenging his record of valor in Vietnam. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is in Washington with the campaign headlines.

Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

After suggesting he would stay above the fray over his service record, Senator Kerry is personally fighting back. In Boston this morning, he says the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad falsely accuses him of lying about his war record. And he pointed a finger of blame squarely at President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything that you need to know: he wants them to do his dirty work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: The Kerry campaign also is ruling out a new ad featuring veteran Jim Rassmann, who says Kerry risked his own life to save his in Vietnam.

The White House has said President Bush deplores all soft money ads, but he has not specifically condemned the Swift Boat spot. The Bush campaign issued a statement a short while ago, saying "Kerry knows his statements today are false."

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 August 19, 2004 - 10:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new survey finds a strong link between teenagers' social behavior and their risk of smoking, drinking and using illegal drugs. The annual survey was conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. We're going to talk with the center's director before the half-hour.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

It is 11:00 a.m. straight up here in New York City, 8:00 a.m. on the West Coast. I am live from New York today. Good morning. I'm Daryn Kagan.

Up first on CNN, fierce fighting in the Iraqi city of Najaf. The fighting following the demand for radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to make a public statement and end the two-week standoff.

Our Matthew Chance joins us by videophone. He's in Najaf with the latest.

Matthew, hello.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, thanks very much.

Indeed, there is fierce fighting in the holy city of Najaf. But as the U.S. military says, these are just routine patrols that have come under attack from fighters of the Mehdi Army. And this is in no way an indication that the start of that widely-anticipated offensive against the Mehdi Army, led, of course, by the radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, has begun in anyway. Certainly, though, fierce fighting in the area of the holy Shrine of Imam Ali.

A CNN producer had actually got into that -- that shrine which is the second holy -- or one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. She's reporting that women and children inside the shrine compound, alongside fighters of the Mehdi Army. She's also saying that the mosque has been damaged in several areas, particularly two minarets as a result of the fierce fighting that's been raging around there for the past several weeks. That despite the efforts of the U.S. military to prevent any damage to that ancient structure.

Iraqi government officials, though, are voicing increasing impatience with the situation, saying that they will storm the mosque unless Muqtada al-Sadr essentially surrenders his position and makes a public statement saying that he's leaving the mosque and disbanding his Mehdi Army militia. The facts on the ground though, it certainly seems from our perspective that that is not happening. And so, inevitably, the focus is shifting back to the military options that presents themselves to the Iraqi interim government. They said that any operation to storm the mosque would be led by Iraqi troops and only involve U.S. forces in a backup role. But, nevertheless, there's still a great deal of concern that any attack on this sacred place could spark wide-scale arrest, wide-scale opposition amongst the majority Shia population in this country -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And I believe at this point, Matthew, there are questions about Muqtada al-Sadr's whereabouts.

CHANCE: Well, there's been questions about his whereabouts for several weeks since the outbreak of this latest violence on August the 5th. The assumption is that he's operating in and around the mosque of Imam Ali, because at least there there's a degree of -- of it being a safe haven because of the reluctance and the sensitivity of the U.S. forces in not striking hard at that sacred place.

I was in the operations room here in this Najaf base earlier, looking at the radar pictures of the mortar fire coming out of that mosque towards U.S. patrols in and around the city of Najaf. They say they knew exactly where the mortar rounds were coming from, from inside the compound of the mosque, but they didn't fire back because they say they're sensitive to the concerns about the safety of that building. Nevertheless, the whereabouts of Muqtada al-Sadr certainly is not known. The assumption is he's inside the mosque, as I say -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Matthew Chance reporting live from Najaf. Thank you.

You heard Matthew talking about this, how the U.S. military is treading cautiously around the Imam Ali mosque, careful to let Iraqi forces take the lead at the revered shrine. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, telling us more about that this morning.

Barbara, hello.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.

Well, that is exactly the U.S. military strategy, as you and Matthew both say. U.S. forces are very close by the holy shrine, U.S. Army, Marine corps troops in Najaf with their heavy weapons, their tanks, their armor. But their goal right now is to clearly stay out of the shrine.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made it very clear that it is highly unlikely U.S. troops would enter the shrine. This would be quite a difficult situation for them.

There is one caveat, however. If the fighting grows intense, if a major offensive does get under way, and U.S. troops were to be attacked, Iraqi troops were to be attacked from inside the shrine, then, of course, the U.S. would exercise its right towards troops to defend themselves. But the goal is to stay out of there right now. There is a great deal of military activity in the city. The U.S. troops are essentially a perimeter of security outside the shrine, outside this very holy area.

They basically want to keep the militia members in place, where they are, not have them roam the city in any greater numbers than they are. So they're keeping them contained at the moment, and they will be ready to move the U.S. troops if the order comes for that major offensive. Again, yes, it will be led by Iraqi forces, but officials here say there's every indication at this point, if an offensive is ordered, that U.S. troops would play a significant role -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you for that.

Want to focus now on a breaking news story out of Florida. That is, a news chopper -- a news helicopter has crashed in the Everglades. These pictures coming to us from WSBN.

The information we're getting, the helicopter belongs to the station WINK, Wink. That is the CBS affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida.

Our information says that only one person was on board, that being the pilot, and that he has sustained serious injuries. This crash taking place in the Everglades about 60 miles east of Fort Myers.

All of these television stations, WINK, WSBN, all the Florida stations have been working way past overtime in trying to show the effects of Hurricane Charley. And the people trying to recover from that devastating storm.

So, once again, the pilot, one person, seriously injured in a helicopter crash in the Everglades. WINK, Wink Television, their chopper going down.

And now on to presidential politics and the fight for votes in key swing states. Ohio consider a critical battle ground. Last night, more than 200 voters, many of them undecided, gathered for a town hall meeting hosted by our Paula Zahn. They heard from representatives of the Kerry and Bush campaigns about the high-stakes battle for votes in their state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": What is at stake here in Ohio for the Bush campaign? Is it a make-it-or-break state? There are a lot of people who say that no Republican has ever won the presidency without winning here in Ohio.

TUCKER ESKEW, BUSH CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Well, first, Paula, let me say, there was a lot of electricity in the air until Tad and I came in.

(LAUGHTER)

ZAHN: It's your fault. All right. Someone has to take a hit tonight. I'll blame it on you.

ESKEW: The stakes are very high. This is a critically important state. The president returns here often, has many friends from Ohio and people involved in his administration from this state. So -- and has worked very hard on the issues here.

So I think if you look at the economic agenda of this president, and his fight to make America prouder, safer and stronger, Ohio is at the heart of that. It's the heart of our country. And I think this is a great place to have this sort of discussion.

ZAHN: But both of you have to be looking at these numbers, which basically show your two candidates in a statistical dead heat and say, we have to go and get some of these undecided voters out there.

TAD DEVINE, KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Yes. I think, you know, we're in the epicenter of American politics tonight. I think if any one of our candidates wins most of the people in this room, he's going to be the next president of the United States. I mean, I think it's fair to say that.

This is a very representative sample of -- of this place and this nation. So we're going to work real hard. We're running out of days, but we're anxious to talk to voters, we've been doing it for months now. This is the most engaged election at the earliest point in time, I think, in our country's history. And I think there's good reason for it.

The issues are big. They're enormous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Ohio is one of about 17 states that could decide the presidential election. It has 20 electoral votes. President Bush won there by less than 4 percent in 2000. Ohio's population is about 85 percent white, and the state has a large union vote.

A new CNN-"USA Today-Gallup poll shows Kerry leading President Bush 52 to 42 percent among registered voters in Ohio. But among those considered likely to vote in November, that margin narrows to 48 percent for Kerry and 46 percent for Bush.

Did authorities violate attorney-client privilege in the Michael Jackson case? That's what the defense is trying to show in court today. We'll have a live report from California.

Plus, teenagers having sex, does that increase their risk of drinking and drug use? Results from a new study out this morning.

And sleeping off a bender, how authorities caught a drunken bear?

All ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange, where stocks are heading lower after their recent run-up. This as oil prices soar to yet another all-time high. Right now, crude hovering around $48 a barrel.

Checking numbers here on Wall Street, the Dow industrial average off 37 points, Nasdaq losing half of one percent. And we're keeping a close eye on Google. It's expected to begin trading at the Nasdaq anytime now. The company set its IPO price at $85 a share.

That's a quick check on Wall Street. CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And let's take a look at what is on our legal docket for the day. Scott Peterson's double murder trial is on hold until Monday. The defense wants to use some of Amber Frey's taped phone conferring with Peterson that haven't been admitted. The prosecution tried to block any tapes not already introduced. Peterson's former mistress is expected to undergo cross-examination beginning on Monday.

The defense plans to put the accuser's stepfather on the stand today when a pretrial hearing for Michael Jackson resumes this hour. Let's go to Santa Maria, California, and our correspondent, Miguel Marquez.

Miguel, good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

They're putting him on the stand because they hope to prove that investigators knew that the search of Brad -- Bradley Miller's office, a private investigator from Beverly Hills, that they knew he was working for Mark Geragos, Jackson's former attorney. Hoping, then, that if they can prove that point, then they stand a better chance of having all the evidence seized in that office thrown out and covered under attorney-client privilege.

On the stand, as you said, is the accuser's stepfather, only known as John Doe. And William Dickerman, the former attorney for the accuser's family, the accuser's mother, he was instrumental in a lot of these memos back and forth between Geragos and Dickerman over property that the mother had stored with -- with Dickerman -- or with Bradley Miller. And the prosecutors and court documents, though, contend that even if they knew that Bradley Miller was in fact working for Geragos, it probably wouldn't have mattered, they probably still would have gotten the -- the search warrant because they say in court documents that they believe he was engaged in illegal activity.

The other thing that may be going on here today is that Michael Jackson may be making some sort of statement, releasing some sort of statement. The court has approved that statement. It's not clear exactly what the content of it would be or how it would be released, or whether -- whether it would be released. There's some indication right now that maybe it wouldn't be released at all -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Miguel Marquez in Santa Maria. Thank you. We move on now to teenagers' whose friends are sexually active are at higher risk of smoking, drinking or using illegal drugs. That is according to the annual survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse released last hour. The center's chairman and president, Joseph Califano, joining me from Washington.

Joe, always good to have you on board here.

JOSEPH CALIFANO, CENTER ON ADDICTION, SUBSTANCE ABUSE: Nice to be with you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Good morning. Let's look at some of the numbers.

First of all, when I -- when I first started looking at this, I've got to tell you, I'm reading this -- OK, so teenagers who are having sex more likely to use drugs. That seemed kind of obvious to me. But when you get under some of the other statistics, that's kind of a little bit more eye opening. But let's just start with that, that first premise that if someone is having sex they're more likely to be using drugs.

CALIFANO: Well, what we found was that kids who have a lot of sexually active friends, kids who spend a lot time with their boyfriend or girlfriend, and girls who date boys a couple of years older than they are, are much likely to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs than those who aren't engaged in those activities. We also found that kids who have a lot of friends who are downloading pornography from the Internet are likely to smoke, drink and use drugs. Now, it's not a causation here.

KAGAN: Right. It's not saying like if you download porn, you're going to run out and smoke pot. That's not what you're saying.

CALIFANO: Right. But what we are saying is this is a signal to panes.

This says, look, if your kid is spending 25 hours or more a week with your -- her girlfriend or his boyfriend, if your kid is running in a crowd of a lot of sexually active kids, if your daughter's going out with somebody that's much older than she is, you better be looking for substance abuse, because there's a strong likelihood that there's some involved there.

KAGAN: So, basically, what you're saying, if you think your kid is in a bad crowd, your kid might be doing bad things. But maybe even worse things than you perhaps would have suspected.

CALIFANO: Exactly. The point -- the point is -- the point is that this kind of activity is a signal to parents that there may be drinking, getting drunk, using drugs. And that's very important.

Parents need these signals. I mean, just the way they need signals about high stress or a lot of boredom among their kids. And it's important because parents are the greatest influence on keeping kids out of this stuff. KAGAN: I thought one of the most impactful things that I read in your study was about access. When you ask kids, how quickly could you get your hands on buying pot, the kind of response you got to that?

CALIFANO: Well, we got 20 -- 21 percent of the kids said they can buy marijuana within an hour.

KAGAN: Amazing.

CALIFANO: Forty percent of America's 12 to 13-year-olds can get marijuana within a day. The other thing that's troubling, Daryn, is there's a deterioration in the situation for teenagers.

Significantly higher percentage of them, 29 percent, said drugs were their number one problem. And we saw big increases over last year in the number of teens who said that they have friends who regularly use drugs, who regularly drink and who regularly smoke.

KAGAN: OK. Bottom line, in our final seconds, message to parents, be aware, talk to your teenagers and what else?

CALIFANO: And have dinner with your kids. That's one of the greatest protective factors.

The more often parents have dinner with their kids, the less likely those kids are to smoke, drink and use drugs. And we're promoting something called Family Day on September 27, the fourth Monday in September, to remind parents to have dinner with their kids.

KAGAN: All right. You come back mid-September and we'll talk more about that. OK?

CALIFANO: Oh, we will. I'd love to. Thank you.

KAGAN: Something so simple, just have dinner with your kids. Joe Califano, always a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you.

CALIFANO: Thank you, Daryn. Nice to be with you.

KAGAN: We're going to talk politics just ahead. The swift boat scuffle. John Kerry goes on the attack. Kerry campaign adviser Max Cleland joining me straight ahead.

Plus, fit for a feline. A dining experience like you have never seen before when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Heavy rain in Mexico causing a dam to burst, sending a wall of water and mud into a small town. Reports say two people were killed and dozens of homes destroyed. The Army, police and Red Cross are scrambling to help flood victims.

Plenty of weather challenges right here in the U.S. Orelon Sidney is watching that for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: All right. Orelon, thank you.

Still more politics ahead. Courting the Latino vote. Why could this be the group which decides presidential election?

CNN LIVE TODAY is back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: I'm Daryn Kagan in New York City today. Let's check what's happening "Now in the News" for this Thursday, August 19.

Iraq's government is giving final notice to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his fighters: stand down at the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf or be forced out. Al-Sadr appeared to accept a peace deal yesterday, but today attached conditions. Fighting has raged in the city for two weeks.

Back here in the states, a news helicopter assigned to Florida station WINK, Wink, crashed today 60 miles east of Fort Myers in the Everglades. The pilot was the only person on board. He reported serious injuries by cell phone following the crash.

Speaking of Florida, crews there say all roads are to reopen today, six days after Hurricane Charley's devastating rampage. Twenty-two storm-related deaths are now reported. Power remains out to 390,000 customers in southwest Florida.

And an explosion ripped an underground natural gas storage facility outside of Houston today. Roads were closed and houses evacuated in a one-mile radius around the site.

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

Senator John Kerry is launching a two-front counterattack today in response to an ad challenging his record of valor in Vietnam. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is in Washington with the campaign headlines.

Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

After suggesting he would stay above the fray over his service record, Senator Kerry is personally fighting back. In Boston this morning, he says the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad falsely accuses him of lying about his war record. And he pointed a finger of blame squarely at President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything that you need to know: he wants them to do his dirty work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: The Kerry campaign also is ruling out a new ad featuring veteran Jim Rassmann, who says Kerry risked his own life to save his in Vietnam.

The White House has said President Bush deplores all soft money ads, but he has not specifically condemned the Swift Boat spot. The Bush campaign issued a statement a short while ago, saying "Kerry knows his statements today are false."

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