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CNN Live Saturday
New Bill Limiting Overtime Takes Effect Monday; Iraq Soccer Team Advances To Semifinal In Olympics: Anti-smoking Campaign In Utah Catches Heat
Aired August 21, 2004 - 16:00 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.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: An anti smoking campaign in Utah originally endorsed by all groups hits a snag. Is it too gay, too violent? Answers coming up.
And do you get paid overtime? Starting Monday you might not. And that's just one issue John Edwards hit on the campaign trail today.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
In 30 minutes, "DOLLAR SIGNS." Today, the other costs of college. You know about tuition and books, but what about those transportation costs, food, or the cost of being Greek? Call us at 1- 800-807-2620 or e-mail your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com. "DOLLAR SIGNS" starts in half an hour.
But first, here are the headlines.
A gymnastics controversy at the Olympics. American Paul Hamm keeps his gold medal in the mens all around final, but South Korea is challenging that decision. Three judges were suspended for a scoring mistake by the International Gymnastic Federation.
Several grenade explosions rock Bangladesh. It happened during an opposition party rally. Police say the former prime minister was the target. She escaped serious injury. Others were not so lucky. 18 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
And nine days later, Florida continues cleaning up after Hurricane Charley. The official death toll was now up to 25. And emergency officials say more than 241,000 residents are still without power. We'll have more on Charley in about 15 minutes. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
New overtime rules go into effect across the nation on Monday. And depending on your politics, it's either a great move for the economy or a terrible change for workers. The Democrats and some public policy groups say millions of American workers will lose the right to overtime pay under the new system.
Vice presidential candidate John Edwards offered the Democrat's position at a rally in Norfolk, Virginia. He said the new rules are nothing but a pay cut for those who can't afford it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's exactly what this is, is cutting - they're -- changing the overtime rules to eliminate people's overtime is a pay cut. We ought to raise the minimum wage in America. And we ought to get rid of these new overtime rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The new labor rules had been sought by business groups for decades. They say the changes will make life better for working Americans.
But as CNN'S Denise Belgrave reports, some of those potentially affected are not so sure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans work on average 49 hours a week. Many of them relying on overtime pay to help bridge the gap. Michelle Spheres-Sevy is someone of them, but she believes she's on the losing end of the government's new labor deal.
MICHELLE SPEARS-SEVY, REGISTERED NURSE: Most of us don't mind working some overtime from time to time. A little extra Christmas money or downpayment on braces. But to do it without the overtime pay would, in my opinion, be unreasonable.
BELGRAVE: Spheres-Sevy is a registered nurse. And she's concerned that her position could fall into the category of professional. That would mean she's ineligible to get paid for those extra hours. And she believes her industry will be among the hardest hit. And she's not alone.
RICHARD TRUMKA, AFL-CIO: The changes that they're about to make will hurt people. 6 million people roughly will lose overtime. Nurses are among those.
BELGRAVE: But the Department of Labor says that 1.3 million workers will now gain overtime rights and that the rules don't necessarily mean nurses will lose the extra cash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, we've got a big nursing shortage in this country. And so, I would think that even if it were the case that some nurses moved into a salaried position, their employers are very likely to pay them overtime.
BELGRAVE: Georgia Nurse's Association president Linda Easterly doesn't buy it.
LINDA EASTERLY, GEORGIA NURSES ASSN.: Unfortunately in the time crunches we are with healthcare costs increasing every day and facilities having to look at cutting costs in any way, shape, form they can to make ends meet, one of the areas they always are looking at are employee costs, what it costs them to have those nurses or any other healthcare worker in the facility providing patient care.
And long-term, these are -- there are enough loopholes in this law that will allow the facilities to be more creative than they've ever been before, particularly when you're looking at the overtime.
BELGRAVE: Spheres-Sevy says she's not clear on the finer points of the new rules. And figuring out who falls into which category is enough to make her reach for the aspirin.
(on camera): This ream of paper is 500 sheets. And the new Fair Labor and Standards Act is approximately 500 pages long. So it's not surprising that employers and employees alike are uncertain about what this all means for the future.
Denise Belgrave, CNN, Americus, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Much of the Bush and Kerry campaign messages were overshadowed this week by the controversy over a pair of Republican attack ads. The ads call into question John Kerry's Vietnam service. And independent fact checking group's analysis points of serious inaccuracies in the ads, while the Kerry campaign says they are deliberately misleading. Even as the Kerry campaign was calling on President Bush to disavow the first ad, the political group that issued the first one put out another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They have personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The accusations that John Kerry made against the veterans who served in Vietnam was just devastating.
KERRY: Randomly shot at civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it hurt me more than any physical wounds I had.
KERRY: Cut off limbs, blown up bodies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was part of the torture was to sign a statement that you committed war crimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In response, the Kerry campaign has now released its own ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I'm John Kerry and I approve this message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people attacking John Kerry's war record are funded by Bush's big money supporters. Listen to someone who was there, the man whose life John Kerry saved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They blew me off the boat. All these Vietcong were shooting at me. I expected I'd be shot when he pulled me out of the river. He risked his life to save mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Late Friday, the Kerry campaign filed a legal complaint over the ads with the Federal Election Commission. They say that the Bush campaign is involved in an illegally coordinated effort with the Swift Boat group.
So where does President Bush stand in all of this controversy? Republican Senator John Mccain has called the first ad "dishonest and dishonorable." But the president and his campaign have been mostly silent so far.
CNN's Jill Dougherty is traveling with the president. She joins us live from Crawford, Texas -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredericka, first, I have to tell you, that this controversy just within the past hour, there have been three developments -- a statement by John Edwards, an Internet ad, and a statement by the Bush campaign. So the story is not going away.
And of course, the controversy in those ads is the allegation that John Kerry, back in Vietnam, lied in order to get his medals. And now, some support coming out for John Kerry from a Navy Swift Boat commander who served with Kerry and was there during that mission back in 1969. And his name is William Rood. He's an editor with "The Chicago Tribune."
And he's broken 35 years of silence and saying in an article, "the critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merits of what others did, but their version of events has splashed out on all of us. It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there."
Again, that's William Rood, who is with "The Chicago Tribune" and served back in Vietnam at the same time with Kerry.
Now meanwhile, the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards issued a statement today. He's trying to turn the tables on President Bush and saying it's a moment of truth for the president that he should renounce those ads and as he put it, "step up to the plate, don't talk through a spokesman, and take down those ads." Kind of reminds you of President Reagan, doesn't it?
Then the Bush campaign fired back. They weren't taking the bait. They said what we're seeing from the Kerry campaign is false and flailing attacks. And then they said again the president has been the object himself of $63 million in attack ads and that the president wants all of the ads stopped - Fredericka?
DOUGHERTY: All right, Jill Dougherty in Crawford, Texas. Thanks so much.
Paycheck politics are certainly on then minds of the two men running for president as well. The state of the economy can make or break a campaign. Kathleen Hays takes a look at how things are shaping up this year.
And paycheck politics are certainly on the minds of the two men running for president as well. The state of the economy can make or break a campaign.
CNN Financial News Kathleen Hays takes a look at how things are shaping up this year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Living paycheck to paycheck or living high on the hog? A national divide so crucial to the outcome of this year's presidential election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was making more money, it would be much better for me. I'm squeezed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pay just isn't enough with everything else going up also.
HAYS: Wages are barely keeping up with inflation, growing on average at a mere 2.5 percent rate in the first two quarters of this year. That's the worst showing since the early '80s, a performance some say could help John Kerry win the White House.
PETER ORSZAG, SR. FELLOW BROOKINGS INST.: The fact that wages and salaries are so sluggish, and again, the smallest share of the economy since 1929 is reflected in the fact that people do not think that President Bush is doing a good job stewarding the economy.
HAYS: But wages are just part of family income. People also make money on stock market investments or if they sell their house for a tidy profit.
(on camera): And when taxes are cut, that also puts more money in people's pockets, good jobs, good investments and the benefits of recent tax cuts. These folks may be more likely to vote for President Bush.
WILLIAM BEACH, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: The really good news for George Bush is this election cycle is that disposable personal income is growing in excess of 2.5 percent. And no president running for re- election has ever failed to win re-election when disposable income was growing at or above 2.5 percent.
HAYS: And then there are some people who may not be swayed for either candidate by fatter incomes or skinnier paychecks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think the president has a whole lot to do with the economics anyway.
HAYS: Kathleen Hays, CNN Financial News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, the conflict in Iraqi is one of the reasons oil prices are continuing to rise. Friday, the benchmark futures price of crude oil broke through the $49 a barrel mark for the first time ever before closing at just under $48.
Joining me now from Washington is CNNfn's Ali Velshi. And Ali, everybody wants to know how much this is going to cost them once they start heating their homes this winter.
ALI VELSHI, CNNFN CORRESPONDENT: And that's the point. Right now, we think of transportation. We think of cars as the big driver, because nobody drives cars as much as Americans do. And that's what happens. This is hitting people in their pocketbooks when they go and fill up a gallon of gas -- a tank of gas.
But according to AAA, the average car has a 15 gallon tank. And really, compared to one year ago today, it's a 12 percent increase in the price of gas. That's about $3 per fill, not the kind of thing that necessarily makes you change your way of spending.
Now think about your home heating oil. By winter, if we are still seeing this kind of oil, the increase in heating your home could be $300 or $350 more for the average home. That is going to hit people where it counts. And here's what one expert had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BEUTEL, OIL ANALYST: Well, they're already paying more for gasoline. As heating oil customers start to get their bills for this coming winter, they're going to find they'll be paying anything from $350 to potentially as much as $600 more for the heating season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And that, Fredericka is going to make some decisions about how to spend your money. If enough Americans cut back, they stop spending, the companies that sell them goods stop spending. Maybe they start laying people off. And then there's more people out there who are not spending. And that's what triggers all of this talk about an oil recession.
Here's a fact, Fredericka. In the last 50 years, every time oil has had a severe spike, it's been followed by a recession. So economists are actually kind of worried about this.
WHITFIELD: And if the crude oil price per barrel seems to be fluctuating and nearing that $50 mark, how soon then, over the next few weeks or months might we start seeing it translating, you know, in the pumps at the gas stations?
VELSHI: Yes, well usually, there's a little bit of lag. The issue here is that of all the dangers we talked about, the output from Iraq, the fact that China uses more oil, and that there's doubtful things going on in Russia with their oil producers, there's an element of the price of oil that is speculative. It's just traders who are making money on this, thinking that there'll be more uncertainty. So it's hard to tell. There are a bunch of things coming together to cause oil to be this expensive. We're going to have to watch this over the next month or so and see whether it pulls back a little bit. If it's still there by wintertime and it's a cold winter, Fredericka, it's really going to be tough on Americans.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ali Velshi, thanks very much from Washington.
Post Charley, eight days later, we'll have a live report from Punta Gorda, as Florida tries to move beyond the devastation. And from books to food, it all adds up. Coming up in about 15 minutes, "DOLLAR SIGNS," planning and paying for all those little college extras. Just e-mail your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com. Or call us at 1-800-807-2620. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Just over a week ago, Hurricane Charley blew into Florida and destroyed more than 10,000 homes. The storm's death toll is now up to 25. Now residents of one town hard hit by Charley are waiting for their power to be restored and insurance to pay off.
Sara Dorsey reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darlene Bills refuses to leave her massively damaged home in Punta Gorda, Florida. Tents serve as her shelter for the night, her cold shower the only relief from the brutal heat during the day.
DARLENE BILLS, PUNTA GORDA RESIDENT: It ain't livable but it's standing up. You can go in and take a shower, you could use the commode, it flushes.
DORSEY: Her family, like thousands of others in Florida, is still without power. The water in many areas, undrinkable. FEMA inspectors roam neighborhoods in the hardest hit areas of the state, trying to estimate the damage. 60,000 people have already registered for assistance.
JAMES CAMPBELL, HURRICANE VICTIM: From one of these trees, landed right there, poked a hole down through the roof in there and right into the bathroom.
DORSEY: In Port Charlotte, James Campbell is still working on his insurance company. In the meantime, his damaged home and lack of air-conditioning have forced him to leave for now until power can be restored.
CAMPBELL: I can't stay here. I can't afford to buy a generator. It's either the generator or the chain saw. DORSEY: Keeping in good spirits isn't always easy, but volunteers are on hand to help. Distribution centers are set up and teams take to the streets to make sure no one is overlooked.
Bills says she couldn't make it without the extra help.
BILLS: There is money coming in. So whatever I gather, I'll just put towards a place for my kids and my mom.
DORSEY: A tale of two lives damaged, but not broken by the furry of Hurricane Charley.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: The devastation here really does speak for itself. Some places likes the one behind me have not yet been touched. Others are starting to pick up a little bit and get on with their lives, start the cleanup process.
It's going to take a while, just from looking at things. Right now, there's still no power in this area. People like this family from southern Florida have come into town. They've brought hamburgers and hot dogs, not only for the people that were affected by the hurricane, but also for the folks that are in town to help out with the cleanup.
Things really are attempting to get back to normal. But of course, we are still very far from that.
One thing that is getting back is the hospital. It opened on Friday. They're not doing major care at this point. No operating room, but they are treating a lot of sun, heat exposure. They're doing a lot of cuts and scrapes from people digging through the debris. It's going to be something that's also going to take a couple more weeks before they can get exactly up to the level that they would like to be at.
But they are very, very happy to be open now. And the staff there tells me that they are very excited to be out - be able to reach out to this community that needs them so much right now - Fredericka?
WHITFIELD: And Sara, you talk about the families right behind you, who are volunteering and helping out one another. Who financed that? Them?
DORSEY: Yes. They financed it themselves. We've seen a lot of that. It's strangers helping strangers out here. Another family I spoke with had a few donations of good, things like baby products, food items. But most of it, they fund themselves if they can't get enough donations. This family certainly did that.
WHITFIELD: That's so nice and so generous. Sara Dorsey, thanks so much.
Well, the hurricane also separated hundreds of pets from their owners. Animal disaster specialists have had to rescue everything from cobras to parrots. Well, some pets have been sent to shelters in nearby counties. Others had been sent pretty far away, like in New York. 50 cats rescued from the storm arrived at their new temporary home on Friday.
Checking news across American now, health officials in Ohio are trying to determine if there's a link between a popular island getaway and more than 500 people who got sick. Most people say they felt sick two or three days after visiting Lake Erie, St. Bass Island.
Police in Tampa, Florida say they conducted the city's largest drug bust with 52 arrests on Monday. Among those arrested, the suspected drug kingpin who allegedly delivered more half a billion dollars worth of crack cocaine to street dealers every month.
Authorities say the drugs were shipped from Honduras to Jamaica, taken to New Orleans aboard a cruise ship, and then driven to Tampa.
Monday night, baseball is in limbo for the Chicago Cubs. The city of Chicago has hired an independent company to inspect repairs made a few years ago at the 90-year-old ballpark. The city has threatened to cancel Monday's game with the Brewers if they aren't satisfied that the field is safe.
It is the stuff the Olympics is made of. The story of a determined underdog tasting victory, the Iraqi soccer team beat Australia 1-0, to reach the semi-finals of the mens tournament. The teams' jubilation was matched by supporters from Baghdad to Greece. These sports fans celebrated the Iraqi win at a local bar in Athens.
And Mark Mckay joins us live from Athens with more on the games - Mark?
MARY MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I sure do. Hello again, Fredericka. We start in the swimming pool. Michael Phelps, all eyes of the United States and Baltimore, in particular, on this young man, as he was cheering on from the stands Saturday night in Athens after giving up his spot on the 100 meter butterfly. That is, he won gold in the 100 meter butterfly, I should say. Then gave up his spot on the relay time, the final event for the United States. And you know, they didn't need Michael Phelps tonight, as they won it in world record time. Germany taking the silver to pan the bronze.
Now since Phelps helped the team reached the final, he earns a gold medal, completing his collection here in Athens. Six golds, two bronze, the American equaling the record for most medals at Olympic games. A nice consolation prize after falling short of his original goal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKAY (voice-over): Athens conjures up images of ancient mythology and Greek heroes. But for the first week of the Olympic games, Michael Phelps made the world focus on more recent history. The American teenager set out to surpass Mark Spitz' record, seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics. But the quest to catch one of swimming's gods proved just unreachable. MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. SWIM TEAM: I swam in the water and trained every single day to prepare for this. And you know, I prepare as best as I could. And how I swam here is the best way that I could swim.
MCKAY: Phelps got off to a quick start winning the U.S. team's first gold medal on day one of the games. But his quest for Olympic immortality became history on day two, when the men's four by 100 relay team took a disappointing bronze.
PHELPS: I wanted to come in here. I wanted to win one gold medal. And I did it the first night. So you know, from then on out, I was just here - I was here to have fun and I was here to swim and I was here to represent my country as best I could. And you know, I feel that I've done that in this past week.
MCKAY: With Phelps just 19 years old, his legend is still in the making. Spitz was 22 when he accomplished the feat. Phelps said he can't imagine his chances in Beijing four years from now, but he also couldn't imagine being this good this fast four years ago.
PHELPS: I've been gearing up for this for the past four years. And it's good to look back on it. And excuse me, right now, I'm seven medals ahead where I was four years ago. So I can't complain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKAY: No, he can't complain at all, Fredericka. It's going to be a happy homecoming as Phelps returns to the United States with a good medal hall from here.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. He's got the serious lion's share. I know his colleague, Ian Crocker, is so grateful that he was willing to give up that final, you know, leg in that relay so that he could be able to share in the winnings as well.
Mark Mckay...
MCKAY: Very much so. Yes, you're right, Fredericka. It is quite a story, and one that's not over yet. Watch for him in Beijing in four years time.
WHITFIELD: We'll all be watching. All right, Mark McKay, thanks so much, from Athens.
An anti-smoking campaign in Utah may be catching on, but it's also catching a little heat. The story straight ahead.
And coming up at 4:30 Eastern time, 1:30 Pacific, room and board, books, and don't forgot the food. All those little extras add up when you're paying for college. E-mail your questions to "DOLLAR SIGNS" at cnn.com or call us at 1-800-807-2620. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: "DOLLAR SIGNS" is about to start. Don't forgot to e- mail your questions at "dollarsigns"@CNN.com or call us at 1-800-807- 2620.
Gunfire and explosions punctuated the already tense atmosphere in Najaf today, raising fears that a plan for handing over the sacred Imam Ali Mosque could collapse.
Our Matthew Chance is on the telephone joining us from Najaf with more details - Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE: Fredericka, thank you. And there's been a lot of confusion over the course about -- whether the military offensive operations are going to continue or not. They've been off and then on again. It seems at the moment, they're on with a big military operation in Najaf, currently underway, although we understand from military officials here in Najaf, U.S. military officials that this is not a big offensive to take the mosque. It's merely targeting known Medhi strongholds in the city.
At the same time, diplomatic efforts have been continuing to try and bring this long running stand-off to some kind of peaceful conclusion. Much of those efforts have been focused around the high Shi'ia religious authority in Najaf, the grand Ayatollah Sistani and his representatives.
They've been negotiating with the representatives of Muqtada al- Sadr, the radical Shi'ia cleric at the center of this uprising to get the keys of the Imam Ali mosque. When they get those keys, they say they're going to lock them up.
So that very crucial and contentious area of battle will be sealed off to both the U.S. forces and the Mehdi army fights, who have been battling in the streets for several weeks now.
At the moment, the Medhi army supporters at least seem to be still in control of the mosque. We had a CNN camera inside the mosque today. And we saw many hundreds of people - women and children amongst them, all of them unarmed, but it seems that that in itself will make any raid on the mosque that much more difficult, because U.S. officials say civilians are being used as human shields to protect the Mehdi army fighters they say are still inside the mosque from any U.S. and Iraqi assaults - Fredericka?
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance in Najaf. Thanks so much.
Well, quitting smoking is tough enough, but for young gays and lesbians in Utah, it may get even harder. CNN's Miguel Marquez looks at one anti-smoking program that may be going up in smoke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Queers Kick Ash -- it's a homegrown anti-smoking PR campaign for Utah's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community, or at least it was.
TAMI MARQUARDT, INTERIM DIRECTOR, GLBT: For eight months, they reimbursed everything that we sent in and even made comments that said, you know, good job. MARQUEZ: "They" is Utah's Department of Health. The program was funded by tobacco suit settlement funds. The health department says 50 groups received a share of $7 million, but only Queers Kick Ash targeted gays.
MARQUARDT: They said that Queers Kick Ash -- that the kick ash... "kick" was violent and "ash" was a double entendre.
MARQUEZ: With a $100,000 yearly grant, the group developed a Web site and had Queers Kick Ash emblazoned on everything from t-shirts to glow sticks, then held non-smoking events and meetings for young gays and lesbians. The problem started, says Marquardt, when students started wearing the t-shirts to school.
MARQUARDT: Two students were asked to take their shirts off or turn them inside out... that they had a negative message.
MARQUEZ: The state contends the anti-tobacco message was being overshadowed by unrelated advocacy activity. In a statement, the state says the project used sexually related messages and provocative language. The problem, says Marquardt, is the state never complained before, and now it won't define what all those terms mean.
MARQUARDT: We were willing to re-craft our message to whatever, you know, still would be acceptable. But the message is we're not acceptable, and our kids are not acceptable, and it hurts. It really hurts.
MARQUEZ (on-camera): Neither Utah's Department of Health nor the governor's office had any comment, other than to say that their written statements say everything they mean to say about Queers Kick Ash. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Straight ahead on DOLLAR SIGNS, paying for all of those college extras -- books, food, you name it. Send your questions to us at DollarSigns@CNN.com, or call us at 1-800-807-2620. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 21, 2004 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: An anti smoking campaign in Utah originally endorsed by all groups hits a snag. Is it too gay, too violent? Answers coming up.
And do you get paid overtime? Starting Monday you might not. And that's just one issue John Edwards hit on the campaign trail today.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
In 30 minutes, "DOLLAR SIGNS." Today, the other costs of college. You know about tuition and books, but what about those transportation costs, food, or the cost of being Greek? Call us at 1- 800-807-2620 or e-mail your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com. "DOLLAR SIGNS" starts in half an hour.
But first, here are the headlines.
A gymnastics controversy at the Olympics. American Paul Hamm keeps his gold medal in the mens all around final, but South Korea is challenging that decision. Three judges were suspended for a scoring mistake by the International Gymnastic Federation.
Several grenade explosions rock Bangladesh. It happened during an opposition party rally. Police say the former prime minister was the target. She escaped serious injury. Others were not so lucky. 18 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
And nine days later, Florida continues cleaning up after Hurricane Charley. The official death toll was now up to 25. And emergency officials say more than 241,000 residents are still without power. We'll have more on Charley in about 15 minutes. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
New overtime rules go into effect across the nation on Monday. And depending on your politics, it's either a great move for the economy or a terrible change for workers. The Democrats and some public policy groups say millions of American workers will lose the right to overtime pay under the new system.
Vice presidential candidate John Edwards offered the Democrat's position at a rally in Norfolk, Virginia. He said the new rules are nothing but a pay cut for those who can't afford it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's exactly what this is, is cutting - they're -- changing the overtime rules to eliminate people's overtime is a pay cut. We ought to raise the minimum wage in America. And we ought to get rid of these new overtime rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The new labor rules had been sought by business groups for decades. They say the changes will make life better for working Americans.
But as CNN'S Denise Belgrave reports, some of those potentially affected are not so sure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans work on average 49 hours a week. Many of them relying on overtime pay to help bridge the gap. Michelle Spheres-Sevy is someone of them, but she believes she's on the losing end of the government's new labor deal.
MICHELLE SPEARS-SEVY, REGISTERED NURSE: Most of us don't mind working some overtime from time to time. A little extra Christmas money or downpayment on braces. But to do it without the overtime pay would, in my opinion, be unreasonable.
BELGRAVE: Spheres-Sevy is a registered nurse. And she's concerned that her position could fall into the category of professional. That would mean she's ineligible to get paid for those extra hours. And she believes her industry will be among the hardest hit. And she's not alone.
RICHARD TRUMKA, AFL-CIO: The changes that they're about to make will hurt people. 6 million people roughly will lose overtime. Nurses are among those.
BELGRAVE: But the Department of Labor says that 1.3 million workers will now gain overtime rights and that the rules don't necessarily mean nurses will lose the extra cash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, we've got a big nursing shortage in this country. And so, I would think that even if it were the case that some nurses moved into a salaried position, their employers are very likely to pay them overtime.
BELGRAVE: Georgia Nurse's Association president Linda Easterly doesn't buy it.
LINDA EASTERLY, GEORGIA NURSES ASSN.: Unfortunately in the time crunches we are with healthcare costs increasing every day and facilities having to look at cutting costs in any way, shape, form they can to make ends meet, one of the areas they always are looking at are employee costs, what it costs them to have those nurses or any other healthcare worker in the facility providing patient care.
And long-term, these are -- there are enough loopholes in this law that will allow the facilities to be more creative than they've ever been before, particularly when you're looking at the overtime.
BELGRAVE: Spheres-Sevy says she's not clear on the finer points of the new rules. And figuring out who falls into which category is enough to make her reach for the aspirin.
(on camera): This ream of paper is 500 sheets. And the new Fair Labor and Standards Act is approximately 500 pages long. So it's not surprising that employers and employees alike are uncertain about what this all means for the future.
Denise Belgrave, CNN, Americus, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Much of the Bush and Kerry campaign messages were overshadowed this week by the controversy over a pair of Republican attack ads. The ads call into question John Kerry's Vietnam service. And independent fact checking group's analysis points of serious inaccuracies in the ads, while the Kerry campaign says they are deliberately misleading. Even as the Kerry campaign was calling on President Bush to disavow the first ad, the political group that issued the first one put out another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They have personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The accusations that John Kerry made against the veterans who served in Vietnam was just devastating.
KERRY: Randomly shot at civilians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it hurt me more than any physical wounds I had.
KERRY: Cut off limbs, blown up bodies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was part of the torture was to sign a statement that you committed war crimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In response, the Kerry campaign has now released its own ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I'm John Kerry and I approve this message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people attacking John Kerry's war record are funded by Bush's big money supporters. Listen to someone who was there, the man whose life John Kerry saved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They blew me off the boat. All these Vietcong were shooting at me. I expected I'd be shot when he pulled me out of the river. He risked his life to save mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Late Friday, the Kerry campaign filed a legal complaint over the ads with the Federal Election Commission. They say that the Bush campaign is involved in an illegally coordinated effort with the Swift Boat group.
So where does President Bush stand in all of this controversy? Republican Senator John Mccain has called the first ad "dishonest and dishonorable." But the president and his campaign have been mostly silent so far.
CNN's Jill Dougherty is traveling with the president. She joins us live from Crawford, Texas -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredericka, first, I have to tell you, that this controversy just within the past hour, there have been three developments -- a statement by John Edwards, an Internet ad, and a statement by the Bush campaign. So the story is not going away.
And of course, the controversy in those ads is the allegation that John Kerry, back in Vietnam, lied in order to get his medals. And now, some support coming out for John Kerry from a Navy Swift Boat commander who served with Kerry and was there during that mission back in 1969. And his name is William Rood. He's an editor with "The Chicago Tribune."
And he's broken 35 years of silence and saying in an article, "the critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merits of what others did, but their version of events has splashed out on all of us. It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there."
Again, that's William Rood, who is with "The Chicago Tribune" and served back in Vietnam at the same time with Kerry.
Now meanwhile, the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards issued a statement today. He's trying to turn the tables on President Bush and saying it's a moment of truth for the president that he should renounce those ads and as he put it, "step up to the plate, don't talk through a spokesman, and take down those ads." Kind of reminds you of President Reagan, doesn't it?
Then the Bush campaign fired back. They weren't taking the bait. They said what we're seeing from the Kerry campaign is false and flailing attacks. And then they said again the president has been the object himself of $63 million in attack ads and that the president wants all of the ads stopped - Fredericka?
DOUGHERTY: All right, Jill Dougherty in Crawford, Texas. Thanks so much.
Paycheck politics are certainly on then minds of the two men running for president as well. The state of the economy can make or break a campaign. Kathleen Hays takes a look at how things are shaping up this year.
And paycheck politics are certainly on the minds of the two men running for president as well. The state of the economy can make or break a campaign.
CNN Financial News Kathleen Hays takes a look at how things are shaping up this year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Living paycheck to paycheck or living high on the hog? A national divide so crucial to the outcome of this year's presidential election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I was making more money, it would be much better for me. I'm squeezed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pay just isn't enough with everything else going up also.
HAYS: Wages are barely keeping up with inflation, growing on average at a mere 2.5 percent rate in the first two quarters of this year. That's the worst showing since the early '80s, a performance some say could help John Kerry win the White House.
PETER ORSZAG, SR. FELLOW BROOKINGS INST.: The fact that wages and salaries are so sluggish, and again, the smallest share of the economy since 1929 is reflected in the fact that people do not think that President Bush is doing a good job stewarding the economy.
HAYS: But wages are just part of family income. People also make money on stock market investments or if they sell their house for a tidy profit.
(on camera): And when taxes are cut, that also puts more money in people's pockets, good jobs, good investments and the benefits of recent tax cuts. These folks may be more likely to vote for President Bush.
WILLIAM BEACH, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: The really good news for George Bush is this election cycle is that disposable personal income is growing in excess of 2.5 percent. And no president running for re- election has ever failed to win re-election when disposable income was growing at or above 2.5 percent.
HAYS: And then there are some people who may not be swayed for either candidate by fatter incomes or skinnier paychecks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think the president has a whole lot to do with the economics anyway.
HAYS: Kathleen Hays, CNN Financial News, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, the conflict in Iraqi is one of the reasons oil prices are continuing to rise. Friday, the benchmark futures price of crude oil broke through the $49 a barrel mark for the first time ever before closing at just under $48.
Joining me now from Washington is CNNfn's Ali Velshi. And Ali, everybody wants to know how much this is going to cost them once they start heating their homes this winter.
ALI VELSHI, CNNFN CORRESPONDENT: And that's the point. Right now, we think of transportation. We think of cars as the big driver, because nobody drives cars as much as Americans do. And that's what happens. This is hitting people in their pocketbooks when they go and fill up a gallon of gas -- a tank of gas.
But according to AAA, the average car has a 15 gallon tank. And really, compared to one year ago today, it's a 12 percent increase in the price of gas. That's about $3 per fill, not the kind of thing that necessarily makes you change your way of spending.
Now think about your home heating oil. By winter, if we are still seeing this kind of oil, the increase in heating your home could be $300 or $350 more for the average home. That is going to hit people where it counts. And here's what one expert had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BEUTEL, OIL ANALYST: Well, they're already paying more for gasoline. As heating oil customers start to get their bills for this coming winter, they're going to find they'll be paying anything from $350 to potentially as much as $600 more for the heating season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And that, Fredericka is going to make some decisions about how to spend your money. If enough Americans cut back, they stop spending, the companies that sell them goods stop spending. Maybe they start laying people off. And then there's more people out there who are not spending. And that's what triggers all of this talk about an oil recession.
Here's a fact, Fredericka. In the last 50 years, every time oil has had a severe spike, it's been followed by a recession. So economists are actually kind of worried about this.
WHITFIELD: And if the crude oil price per barrel seems to be fluctuating and nearing that $50 mark, how soon then, over the next few weeks or months might we start seeing it translating, you know, in the pumps at the gas stations?
VELSHI: Yes, well usually, there's a little bit of lag. The issue here is that of all the dangers we talked about, the output from Iraq, the fact that China uses more oil, and that there's doubtful things going on in Russia with their oil producers, there's an element of the price of oil that is speculative. It's just traders who are making money on this, thinking that there'll be more uncertainty. So it's hard to tell. There are a bunch of things coming together to cause oil to be this expensive. We're going to have to watch this over the next month or so and see whether it pulls back a little bit. If it's still there by wintertime and it's a cold winter, Fredericka, it's really going to be tough on Americans.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ali Velshi, thanks very much from Washington.
Post Charley, eight days later, we'll have a live report from Punta Gorda, as Florida tries to move beyond the devastation. And from books to food, it all adds up. Coming up in about 15 minutes, "DOLLAR SIGNS," planning and paying for all those little college extras. Just e-mail your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com. Or call us at 1-800-807-2620. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Just over a week ago, Hurricane Charley blew into Florida and destroyed more than 10,000 homes. The storm's death toll is now up to 25. Now residents of one town hard hit by Charley are waiting for their power to be restored and insurance to pay off.
Sara Dorsey reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darlene Bills refuses to leave her massively damaged home in Punta Gorda, Florida. Tents serve as her shelter for the night, her cold shower the only relief from the brutal heat during the day.
DARLENE BILLS, PUNTA GORDA RESIDENT: It ain't livable but it's standing up. You can go in and take a shower, you could use the commode, it flushes.
DORSEY: Her family, like thousands of others in Florida, is still without power. The water in many areas, undrinkable. FEMA inspectors roam neighborhoods in the hardest hit areas of the state, trying to estimate the damage. 60,000 people have already registered for assistance.
JAMES CAMPBELL, HURRICANE VICTIM: From one of these trees, landed right there, poked a hole down through the roof in there and right into the bathroom.
DORSEY: In Port Charlotte, James Campbell is still working on his insurance company. In the meantime, his damaged home and lack of air-conditioning have forced him to leave for now until power can be restored.
CAMPBELL: I can't stay here. I can't afford to buy a generator. It's either the generator or the chain saw. DORSEY: Keeping in good spirits isn't always easy, but volunteers are on hand to help. Distribution centers are set up and teams take to the streets to make sure no one is overlooked.
Bills says she couldn't make it without the extra help.
BILLS: There is money coming in. So whatever I gather, I'll just put towards a place for my kids and my mom.
DORSEY: A tale of two lives damaged, but not broken by the furry of Hurricane Charley.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: The devastation here really does speak for itself. Some places likes the one behind me have not yet been touched. Others are starting to pick up a little bit and get on with their lives, start the cleanup process.
It's going to take a while, just from looking at things. Right now, there's still no power in this area. People like this family from southern Florida have come into town. They've brought hamburgers and hot dogs, not only for the people that were affected by the hurricane, but also for the folks that are in town to help out with the cleanup.
Things really are attempting to get back to normal. But of course, we are still very far from that.
One thing that is getting back is the hospital. It opened on Friday. They're not doing major care at this point. No operating room, but they are treating a lot of sun, heat exposure. They're doing a lot of cuts and scrapes from people digging through the debris. It's going to be something that's also going to take a couple more weeks before they can get exactly up to the level that they would like to be at.
But they are very, very happy to be open now. And the staff there tells me that they are very excited to be out - be able to reach out to this community that needs them so much right now - Fredericka?
WHITFIELD: And Sara, you talk about the families right behind you, who are volunteering and helping out one another. Who financed that? Them?
DORSEY: Yes. They financed it themselves. We've seen a lot of that. It's strangers helping strangers out here. Another family I spoke with had a few donations of good, things like baby products, food items. But most of it, they fund themselves if they can't get enough donations. This family certainly did that.
WHITFIELD: That's so nice and so generous. Sara Dorsey, thanks so much.
Well, the hurricane also separated hundreds of pets from their owners. Animal disaster specialists have had to rescue everything from cobras to parrots. Well, some pets have been sent to shelters in nearby counties. Others had been sent pretty far away, like in New York. 50 cats rescued from the storm arrived at their new temporary home on Friday.
Checking news across American now, health officials in Ohio are trying to determine if there's a link between a popular island getaway and more than 500 people who got sick. Most people say they felt sick two or three days after visiting Lake Erie, St. Bass Island.
Police in Tampa, Florida say they conducted the city's largest drug bust with 52 arrests on Monday. Among those arrested, the suspected drug kingpin who allegedly delivered more half a billion dollars worth of crack cocaine to street dealers every month.
Authorities say the drugs were shipped from Honduras to Jamaica, taken to New Orleans aboard a cruise ship, and then driven to Tampa.
Monday night, baseball is in limbo for the Chicago Cubs. The city of Chicago has hired an independent company to inspect repairs made a few years ago at the 90-year-old ballpark. The city has threatened to cancel Monday's game with the Brewers if they aren't satisfied that the field is safe.
It is the stuff the Olympics is made of. The story of a determined underdog tasting victory, the Iraqi soccer team beat Australia 1-0, to reach the semi-finals of the mens tournament. The teams' jubilation was matched by supporters from Baghdad to Greece. These sports fans celebrated the Iraqi win at a local bar in Athens.
And Mark Mckay joins us live from Athens with more on the games - Mark?
MARY MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I sure do. Hello again, Fredericka. We start in the swimming pool. Michael Phelps, all eyes of the United States and Baltimore, in particular, on this young man, as he was cheering on from the stands Saturday night in Athens after giving up his spot on the 100 meter butterfly. That is, he won gold in the 100 meter butterfly, I should say. Then gave up his spot on the relay time, the final event for the United States. And you know, they didn't need Michael Phelps tonight, as they won it in world record time. Germany taking the silver to pan the bronze.
Now since Phelps helped the team reached the final, he earns a gold medal, completing his collection here in Athens. Six golds, two bronze, the American equaling the record for most medals at Olympic games. A nice consolation prize after falling short of his original goal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKAY (voice-over): Athens conjures up images of ancient mythology and Greek heroes. But for the first week of the Olympic games, Michael Phelps made the world focus on more recent history. The American teenager set out to surpass Mark Spitz' record, seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics. But the quest to catch one of swimming's gods proved just unreachable. MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. SWIM TEAM: I swam in the water and trained every single day to prepare for this. And you know, I prepare as best as I could. And how I swam here is the best way that I could swim.
MCKAY: Phelps got off to a quick start winning the U.S. team's first gold medal on day one of the games. But his quest for Olympic immortality became history on day two, when the men's four by 100 relay team took a disappointing bronze.
PHELPS: I wanted to come in here. I wanted to win one gold medal. And I did it the first night. So you know, from then on out, I was just here - I was here to have fun and I was here to swim and I was here to represent my country as best I could. And you know, I feel that I've done that in this past week.
MCKAY: With Phelps just 19 years old, his legend is still in the making. Spitz was 22 when he accomplished the feat. Phelps said he can't imagine his chances in Beijing four years from now, but he also couldn't imagine being this good this fast four years ago.
PHELPS: I've been gearing up for this for the past four years. And it's good to look back on it. And excuse me, right now, I'm seven medals ahead where I was four years ago. So I can't complain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKAY: No, he can't complain at all, Fredericka. It's going to be a happy homecoming as Phelps returns to the United States with a good medal hall from here.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. He's got the serious lion's share. I know his colleague, Ian Crocker, is so grateful that he was willing to give up that final, you know, leg in that relay so that he could be able to share in the winnings as well.
Mark Mckay...
MCKAY: Very much so. Yes, you're right, Fredericka. It is quite a story, and one that's not over yet. Watch for him in Beijing in four years time.
WHITFIELD: We'll all be watching. All right, Mark McKay, thanks so much, from Athens.
An anti-smoking campaign in Utah may be catching on, but it's also catching a little heat. The story straight ahead.
And coming up at 4:30 Eastern time, 1:30 Pacific, room and board, books, and don't forgot the food. All those little extras add up when you're paying for college. E-mail your questions to "DOLLAR SIGNS" at cnn.com or call us at 1-800-807-2620. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: "DOLLAR SIGNS" is about to start. Don't forgot to e- mail your questions at "dollarsigns"@CNN.com or call us at 1-800-807- 2620.
Gunfire and explosions punctuated the already tense atmosphere in Najaf today, raising fears that a plan for handing over the sacred Imam Ali Mosque could collapse.
Our Matthew Chance is on the telephone joining us from Najaf with more details - Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE: Fredericka, thank you. And there's been a lot of confusion over the course about -- whether the military offensive operations are going to continue or not. They've been off and then on again. It seems at the moment, they're on with a big military operation in Najaf, currently underway, although we understand from military officials here in Najaf, U.S. military officials that this is not a big offensive to take the mosque. It's merely targeting known Medhi strongholds in the city.
At the same time, diplomatic efforts have been continuing to try and bring this long running stand-off to some kind of peaceful conclusion. Much of those efforts have been focused around the high Shi'ia religious authority in Najaf, the grand Ayatollah Sistani and his representatives.
They've been negotiating with the representatives of Muqtada al- Sadr, the radical Shi'ia cleric at the center of this uprising to get the keys of the Imam Ali mosque. When they get those keys, they say they're going to lock them up.
So that very crucial and contentious area of battle will be sealed off to both the U.S. forces and the Mehdi army fights, who have been battling in the streets for several weeks now.
At the moment, the Medhi army supporters at least seem to be still in control of the mosque. We had a CNN camera inside the mosque today. And we saw many hundreds of people - women and children amongst them, all of them unarmed, but it seems that that in itself will make any raid on the mosque that much more difficult, because U.S. officials say civilians are being used as human shields to protect the Mehdi army fighters they say are still inside the mosque from any U.S. and Iraqi assaults - Fredericka?
WHITFIELD: Matthew Chance in Najaf. Thanks so much.
Well, quitting smoking is tough enough, but for young gays and lesbians in Utah, it may get even harder. CNN's Miguel Marquez looks at one anti-smoking program that may be going up in smoke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Queers Kick Ash -- it's a homegrown anti-smoking PR campaign for Utah's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community, or at least it was.
TAMI MARQUARDT, INTERIM DIRECTOR, GLBT: For eight months, they reimbursed everything that we sent in and even made comments that said, you know, good job. MARQUEZ: "They" is Utah's Department of Health. The program was funded by tobacco suit settlement funds. The health department says 50 groups received a share of $7 million, but only Queers Kick Ash targeted gays.
MARQUARDT: They said that Queers Kick Ash -- that the kick ash... "kick" was violent and "ash" was a double entendre.
MARQUEZ: With a $100,000 yearly grant, the group developed a Web site and had Queers Kick Ash emblazoned on everything from t-shirts to glow sticks, then held non-smoking events and meetings for young gays and lesbians. The problem started, says Marquardt, when students started wearing the t-shirts to school.
MARQUARDT: Two students were asked to take their shirts off or turn them inside out... that they had a negative message.
MARQUEZ: The state contends the anti-tobacco message was being overshadowed by unrelated advocacy activity. In a statement, the state says the project used sexually related messages and provocative language. The problem, says Marquardt, is the state never complained before, and now it won't define what all those terms mean.
MARQUARDT: We were willing to re-craft our message to whatever, you know, still would be acceptable. But the message is we're not acceptable, and our kids are not acceptable, and it hurts. It really hurts.
MARQUEZ (on-camera): Neither Utah's Department of Health nor the governor's office had any comment, other than to say that their written statements say everything they mean to say about Queers Kick Ash. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Straight ahead on DOLLAR SIGNS, paying for all of those college extras -- books, food, you name it. Send your questions to us at DollarSigns@CNN.com, or call us at 1-800-807-2620. We'll be right back.
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