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American Morning

Controversy Over Bush's Speech to U.N. General Assembly; Interview with Delaware Senator Joseph Biden

Aired September 21, 2004 - 08:00   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Is President Bush entering hostile territory speaking this morning to the U.N. General Assembly? And what can he say to get other countries to join the U.S. in Iraq?
An American in Iraq is murdered by his captors. This morning, a community remembers a friend and prays for other hostages.

And will a discredited story on CBS damage the Kerry campaign? Republicans demanding Kerry come clean on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

COLLINS: Good morning, everyone.

I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Bill Hemmer.

Some of the other stories making news at this hour.

And coming up in this hour, look at how much is riding on the president's speech today at the U.N. We'll talk to Democratic Senator Joe Biden about that and find out why he says the president is living in wonderland when it comes to the U.N.

We'll get to that.

COLLINS: Also, a debate schedule has been settled, but do secret agreements between the presidential candidates make the whole thing useless? We'll talk to the leader of a group trying to reform the debates and find out what's going on behind-the-scenes that you might not know about.

HEMMER: Love some of these highlights, too.

COLLINS: I know.

HEMMER: No shot from behind, no cutaway shots to the candidates when they're not answering a question.

COLLINS: They get to hire their own makeup artists, too, each one of them.

HEMMER: They get their own makeup person. I think two are at a podium, one is on a stool. So, they've worked it all out now, coming up soon -- hey, Jack, what's up?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up in "The Cafferty File," we were going to discuss some of the peculiarities of the debate rules between the presidential candidates. But that item has now been scratched from the agenda.

The rest of "The File" is fairly mediocre, actually. We have pictures of the smallest dog in the world. It's an ugly little thing that my producer, Casey Fisher, insisted that we run. I didn't want to put this on the air, but she threatened to quite if we didn't use it so that's...

HEMMER: Yes, you've got to keep her.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: Somebody's got to work with you.

CAFFERTY: And that, and the debate stuff you were just talking about.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: And that's about it.

So, we may just skip "The File" today and go on to something else...

COLLINS: No.

CAFFERTY: ... because it's really not worth the time or effort.

COLLINS: No. We want to see the ugly little dog, for sure.

All right, thanks so much, Jack Cafferty.

Appreciate it.

We want to check on the stories now in the news with Kelly Wallace once again this morning -- good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Heidi.

And good morning, everyone.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami says his country is using its nuclear energy for peaceful means. Khatami's announcement this morning coincides with new reports that Iran has begun converting large amounts of raw uranium into gas for enrichment. The process can be used to make nuclear weapons. The action defies an order from the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

In Iraq, U.S. troops say they are detaining some potentially valuable suspects. An Iraqi official says American and Iraqi security forces arrested several aides of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The suspects were taken into custody just hours ago during a raid on the Imam Ali Mosque, the site of a weeks long stand-off between insurgents and U.S. troops.

Opening statements in a $280 billion tobacco lawsuit begin this morning. The largest U.S. cigarette makers are meeting federal lawyers in court after five years of legal wrangling. The government is accusing the industry of civil racketeering. If the judge agrees, the payment would be the biggest in U.S. history.

And an Amber Alert issued this morning in Florida. Police are searching for a 12-year-old girl believed to have run off with a registered sex offender. Officials say the two may have traveled by bus to Atlanta some time over the weekend.

That's a quick check of the headlines.

Back to you -- Heidi and Bill.

Scary news out of Florida.

COLLINS: No kidding. Hopefully that will work. It's worked in the past, so hopefully this time too.

WALLACE: It sure has.

COLLINS: All right, Kelly Wallace, thanks so much.

President Bush will address the U.N. General Assembly just over two hours from now, trying to convince the world his way was the right way for Iraq.

Richard Roth is live at the U.N. this morning with the very latest.

Richard -- good morning to you.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Sixty-six heads of state, 28 heads of government, but there's a real elephant in that General Assembly chamber and it's called Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United States and United Nations offer proof good relationships need a lot of work. The U.N. took this jab from the U.S. vice president at the Republican convention.

DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry began his political career by saying he would like to see our troops deployed only at the directive of the United Nations.

ROTH: Some of the ill will over the war in Iraq resurfaced just last week when U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told the BBC the invasion was against international law.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council and with the U.N. charter.

QUESTION: It was illegal?

ANNAN: Yes, if you wish.

ROTH: That set off another round of recriminations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While we respect his views, I think we've also made clear before that we don't agree.

ROTH: But after giving up on the U.N. before the war, the U.S. now needs the global organization, especially in Iraq.

JOHN DANFORTH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The U.N. participation is very important. Right now because of the security situation, the U.N. is not as robustly present as all of us would like.

ROTH: So far, no other government has agreed to send troops to protect U.N. workers in Iraq. But there is cooperation between the Bush administration and its allies on a host of other issues. The U.S. and friends teamed up on a resolution to demand Syria remove its troops from Lebanon. There's also been cooperation on Sudan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH (on camera): President Bush expected to tell the world that it was right to go in to remove a dictator on behalf of democracy. Kofi Annan is going to stress the rule of law to the General Assembly. One of his top aides saying Annan wants the world's citizens to be protected. "Why is it that people don't respect the rules?"

Little difference in style and attack here at the U.N. here on display today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, that's for sure.

All right, Richard Roth, thanks so much for that.

Delaware Senator Joe Biden is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

He is with us this morning from Wilmington to talk more about the president's diplomatic offensive at the U.N. and the war of words on the campaign trail.

Senator Biden, good morning to you.

Thanks for coming on AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: I want to ask you, over the weekend you actually said that the administration's stance when it comes to the United Nations is "like wonderland."

What did you mean by that?

BIDEN: Well, I wasn't just referring to the United Nations. I was referring to the characterization of the situation on the ground in Iraq. And Dick Lugar was on that program with me, along with other leading Republicans this weekend, and we all know the situation on the ground is not the way the president is painting the picture. And so, I was referring to this notion that, you know, it's kind of like that old calypso song, you know, don't worry, be happy.

We can win. We must win the peace in Iraq. But we must not stay the course, we must change the course. And it's not just Joe Biden the Democrat saying that or John Kerry, the presidential candidate. It's leading Republicans and everyone who's basically informed.

COLLINS: All right, well, let's listen for one moment to something that John Kerry said yesterday on this very same issue, Iraq.

Listen for one minute and I'll get to you on the back side here.

BIDEN: Sure.

OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush has not told the truth to the American people about why we went to war and how the war is going. I have and I will continue to do so. I believe the invasion of Iraq has made us less secure and weaker in the war on terrorism. I have a plan to fight a smarter, more effective war on terror that actually makes America safer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: As I'm sure you know, Kerry laid out the four point plan for Iraq. And one of those proposals talking about getting more international help in Iraq. But some analysts are saying, you know, that's easier said than done. In fact, take a look at this from Anthony Cordesman. He's working at the Center for Strategic & International Security.

He said: "The reality is that whoever is president, we're not going to get other countries to play a major role in the ongoing insurgency."

What are the chances, Senator Biden, that Kerry can actually mobilize the international community?

BIDEN: As John Kerry said in this speech, they dim every day as a consequence of the wrong decisions being made by this administration. They were real a year and a half ago. They were available a year ago. They're less available now.

Tony Cordesman is a first rate guy. He has a blistering criticism of the president's position in Iraq and he is right. As a consequence of these awesome failures in strategy on the part of the civilians in this administration, no one wants to get involved. But even...

COLLINS: But what will Senator Kerry do?

BIDEN: Well, what Senator Kerry will do is exactly what he said. For example, he would make sure that we were fundamentally have a training program and equipping the Iraqi military. The secretary of defense said we've trained 210,000 people. And then he said no, it's 95,000 people. In fact, it's nowhere near that.

He would, in fact, instead of at the U.N. talking about whether we should or shouldn't have gone into Iraq, be in there saying to the U.N. Security Council, you voted for a resolution several months ago committing force to protect the U.N. so the General Assembly could send in -- so the secretary general could send in people to set up the election. Now it's time to do it.

He should be talking -- I mean, look, the irony here is that the president has misled. He has miscalculated and he's mismanaged.

COLLINS: All right, Senator Biden, let me go ahead and get a quote also from President Bush here and get your comment on the back side of this, as well.

Listen in for one moment.

BIDEN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Incredibly, he now believes our national security would be stronger with Saddam Hussein in power, not in prison. Today he said, and I quote, "We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure."

He's saying he prefers the stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy. I couldn't disagree more and not so long ago, so did my opponent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: President Bush says John Kerry is twisting in the wind, that he actually has a habit of doing that.

Your thoughts?

BIDEN: What the president is doing is twisting John Kerry's words. John Kerry said that Saddam Hussein should be in prison, should be in hell, for that matter. John Kerry said that as a consequence of the way the president went about dealing with this issue has made us less secure.

Had we gone the way that not just I said, or John Kerry said, but I said, that Dick Lugar and many other professionals said, we would be in a much better position. Saddam Hussein would be gone. We would not be alone.

COLLINS: All right...

BIDEN: There would not be this continued playing here. All I ask you to ask the administration next time, one fact that John Kerry mentioned, is it incorrect? Are there 95,000 people trained? Have we only spent 5 percent in rebuilding Iraq of the $18 billion we gave them 10 months ago? And the list goes on.

COLLINS: All right, Senator Joe Biden, we certainly appreciate your time so much this morning.

BIDEN: Thank you very much.

COLLINS: All right.

And CNN will have special coverage of the president's U.N. address today. It's happening at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, 7:30 a.m. Pacific.

HEMMER: About 10 minutes now past the hour.

American hostage Eugene Armstrong apparently has been executed in Iraq. Armstrong was kidnapped last week from his residence in west Baghdad along with another American and a British hostage. A video posted on an Islamic Web site shows a hostage being beheaded by captors believed to be linked to the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The hostage takers gave a new 24 hour deadline, saying other hostages will be killed if Muslim women are not released from Iraqi prisons. American officials have said they are not holding any women in prisons in Iraq -- Heidi.

COLLINS: United Nations aide workers are reporting at least 500 Haitians are dead due to tropical storm Jeanne.

Here's a look at the massive flooding in the northwestern town of Gonaives. And workers say they are still collecting bodies. Jeanne dumped up to 13 inches of rain on Haiti. The storm regained hurricane status yesterday, but it is now moving back out into the Atlantic Ocean, posing no threat to land.

Boy, I was looking at these numbers this morning, just unbelievable -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

Yes, there is a spine right along Hispaniola. It's what we call the high spot. It's from the Dominican Republic right through Haiti, all that rain rained at about 13,000 feet and then ran right down the mountains. Mudslides, floods, obviously this area completely devastated in some areas, you can just see.

And I mean, you know, a lot of these structures are not the strongest structures in the first place. I mean, realize that it is Haiti. And as the stuff comes washing down, these houses have absolutely no chance of surviving. And a lot of folks just were not prepared for flooding like this. Obviously, some of the canals seeing the water coming down.

Here is Jeanne. It did make its track over Puerto Rico. There were fatalities there; also in the Dominican Republic, and then over Haiti. Then it made a big right-hand turn over the Turks and Caicos. And now it's up here. And as you said, Heidi, it's actually turning back out to sea.

Now, the official Hurricane Center forecast has it making a loop and heading back toward North Carolina. But I'll tell you what, I've seen all kinds of computer models on this thing. They are all over the place. There are just no steering currents out there whatsoever.

Now for this storm, Karl, it's making a beeline to the north. That's great news. And then this little blob right there, that's Lisa. Lisa actually going to the west, of a little bit of concern to me, simply because the steering currents down a little bit farther south do bring that storm a little bit closer to the U.S.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, it turns out the most popular seafood in America may pose a risk for cancer. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" on that. He tells us what we need to know in a moment.

COLLINS: Also ahead, the violence is escalating as the clock ticks down to Iraqi elections. But the U.S. may turn to a long time adversary to get a handle on the crisis.

HEMMER: Also, CBS and Dan Rather say they are sorry about the Bush document scandal. Now there are questions about a possible connection to the Kerry campaign.

Still to come this hour.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Dan Rather says he's sorry. CBS says it made a mistake. And the source of questionable documents supposed to be from President Bush's commander in the National Guard now admits he lied about where he got those documents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BURKETT, TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD (RET.): Well, I didn't totally mislead you, I did mislead you on the one individual. You know, your staff pressured me to a point to reveal that source.

DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Well, we were trying to get the chain of possession.

BURKETT: I understand that.

RATHER: And you said you had received them from someone.

BURKETT: I understand that.

RATHER: And we did pressure you to say well, you received them from someone and that someone was whom.

BURKETT: Yes.

RATHER: And it's true, we pressured you because it was a very important point for us.

BURKETT: Yes. And I simply threw out a name that was basically, it was, I guess, to get a little pressure off for a moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The controversy doesn't end there. CBS also admits to putting the partisan Burkett in touch with the Kerry campaign. Adviser Joe Lockhart, who just joined Kerry's camp about two weeks ago, says a CBS producer called him with the former National Guard officer's phone number. Lockhart says he spoke with Burkett, but not about the documents. That story continues.

COLLINS: And part of Jack's Question of the Day, you say.

CAFFERTY: Indeed.

The questions in that CBS News story about President Bush's Guard service, to a degree, remain unanswered, and that's kind of what we're looking at. The documents may have been phony. Everybody's apologized. But what about the story itself? And was there any validity to some of the questions raised, such as why didn't he show up for that physical that he was supposed to take and why can't anybody vouch for his whereabouts during portions of his service in the Alabama Guard unit? And did anybody use their influence to get him in the Guard in the first place?

The White House says he served, he was honorably discharged, end of story.

We're asking what questions should the president answer, if any, about his National Guard service.

Aimee in New Jersey writes: "I don't care about what happened 20 years ago in Bush's past or Kerry's past, either. I pay $700 a month for health insurance on a nurse's salary. I'm trying to support four children and my husband's aging parents' medication costs. Let's try to have our leaders talk about these issues."

There's a good idea.

Rex in Berkeley: "It may be irrelevant, but think back to what the Republicans said about Bill Clinton. It doesn't matter that this is a personal peccadillo, some shady, tawdry, juicy or so salacious sexual hanky panky. It's the principle of the thing. Did he lie under oath? Well, did he? Isn't a pledge to the National Guard the same as swearing an oath legally?"

Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey: "The president highlighted his military service on his resume when he showboated in his flight suit. It should be just as simple for him to give approximate dates and units served with and back it up with the names of a couple of flier buddies."

Louise in White Plains, New York: "Jack, why complain about paying for your daughter's health insurance? This is just part of Bush's plan for everyone to have ownership of their lives -- your house, your business, your insurance, your choice of school, your retirement, including Social Security, your long-term care, etc. According to Mr. Bush, it should all be paid for by you."

I was whining at the top of the hour. I paid last year $400 a month for health insurance on a 22-year-old daughter of mine who is as healthy as a rock. Nothing wrong with her. $400 a month, five grand a year, because she was no longer a full-time student and therefore I couldn't include her under my group coverage that I get here at CNN. That's just flat out ridiculous. And there's a lot of people who don't have any insurance at all.

HEMMER: We're going to get some answers in the debate.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: Perhaps.

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.

HEMMER: That schedule is now set.

COLLINS: There's going to be three of them.

HEMMER: That's right.

In a moment here, we're going to talk about this. Does it matter, though? We'll talk to one man who says the two parties made secret agreements to make the debates useless.

Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 21, 2004 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Is President Bush entering hostile territory speaking this morning to the U.N. General Assembly? And what can he say to get other countries to join the U.S. in Iraq?
An American in Iraq is murdered by his captors. This morning, a community remembers a friend and prays for other hostages.

And will a discredited story on CBS damage the Kerry campaign? Republicans demanding Kerry come clean on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

COLLINS: Good morning, everyone.

I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Bill Hemmer.

Some of the other stories making news at this hour.

And coming up in this hour, look at how much is riding on the president's speech today at the U.N. We'll talk to Democratic Senator Joe Biden about that and find out why he says the president is living in wonderland when it comes to the U.N.

We'll get to that.

COLLINS: Also, a debate schedule has been settled, but do secret agreements between the presidential candidates make the whole thing useless? We'll talk to the leader of a group trying to reform the debates and find out what's going on behind-the-scenes that you might not know about.

HEMMER: Love some of these highlights, too.

COLLINS: I know.

HEMMER: No shot from behind, no cutaway shots to the candidates when they're not answering a question.

COLLINS: They get to hire their own makeup artists, too, each one of them.

HEMMER: They get their own makeup person. I think two are at a podium, one is on a stool. So, they've worked it all out now, coming up soon -- hey, Jack, what's up?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming up in "The Cafferty File," we were going to discuss some of the peculiarities of the debate rules between the presidential candidates. But that item has now been scratched from the agenda.

The rest of "The File" is fairly mediocre, actually. We have pictures of the smallest dog in the world. It's an ugly little thing that my producer, Casey Fisher, insisted that we run. I didn't want to put this on the air, but she threatened to quite if we didn't use it so that's...

HEMMER: Yes, you've got to keep her.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: Somebody's got to work with you.

CAFFERTY: And that, and the debate stuff you were just talking about.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: And that's about it.

So, we may just skip "The File" today and go on to something else...

COLLINS: No.

CAFFERTY: ... because it's really not worth the time or effort.

COLLINS: No. We want to see the ugly little dog, for sure.

All right, thanks so much, Jack Cafferty.

Appreciate it.

We want to check on the stories now in the news with Kelly Wallace once again this morning -- good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Heidi.

And good morning, everyone.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami says his country is using its nuclear energy for peaceful means. Khatami's announcement this morning coincides with new reports that Iran has begun converting large amounts of raw uranium into gas for enrichment. The process can be used to make nuclear weapons. The action defies an order from the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

In Iraq, U.S. troops say they are detaining some potentially valuable suspects. An Iraqi official says American and Iraqi security forces arrested several aides of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The suspects were taken into custody just hours ago during a raid on the Imam Ali Mosque, the site of a weeks long stand-off between insurgents and U.S. troops.

Opening statements in a $280 billion tobacco lawsuit begin this morning. The largest U.S. cigarette makers are meeting federal lawyers in court after five years of legal wrangling. The government is accusing the industry of civil racketeering. If the judge agrees, the payment would be the biggest in U.S. history.

And an Amber Alert issued this morning in Florida. Police are searching for a 12-year-old girl believed to have run off with a registered sex offender. Officials say the two may have traveled by bus to Atlanta some time over the weekend.

That's a quick check of the headlines.

Back to you -- Heidi and Bill.

Scary news out of Florida.

COLLINS: No kidding. Hopefully that will work. It's worked in the past, so hopefully this time too.

WALLACE: It sure has.

COLLINS: All right, Kelly Wallace, thanks so much.

President Bush will address the U.N. General Assembly just over two hours from now, trying to convince the world his way was the right way for Iraq.

Richard Roth is live at the U.N. this morning with the very latest.

Richard -- good morning to you.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Sixty-six heads of state, 28 heads of government, but there's a real elephant in that General Assembly chamber and it's called Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United States and United Nations offer proof good relationships need a lot of work. The U.N. took this jab from the U.S. vice president at the Republican convention.

DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry began his political career by saying he would like to see our troops deployed only at the directive of the United Nations.

ROTH: Some of the ill will over the war in Iraq resurfaced just last week when U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan told the BBC the invasion was against international law.

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council and with the U.N. charter.

QUESTION: It was illegal?

ANNAN: Yes, if you wish.

ROTH: That set off another round of recriminations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While we respect his views, I think we've also made clear before that we don't agree.

ROTH: But after giving up on the U.N. before the war, the U.S. now needs the global organization, especially in Iraq.

JOHN DANFORTH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: The U.N. participation is very important. Right now because of the security situation, the U.N. is not as robustly present as all of us would like.

ROTH: So far, no other government has agreed to send troops to protect U.N. workers in Iraq. But there is cooperation between the Bush administration and its allies on a host of other issues. The U.S. and friends teamed up on a resolution to demand Syria remove its troops from Lebanon. There's also been cooperation on Sudan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH (on camera): President Bush expected to tell the world that it was right to go in to remove a dictator on behalf of democracy. Kofi Annan is going to stress the rule of law to the General Assembly. One of his top aides saying Annan wants the world's citizens to be protected. "Why is it that people don't respect the rules?"

Little difference in style and attack here at the U.N. here on display today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, that's for sure.

All right, Richard Roth, thanks so much for that.

Delaware Senator Joe Biden is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

He is with us this morning from Wilmington to talk more about the president's diplomatic offensive at the U.N. and the war of words on the campaign trail.

Senator Biden, good morning to you.

Thanks for coming on AMERICAN MORNING.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: I want to ask you, over the weekend you actually said that the administration's stance when it comes to the United Nations is "like wonderland."

What did you mean by that?

BIDEN: Well, I wasn't just referring to the United Nations. I was referring to the characterization of the situation on the ground in Iraq. And Dick Lugar was on that program with me, along with other leading Republicans this weekend, and we all know the situation on the ground is not the way the president is painting the picture. And so, I was referring to this notion that, you know, it's kind of like that old calypso song, you know, don't worry, be happy.

We can win. We must win the peace in Iraq. But we must not stay the course, we must change the course. And it's not just Joe Biden the Democrat saying that or John Kerry, the presidential candidate. It's leading Republicans and everyone who's basically informed.

COLLINS: All right, well, let's listen for one moment to something that John Kerry said yesterday on this very same issue, Iraq.

Listen for one minute and I'll get to you on the back side here.

BIDEN: Sure.

OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush has not told the truth to the American people about why we went to war and how the war is going. I have and I will continue to do so. I believe the invasion of Iraq has made us less secure and weaker in the war on terrorism. I have a plan to fight a smarter, more effective war on terror that actually makes America safer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: As I'm sure you know, Kerry laid out the four point plan for Iraq. And one of those proposals talking about getting more international help in Iraq. But some analysts are saying, you know, that's easier said than done. In fact, take a look at this from Anthony Cordesman. He's working at the Center for Strategic & International Security.

He said: "The reality is that whoever is president, we're not going to get other countries to play a major role in the ongoing insurgency."

What are the chances, Senator Biden, that Kerry can actually mobilize the international community?

BIDEN: As John Kerry said in this speech, they dim every day as a consequence of the wrong decisions being made by this administration. They were real a year and a half ago. They were available a year ago. They're less available now.

Tony Cordesman is a first rate guy. He has a blistering criticism of the president's position in Iraq and he is right. As a consequence of these awesome failures in strategy on the part of the civilians in this administration, no one wants to get involved. But even...

COLLINS: But what will Senator Kerry do?

BIDEN: Well, what Senator Kerry will do is exactly what he said. For example, he would make sure that we were fundamentally have a training program and equipping the Iraqi military. The secretary of defense said we've trained 210,000 people. And then he said no, it's 95,000 people. In fact, it's nowhere near that.

He would, in fact, instead of at the U.N. talking about whether we should or shouldn't have gone into Iraq, be in there saying to the U.N. Security Council, you voted for a resolution several months ago committing force to protect the U.N. so the General Assembly could send in -- so the secretary general could send in people to set up the election. Now it's time to do it.

He should be talking -- I mean, look, the irony here is that the president has misled. He has miscalculated and he's mismanaged.

COLLINS: All right, Senator Biden, let me go ahead and get a quote also from President Bush here and get your comment on the back side of this, as well.

Listen in for one moment.

BIDEN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Incredibly, he now believes our national security would be stronger with Saddam Hussein in power, not in prison. Today he said, and I quote, "We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure."

He's saying he prefers the stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy. I couldn't disagree more and not so long ago, so did my opponent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: President Bush says John Kerry is twisting in the wind, that he actually has a habit of doing that.

Your thoughts?

BIDEN: What the president is doing is twisting John Kerry's words. John Kerry said that Saddam Hussein should be in prison, should be in hell, for that matter. John Kerry said that as a consequence of the way the president went about dealing with this issue has made us less secure.

Had we gone the way that not just I said, or John Kerry said, but I said, that Dick Lugar and many other professionals said, we would be in a much better position. Saddam Hussein would be gone. We would not be alone.

COLLINS: All right...

BIDEN: There would not be this continued playing here. All I ask you to ask the administration next time, one fact that John Kerry mentioned, is it incorrect? Are there 95,000 people trained? Have we only spent 5 percent in rebuilding Iraq of the $18 billion we gave them 10 months ago? And the list goes on.

COLLINS: All right, Senator Joe Biden, we certainly appreciate your time so much this morning.

BIDEN: Thank you very much.

COLLINS: All right.

And CNN will have special coverage of the president's U.N. address today. It's happening at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, 7:30 a.m. Pacific.

HEMMER: About 10 minutes now past the hour.

American hostage Eugene Armstrong apparently has been executed in Iraq. Armstrong was kidnapped last week from his residence in west Baghdad along with another American and a British hostage. A video posted on an Islamic Web site shows a hostage being beheaded by captors believed to be linked to the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The hostage takers gave a new 24 hour deadline, saying other hostages will be killed if Muslim women are not released from Iraqi prisons. American officials have said they are not holding any women in prisons in Iraq -- Heidi.

COLLINS: United Nations aide workers are reporting at least 500 Haitians are dead due to tropical storm Jeanne.

Here's a look at the massive flooding in the northwestern town of Gonaives. And workers say they are still collecting bodies. Jeanne dumped up to 13 inches of rain on Haiti. The storm regained hurricane status yesterday, but it is now moving back out into the Atlantic Ocean, posing no threat to land.

Boy, I was looking at these numbers this morning, just unbelievable -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

Yes, there is a spine right along Hispaniola. It's what we call the high spot. It's from the Dominican Republic right through Haiti, all that rain rained at about 13,000 feet and then ran right down the mountains. Mudslides, floods, obviously this area completely devastated in some areas, you can just see.

And I mean, you know, a lot of these structures are not the strongest structures in the first place. I mean, realize that it is Haiti. And as the stuff comes washing down, these houses have absolutely no chance of surviving. And a lot of folks just were not prepared for flooding like this. Obviously, some of the canals seeing the water coming down.

Here is Jeanne. It did make its track over Puerto Rico. There were fatalities there; also in the Dominican Republic, and then over Haiti. Then it made a big right-hand turn over the Turks and Caicos. And now it's up here. And as you said, Heidi, it's actually turning back out to sea.

Now, the official Hurricane Center forecast has it making a loop and heading back toward North Carolina. But I'll tell you what, I've seen all kinds of computer models on this thing. They are all over the place. There are just no steering currents out there whatsoever.

Now for this storm, Karl, it's making a beeline to the north. That's great news. And then this little blob right there, that's Lisa. Lisa actually going to the west, of a little bit of concern to me, simply because the steering currents down a little bit farther south do bring that storm a little bit closer to the U.S.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, it turns out the most popular seafood in America may pose a risk for cancer. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" on that. He tells us what we need to know in a moment.

COLLINS: Also ahead, the violence is escalating as the clock ticks down to Iraqi elections. But the U.S. may turn to a long time adversary to get a handle on the crisis.

HEMMER: Also, CBS and Dan Rather say they are sorry about the Bush document scandal. Now there are questions about a possible connection to the Kerry campaign.

Still to come this hour.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Dan Rather says he's sorry. CBS says it made a mistake. And the source of questionable documents supposed to be from President Bush's commander in the National Guard now admits he lied about where he got those documents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BURKETT, TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD (RET.): Well, I didn't totally mislead you, I did mislead you on the one individual. You know, your staff pressured me to a point to reveal that source.

DAN RATHER, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Well, we were trying to get the chain of possession.

BURKETT: I understand that.

RATHER: And you said you had received them from someone.

BURKETT: I understand that.

RATHER: And we did pressure you to say well, you received them from someone and that someone was whom.

BURKETT: Yes.

RATHER: And it's true, we pressured you because it was a very important point for us.

BURKETT: Yes. And I simply threw out a name that was basically, it was, I guess, to get a little pressure off for a moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The controversy doesn't end there. CBS also admits to putting the partisan Burkett in touch with the Kerry campaign. Adviser Joe Lockhart, who just joined Kerry's camp about two weeks ago, says a CBS producer called him with the former National Guard officer's phone number. Lockhart says he spoke with Burkett, but not about the documents. That story continues.

COLLINS: And part of Jack's Question of the Day, you say.

CAFFERTY: Indeed.

The questions in that CBS News story about President Bush's Guard service, to a degree, remain unanswered, and that's kind of what we're looking at. The documents may have been phony. Everybody's apologized. But what about the story itself? And was there any validity to some of the questions raised, such as why didn't he show up for that physical that he was supposed to take and why can't anybody vouch for his whereabouts during portions of his service in the Alabama Guard unit? And did anybody use their influence to get him in the Guard in the first place?

The White House says he served, he was honorably discharged, end of story.

We're asking what questions should the president answer, if any, about his National Guard service.

Aimee in New Jersey writes: "I don't care about what happened 20 years ago in Bush's past or Kerry's past, either. I pay $700 a month for health insurance on a nurse's salary. I'm trying to support four children and my husband's aging parents' medication costs. Let's try to have our leaders talk about these issues."

There's a good idea.

Rex in Berkeley: "It may be irrelevant, but think back to what the Republicans said about Bill Clinton. It doesn't matter that this is a personal peccadillo, some shady, tawdry, juicy or so salacious sexual hanky panky. It's the principle of the thing. Did he lie under oath? Well, did he? Isn't a pledge to the National Guard the same as swearing an oath legally?"

Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey: "The president highlighted his military service on his resume when he showboated in his flight suit. It should be just as simple for him to give approximate dates and units served with and back it up with the names of a couple of flier buddies."

Louise in White Plains, New York: "Jack, why complain about paying for your daughter's health insurance? This is just part of Bush's plan for everyone to have ownership of their lives -- your house, your business, your insurance, your choice of school, your retirement, including Social Security, your long-term care, etc. According to Mr. Bush, it should all be paid for by you."

I was whining at the top of the hour. I paid last year $400 a month for health insurance on a 22-year-old daughter of mine who is as healthy as a rock. Nothing wrong with her. $400 a month, five grand a year, because she was no longer a full-time student and therefore I couldn't include her under my group coverage that I get here at CNN. That's just flat out ridiculous. And there's a lot of people who don't have any insurance at all.

HEMMER: We're going to get some answers in the debate.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: Perhaps.

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.

HEMMER: That schedule is now set.

COLLINS: There's going to be three of them.

HEMMER: That's right.

In a moment here, we're going to talk about this. Does it matter, though? We'll talk to one man who says the two parties made secret agreements to make the debates useless.

Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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