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CNN Live Today
Sen. John Kerry speaks in Philadelphia; 10 Senators Calling on Bush to Criticize Attack Ad Groups;
Aired August 25, 2004 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go live to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here is Senator John Kerry.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today, the Schlesinger Report is coming out -- or yesterday, I guess -- about the Abu Ghraib Prison and the scandal of what has taken place in terms of America's -- some Americans. And I want to emphasize this, because 99 percent of every person in the Armed Forces is angry about and revulsed by this.
But there's a chain of command and there's a responsibility. And the Schlesinger Report is showing how there was a failure of that accountability and a failure of that chain of command. And in fact, the Fay Report -- which is coming out, I think, today -- also -- there's a bunch of reports coming out -- shows that those people in the military who were responsible ought to be punished. And it's going to actually recommend the punishment. Now, everybody understands that's normal.
But what is also normal -- because we are a country that runs on civilian leadership, what is also normal is that you have accountability that runs through the civilian command, and it is absolutely left out of those reports. It's absent. And for any person who has ever served in the military, we all know what chain of command means. We know what accountability and responsibility means.
And it's not just the little person at the bottom who ought to pay the price of responsibility. Harry Truman had that sign on the desk, and it said, "The buck stops here." The buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon. The buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon, but in this case, it doesn't just stop with any military personnel.
The Schlesinger Report said specifically that Secretary Rumsfeld set the climate within which these kinds of abuses were able to take place. And I believe very deeply -- I said this months ago, I think I said it over a year or more ago -- that the failures of judgment, the miscalculations, the failures of command, the miscalculation about the numbers of troops needed to win the peace, the miscalculation about not having a plan to win the peace, the miscalculation of sending troops over there without adequate armor, with Humvees that aren't armored, with parents who have to run an auction here in America to get state-of-the-art armor vests to send to their kids, the overextension of the National Guard and the overextention of our Reserves, the redeployments of people, the lack of responsibility for what has been one of the most severe miscalculations in any deployment of American forces in American history, I believe lands in the civilian responsibility.
And I called months ago for Secretary Rumsfeld to take that responsibility, for the president to take that responsibility, and again today, as I have previously, I call for the resignation of the secretary of defense for failure to do what he should have done.
And I also believe the president ought to establish a commission that evaluates thoroughly all of the chain of abuses that took place and why they took place, including the civilian side, the legal interpretations, the memoranda that were put out with respect to who was interpreting which law which way, who made what decisions about Geneva conventions -- all of those things which are important to America's value system and to our respect in the world.
I think he ought to appoint a commission, and that commission ought to report back so that these abuses can never take place again. That's leadership, and that's what ought to happen.
Now, let me also share with all of you, yesterday when I arrived in Philadelphia, I was able to reach one of the families -- I was not able to reach another. But I had a chance to talk to Charlene Taylor -- the widow of Captain John Taylor, who's being buried today -- and Rey Rubio, who will be, I think, interred tomorrow.
But there's a certain irony for me, because just a few days ago, I had the privilege of addressing the International Association of Firefighters in Boston. They were gathered for their annual convention. And I talked, in the course of my speech looking at each of these firefighters -- different ages, different backgrounds, but all serving their community.
And I might add, all of them, including every one of those heroes who went into those buildings in New York City and went up those stairs and gave those lives so that other people might be able to live.
All of them members of a labor union who believed in the right to organize and the right to bargain and the right to be able to do better in their life.
All of them, people who go out every single day to work. They kiss their kids goodbye and their family. And you never know. Alarm bell goes off. They answer the call for us, and you never know if they're going to return. They never know.
There's a great spirit, brotherhood and sisterhood, within it. It's a special spirit, and I think you all understand that.
So, today, we celebrate a hero who served for 32 years, kept on doing the job because he loved the job. And if that doesn't say something special about what builds community and what makes America great, I don't know. But every single one of us join today in saying how sad we are and how much of a loss it is, not just to those families, but to all of us, and how we celebrate all those who put their lives on the line for us to make America strong and to live up to our values. We love them. KAGAN: We've been listening in to Senator John Kerry. He's addressing a local steamfitters union in Philadelphia, making comments -- taking the opportunity to make comments about two reports, investigations coming out on the abuses and the situation at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. In light of the Fay and Schlesinger Reports, Senator Kerry saying that these are just further examples of the Bush administration's poor planning in the war in Iraq and post war.
He is calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign and calling for an independent commission to go and look into those abuses. Now, just for the record, James Schlesinger -- who is chairman of one of those investigations -- was asked himself does he think, as a result of his report, should the defense secretary resign? And he said no. He didn't think that was a proper move. That would send the wrong message, he said, to U.S. enemies.
With more on what's going on, on this topic, let's bring our senior political analyst Bill Schneider, who has been listening in in Washington, D.C. Bill, good morning.
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Listening in to John Kerry making some very strong statements there, calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. He has said that again. He said that in the past that he thinks Rumsfeld should resign over not just the abuses at Abu Ghraib -- which the investigating committee whose report was just issued did not call for. But he thinks he should resign, but not just because of the Abu Ghraib mess, but because of the miscalculations involved in the occupation of Iraq.
That essentially ever since May 1, 2003, the occupation of Iraq has gone in the wrong direction. The United States did not have, Kerry alleges -- accuses, really -- a plan for managing the country, a plan for peace. And therefore, he thinks the responsibility should go -- should not stop at the military commanders there, but go all the way to the civilian authorities in the Defense Department, right to the secretary of defense's door.
KAGAN: And what about this call for an independent commission? This on a day, when it's the second day in a row of a report coming out on the abuses at Abu Ghraib. What would an independent commission on top of everything else do?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the theory would be that it would have no ties to any branch of government. It would not be in the business of defending anyone in government. It would be totally independent.
The obvious allegation is that the current commission, the four- member commission, does have ties to the government. He wants an outside authority comparable to the 9/11 Commission. The 9/11 Commission is something of a model in this respect, because it was fully independent. The president at first resisted and then decided he couldn't really continue to resist. It had independent authority, had a lot of stature, and continues to wield power. That's a report that's not gathering dust on the shelves but is really mobilizing Congress and the administration into action on the intelligence front to try to reform the intelligence services.
That's really become the model for these kinds of investigations. And what Kerry is doing is calling for the same kind of independent investigation of the Abu Ghraib abuses and the larger miscalculations in the occupation of Iraq.
KAGAN: All right, Bill Schneider, in Washington D.C., thanks for listening in with us.
Let's go to Crawford, Texas, President Bush spending some time there. And our Jill Dougherty there with the Bush administration and their take on these Abu Ghraib reports.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, obviously everybody here has been watching that. They're very quick to react to what Senator Kerry says, and especially the campaign, obviously, is -- there's no reaction yet, because it just happened, but previously the White House and the campaign have said that these abuses should never be allowed to happen again, that the guilty should be punished, but they have never gone so far as to agree that the defense secretary should step down.
Now, as I said, we would expect very shortly to hear from the campaign, but that has been it. They would look more at the question of systemic issues. And so far the administration seems to feel that it was more some bad apples, and certainly, not going up the chain of command as far as Secretary Rumsfeld.
But as soon as we get some reaction, we'll be right back to you.
KAGAN: All right, well, meanwhile, a different issue. A visitor is supposed to show up there at ranch at Crawford, a well-known Democratic former senator. Can you tell us about that visit?
DOUGHERTY: Yes, in fact, Max Cleland, a former senator, you remember him. He is a very well-known disabled Vietnam War veteran, and you remember him also as a strong supporter of Senator John Kerry. He introduced him also at the convention. We are expecting him to come out here to Crawford, Texas and try to go over and hand-deliver a letter to President Bush.
And in that letter, he, along with nine other senators and some former senators, are calling on the president to criticize and -- to criticize these attack groups, the group that is have been funding the attack ads on Senator Kerry.
And I believe we have a graphic showing some of that letter. They're going to say, "Mr. President, as commander in chief of the Armed Forces, we believe you owe a special duty to America's combat veterans when under false and scurrilous attacks. We hope you recognize this duty and speak out against this group and their efforts to smear a man's reputation who served this country nobly."
Now President Bush has made it very clear that he does not believe the attack ads should be on the air. Specifically, he has not condemned by name the swift boat ads, but the other day he said that ad, and all of those ads, he wants them off the air.
Daryn, we don't know whether the former Senator Cleland will get in to meet the president or not.
KAGAN: All right, doesn't strike me as a place you just stop on by and come over for afternoon tea, but we'll see. You'll be there to tell us.
Jill Dougherty, thank you.
CNN will have live coverage of the release of the Fay Report. That news conference is scheduled to begin around 1:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN, BOUNTY HUNTER: People say, oh, you're a bounty hunter, dog. I say no, bro. I'm the bounty hunter, dog.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Oh, yes. Our next guest first came to fame with the arrest of a fugitive heir in a cosmetics fortune. Now, bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman has the spotlight focused on himself and his criminal-tracking family and friends. Their in the reality series called "Dog, the Bounty Hunter," premiering next week on the A&E Network.
Duane "Dog" Chapman joins me to preview his new show from New York City.
Good morning.
CHAPMAN: Good morning, Daryn. Aloha. How are you?
KAGAN: Aloha.
Do I call you dog, Mr. Dog? What do I -- what's the proper thing here.
CHAPMAN: "Dog" is fine.
KAGAN: OK, because I don't want to tick you off.
CHAPMAN: No, no. Thank you.
KAGAN: Dog is my friend.
CHAPMAN: Yes. Thank you very much.
KAGAN: You're welcome, sir.
I was doing a little background reading on you, Dog. And you're the kind of guy, or at least in your past, that you try to chase down now that you've kind of cleaned up your act.
CHAPMAN: Well, really, I'm the guy that your mother told you about, you know, not to go around. No.
KAGAN: You're the guy that my brother told me not to go out with?
CHAPMAN: Yes.
KAGAN: Yes, that'd probably be true.
(LAUGHTER)
CHAPMAN: No, I'm proud to be the world's greatest bounty hunter right now, so thank you very much.
KAGAN: You're welcome.
Now how do you -- what's the trick to bounty hunting? How do you get to be one of those?
CHAPMAN: Well, you got to, number one, want to do something right for America. Number two, you probably want to, you know, be good guy versus bad guy. And you got to have a lot of faith and a lot of patience.
KAGAN: And what kind of people are you tracking down on this show?
CHAPMAN: Well, we've got all felons, from murder to burglary to possession of drugs. I don't there's any misdemeanors. There's over 30-some people we bag and tag, as they call it, and put back in custody of the jails. Some are done in Hawaii, and some in the mainland.
KAGAN: And this isn't just you. This is you, your wife, and did I read right, you have 12 children?
CHAPMAN: Right now, all 12 of the kids are not on the show. But some of the older ones are, and my brother and, yes, my wife, Beth, and my youngest kids are my cheering section. So it is definitely a family affair.
KAGAN: And what was it like the night you came home and said, honey, I have a great idea, when you're trying to sell the idea of inviting cameras into the family?
CHAPMAN: Well, you know, we worked on this for nine or 10 years, so she was right there with me. And we had -- it was fantastic. A&E is a network with class, you know what I mean. And it was great to go home to tell her, honey, let's just go with A&E. And since we have -- we've made brothers and sisters. We've got a family right there. We feel very proud of the show. And it's a dream come true, Daryn. It's a dream come true.
KAGAN: On a serious note, though, crime fighting is a serious thing, and there are a lot of bad guys out there, about people who are concerned about vigilantism and that you could get in the way of normal law enforcement and the normal justice system, what do you say to those people?
CHAPMAN: Well, you know, you need to watch the show, because that's some of the reason we wanted to show, you know, after Andrew Luster and not getting paid, a couple of people said, oh, he's nothing but a vigilante.
KAGAN: Yes.
CHAPMAN: And so we said, you know what, let us show you what a vigilante really does, and let us show you the difference between a bounty hunter and vigilante. So we've done that with these shows. And I think that that word "vigilante" will be completely taken out of our definition very soon.
KAGAN: All right, we'll have to see for ourselves. Tell us, it's on A&E. You've got that plug in. When exactly can people see you and the family, Dog?
CHAPMAN: Yes, it is a Tuesday night, August 31st, at 10:00 Eastern, Pacific Time, again on A&E.
And I thank you guys much at CNN.
KAGAN: All right, you stay safe out there, Dog.
CHAPMAN: You, too. Thank you so much again.
KAGAN: Good luck with the show.
CHAPMAN: OK, God bless.
KAGAN: Yes, you can keep your eye on entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to cnn.com/entertainment. Among the highlights, you'll find there all the latest on movies, music, television and books.
We are back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Well, they say -- you've heard the saying, you shouldn't watch either laws or sausages being made. You might want to add ketchup to that list. This is the annual Tomatina Festival in the Valencia region of Spain, held the last Wednesday in August. About 120 tons of tomatoes get tossed during the two-hour brawl. Then they do hose off the whole mess. This tradition started in 1945 at an anti-Franco rally. Maybe it's good for the skin or something.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: What role will religion play in the presidential election? Coming up, a new poll looks at issues like gay marriage and stem cell research. The results might surprise you.
Plus, new evidence that soft drinks may be bad for your health. Well, there's some cutting-edge news. A warning for women in today's "Daily Dose."
A second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
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Aired August 25, 2004 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go live to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here is Senator John Kerry.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today, the Schlesinger Report is coming out -- or yesterday, I guess -- about the Abu Ghraib Prison and the scandal of what has taken place in terms of America's -- some Americans. And I want to emphasize this, because 99 percent of every person in the Armed Forces is angry about and revulsed by this.
But there's a chain of command and there's a responsibility. And the Schlesinger Report is showing how there was a failure of that accountability and a failure of that chain of command. And in fact, the Fay Report -- which is coming out, I think, today -- also -- there's a bunch of reports coming out -- shows that those people in the military who were responsible ought to be punished. And it's going to actually recommend the punishment. Now, everybody understands that's normal.
But what is also normal -- because we are a country that runs on civilian leadership, what is also normal is that you have accountability that runs through the civilian command, and it is absolutely left out of those reports. It's absent. And for any person who has ever served in the military, we all know what chain of command means. We know what accountability and responsibility means.
And it's not just the little person at the bottom who ought to pay the price of responsibility. Harry Truman had that sign on the desk, and it said, "The buck stops here." The buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon. The buck doesn't stop at the Pentagon, but in this case, it doesn't just stop with any military personnel.
The Schlesinger Report said specifically that Secretary Rumsfeld set the climate within which these kinds of abuses were able to take place. And I believe very deeply -- I said this months ago, I think I said it over a year or more ago -- that the failures of judgment, the miscalculations, the failures of command, the miscalculation about the numbers of troops needed to win the peace, the miscalculation about not having a plan to win the peace, the miscalculation of sending troops over there without adequate armor, with Humvees that aren't armored, with parents who have to run an auction here in America to get state-of-the-art armor vests to send to their kids, the overextension of the National Guard and the overextention of our Reserves, the redeployments of people, the lack of responsibility for what has been one of the most severe miscalculations in any deployment of American forces in American history, I believe lands in the civilian responsibility.
And I called months ago for Secretary Rumsfeld to take that responsibility, for the president to take that responsibility, and again today, as I have previously, I call for the resignation of the secretary of defense for failure to do what he should have done.
And I also believe the president ought to establish a commission that evaluates thoroughly all of the chain of abuses that took place and why they took place, including the civilian side, the legal interpretations, the memoranda that were put out with respect to who was interpreting which law which way, who made what decisions about Geneva conventions -- all of those things which are important to America's value system and to our respect in the world.
I think he ought to appoint a commission, and that commission ought to report back so that these abuses can never take place again. That's leadership, and that's what ought to happen.
Now, let me also share with all of you, yesterday when I arrived in Philadelphia, I was able to reach one of the families -- I was not able to reach another. But I had a chance to talk to Charlene Taylor -- the widow of Captain John Taylor, who's being buried today -- and Rey Rubio, who will be, I think, interred tomorrow.
But there's a certain irony for me, because just a few days ago, I had the privilege of addressing the International Association of Firefighters in Boston. They were gathered for their annual convention. And I talked, in the course of my speech looking at each of these firefighters -- different ages, different backgrounds, but all serving their community.
And I might add, all of them, including every one of those heroes who went into those buildings in New York City and went up those stairs and gave those lives so that other people might be able to live.
All of them members of a labor union who believed in the right to organize and the right to bargain and the right to be able to do better in their life.
All of them, people who go out every single day to work. They kiss their kids goodbye and their family. And you never know. Alarm bell goes off. They answer the call for us, and you never know if they're going to return. They never know.
There's a great spirit, brotherhood and sisterhood, within it. It's a special spirit, and I think you all understand that.
So, today, we celebrate a hero who served for 32 years, kept on doing the job because he loved the job. And if that doesn't say something special about what builds community and what makes America great, I don't know. But every single one of us join today in saying how sad we are and how much of a loss it is, not just to those families, but to all of us, and how we celebrate all those who put their lives on the line for us to make America strong and to live up to our values. We love them. KAGAN: We've been listening in to Senator John Kerry. He's addressing a local steamfitters union in Philadelphia, making comments -- taking the opportunity to make comments about two reports, investigations coming out on the abuses and the situation at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. In light of the Fay and Schlesinger Reports, Senator Kerry saying that these are just further examples of the Bush administration's poor planning in the war in Iraq and post war.
He is calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign and calling for an independent commission to go and look into those abuses. Now, just for the record, James Schlesinger -- who is chairman of one of those investigations -- was asked himself does he think, as a result of his report, should the defense secretary resign? And he said no. He didn't think that was a proper move. That would send the wrong message, he said, to U.S. enemies.
With more on what's going on, on this topic, let's bring our senior political analyst Bill Schneider, who has been listening in in Washington, D.C. Bill, good morning.
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Daryn.
KAGAN: Listening in to John Kerry making some very strong statements there, calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. He has said that again. He said that in the past that he thinks Rumsfeld should resign over not just the abuses at Abu Ghraib -- which the investigating committee whose report was just issued did not call for. But he thinks he should resign, but not just because of the Abu Ghraib mess, but because of the miscalculations involved in the occupation of Iraq.
That essentially ever since May 1, 2003, the occupation of Iraq has gone in the wrong direction. The United States did not have, Kerry alleges -- accuses, really -- a plan for managing the country, a plan for peace. And therefore, he thinks the responsibility should go -- should not stop at the military commanders there, but go all the way to the civilian authorities in the Defense Department, right to the secretary of defense's door.
KAGAN: And what about this call for an independent commission? This on a day, when it's the second day in a row of a report coming out on the abuses at Abu Ghraib. What would an independent commission on top of everything else do?
SCHNEIDER: Well, the theory would be that it would have no ties to any branch of government. It would not be in the business of defending anyone in government. It would be totally independent.
The obvious allegation is that the current commission, the four- member commission, does have ties to the government. He wants an outside authority comparable to the 9/11 Commission. The 9/11 Commission is something of a model in this respect, because it was fully independent. The president at first resisted and then decided he couldn't really continue to resist. It had independent authority, had a lot of stature, and continues to wield power. That's a report that's not gathering dust on the shelves but is really mobilizing Congress and the administration into action on the intelligence front to try to reform the intelligence services.
That's really become the model for these kinds of investigations. And what Kerry is doing is calling for the same kind of independent investigation of the Abu Ghraib abuses and the larger miscalculations in the occupation of Iraq.
KAGAN: All right, Bill Schneider, in Washington D.C., thanks for listening in with us.
Let's go to Crawford, Texas, President Bush spending some time there. And our Jill Dougherty there with the Bush administration and their take on these Abu Ghraib reports.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, obviously everybody here has been watching that. They're very quick to react to what Senator Kerry says, and especially the campaign, obviously, is -- there's no reaction yet, because it just happened, but previously the White House and the campaign have said that these abuses should never be allowed to happen again, that the guilty should be punished, but they have never gone so far as to agree that the defense secretary should step down.
Now, as I said, we would expect very shortly to hear from the campaign, but that has been it. They would look more at the question of systemic issues. And so far the administration seems to feel that it was more some bad apples, and certainly, not going up the chain of command as far as Secretary Rumsfeld.
But as soon as we get some reaction, we'll be right back to you.
KAGAN: All right, well, meanwhile, a different issue. A visitor is supposed to show up there at ranch at Crawford, a well-known Democratic former senator. Can you tell us about that visit?
DOUGHERTY: Yes, in fact, Max Cleland, a former senator, you remember him. He is a very well-known disabled Vietnam War veteran, and you remember him also as a strong supporter of Senator John Kerry. He introduced him also at the convention. We are expecting him to come out here to Crawford, Texas and try to go over and hand-deliver a letter to President Bush.
And in that letter, he, along with nine other senators and some former senators, are calling on the president to criticize and -- to criticize these attack groups, the group that is have been funding the attack ads on Senator Kerry.
And I believe we have a graphic showing some of that letter. They're going to say, "Mr. President, as commander in chief of the Armed Forces, we believe you owe a special duty to America's combat veterans when under false and scurrilous attacks. We hope you recognize this duty and speak out against this group and their efforts to smear a man's reputation who served this country nobly."
Now President Bush has made it very clear that he does not believe the attack ads should be on the air. Specifically, he has not condemned by name the swift boat ads, but the other day he said that ad, and all of those ads, he wants them off the air.
Daryn, we don't know whether the former Senator Cleland will get in to meet the president or not.
KAGAN: All right, doesn't strike me as a place you just stop on by and come over for afternoon tea, but we'll see. You'll be there to tell us.
Jill Dougherty, thank you.
CNN will have live coverage of the release of the Fay Report. That news conference is scheduled to begin around 1:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUANE "DOG" CHAPMAN, BOUNTY HUNTER: People say, oh, you're a bounty hunter, dog. I say no, bro. I'm the bounty hunter, dog.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Oh, yes. Our next guest first came to fame with the arrest of a fugitive heir in a cosmetics fortune. Now, bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman has the spotlight focused on himself and his criminal-tracking family and friends. Their in the reality series called "Dog, the Bounty Hunter," premiering next week on the A&E Network.
Duane "Dog" Chapman joins me to preview his new show from New York City.
Good morning.
CHAPMAN: Good morning, Daryn. Aloha. How are you?
KAGAN: Aloha.
Do I call you dog, Mr. Dog? What do I -- what's the proper thing here.
CHAPMAN: "Dog" is fine.
KAGAN: OK, because I don't want to tick you off.
CHAPMAN: No, no. Thank you.
KAGAN: Dog is my friend.
CHAPMAN: Yes. Thank you very much.
KAGAN: You're welcome, sir.
I was doing a little background reading on you, Dog. And you're the kind of guy, or at least in your past, that you try to chase down now that you've kind of cleaned up your act.
CHAPMAN: Well, really, I'm the guy that your mother told you about, you know, not to go around. No.
KAGAN: You're the guy that my brother told me not to go out with?
CHAPMAN: Yes.
KAGAN: Yes, that'd probably be true.
(LAUGHTER)
CHAPMAN: No, I'm proud to be the world's greatest bounty hunter right now, so thank you very much.
KAGAN: You're welcome.
Now how do you -- what's the trick to bounty hunting? How do you get to be one of those?
CHAPMAN: Well, you got to, number one, want to do something right for America. Number two, you probably want to, you know, be good guy versus bad guy. And you got to have a lot of faith and a lot of patience.
KAGAN: And what kind of people are you tracking down on this show?
CHAPMAN: Well, we've got all felons, from murder to burglary to possession of drugs. I don't there's any misdemeanors. There's over 30-some people we bag and tag, as they call it, and put back in custody of the jails. Some are done in Hawaii, and some in the mainland.
KAGAN: And this isn't just you. This is you, your wife, and did I read right, you have 12 children?
CHAPMAN: Right now, all 12 of the kids are not on the show. But some of the older ones are, and my brother and, yes, my wife, Beth, and my youngest kids are my cheering section. So it is definitely a family affair.
KAGAN: And what was it like the night you came home and said, honey, I have a great idea, when you're trying to sell the idea of inviting cameras into the family?
CHAPMAN: Well, you know, we worked on this for nine or 10 years, so she was right there with me. And we had -- it was fantastic. A&E is a network with class, you know what I mean. And it was great to go home to tell her, honey, let's just go with A&E. And since we have -- we've made brothers and sisters. We've got a family right there. We feel very proud of the show. And it's a dream come true, Daryn. It's a dream come true.
KAGAN: On a serious note, though, crime fighting is a serious thing, and there are a lot of bad guys out there, about people who are concerned about vigilantism and that you could get in the way of normal law enforcement and the normal justice system, what do you say to those people?
CHAPMAN: Well, you know, you need to watch the show, because that's some of the reason we wanted to show, you know, after Andrew Luster and not getting paid, a couple of people said, oh, he's nothing but a vigilante.
KAGAN: Yes.
CHAPMAN: And so we said, you know what, let us show you what a vigilante really does, and let us show you the difference between a bounty hunter and vigilante. So we've done that with these shows. And I think that that word "vigilante" will be completely taken out of our definition very soon.
KAGAN: All right, we'll have to see for ourselves. Tell us, it's on A&E. You've got that plug in. When exactly can people see you and the family, Dog?
CHAPMAN: Yes, it is a Tuesday night, August 31st, at 10:00 Eastern, Pacific Time, again on A&E.
And I thank you guys much at CNN.
KAGAN: All right, you stay safe out there, Dog.
CHAPMAN: You, too. Thank you so much again.
KAGAN: Good luck with the show.
CHAPMAN: OK, God bless.
KAGAN: Yes, you can keep your eye on entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to cnn.com/entertainment. Among the highlights, you'll find there all the latest on movies, music, television and books.
We are back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Well, they say -- you've heard the saying, you shouldn't watch either laws or sausages being made. You might want to add ketchup to that list. This is the annual Tomatina Festival in the Valencia region of Spain, held the last Wednesday in August. About 120 tons of tomatoes get tossed during the two-hour brawl. Then they do hose off the whole mess. This tradition started in 1945 at an anti-Franco rally. Maybe it's good for the skin or something.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: What role will religion play in the presidential election? Coming up, a new poll looks at issues like gay marriage and stem cell research. The results might surprise you.
Plus, new evidence that soft drinks may be bad for your health. Well, there's some cutting-edge news. A warning for women in today's "Daily Dose."
A second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
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