Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Hurricane Politics; Update on Scott Peterson Trial; '90-Second Pop'

Aired September 29, 2004 - 07:30   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
For a lot of people in Florida right now, the names of four hurricanes are more on their minds than the names of two presidential candidates. And that is creating some serious election uncertainty. Kelly Wallace is going to more on that in just a few minutes.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also in a moment here, the Scott Peterson murder trial continues. Jurors now have a new theory to consider how Peterson could have killed his wife, but it's not the prosecution that brought it up. A look at why the defense wanted it in trial in a moment here. Dean Johnson is back with us today from California.

COLLINS: Yes, very interesting stuff. We want to check on the stories "Now in the News," though, with Rick Sanchez.

Good morning to you -- Rick.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And we're going to start with something that's good news for us here at CNN. We should say the first morning of freedom for Riad Ali after his abduction by gunmen in Gaza. The CNN producer was released yesterday into the custody of Palestinian police. Ali says that he was held by an offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, but the group denies any involvement at this point. It's still not clear, by the way, why Ali was taken.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iraq will not be the decisive issue in the British elections next year. Mr. Blair spoke this morning with Reuters News agency. Now, yesterday he gave a major address before members of his Labor Party, where he apologized for the bad intelligence leading up to the war. However, he did not apologize for the war itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I can apologize for the information that turned out to be wrong, but I can't, sincerely at least, apologize for removing Saddam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: According to public opinion polls, two of every three Britons say they no longer can trust their prime minister. This morning, police are searching for a suspect in a day care center shooting in Detroit. They said the man showed up at the door, argued, walked in and started shooting. A 3-year-old girl was killed and two women were critically wounded. Police say they still don't know why he did it. A live report from Detroit on the search for the suspect is going to be coming up, by the way, in our next hour.

And America's past time is coming back to our nation's capital; this, after a 33-year absence. Major League Baseball officials are expected to confirm today that the Montreal Expos are going to move to Washington starting next season. After the announcement, the city will celebrate with members of the old Washington Senators. The baseball players, by the way, Bill, not the politicians.

HEMMER: Listen, they've been fighting for that thing for a while, haven't they, Rick?

SANCHEZ: Good for them.

HEMMER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And, you know, nobody is going to the games in Montreal, so they might as well move it.

HEMMER: Point taken. Thank you, Rick. We'll talk to you a bit later.

Florida, the center of campaign 2000 four years ago, is center stage once again in 2004. This time, Florida could be the one battleground state where voters may have their minds on other things. That's what four hurricanes in only six weeks will do to the electorate.

Kelly Wallace is looking at that and joins us now this morning here.

Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

I heard one analyst say it's been all hurricanes all the time, so politics is an afterthought. So, the question, of course, is: What impact will all of these hurricanes have on campaign '04? All sides agree the hurricanes will have some impact. The question is how much and who benefits?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): In Melbourne, Florida, cleaning up after the latest hurricane and, frankly, not concentrating on anything else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What election?

WALLACE: John and Nancy Vinhammer (ph) say they made up their minds before Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Still, will they check out the first debate on Thursday? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if we have a TV or not, to be perfectly honest.

WALLACE: Floridians are more focused on damages than debates, more consumed with power outages...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The power is all still out.

WALLACE: ... than power politics. This has made statewide polling so difficult that it's next to impossible to know exactly where Sunshine State voters stand.

With that in mind, before the hurricanes, President Bush had a 4- point lead with likely voters. In the CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll out last week, he was ahead by 3 points.

The hurricanes have kept the two major candidates largely off the stump, but one has not been out of sight.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What else you need?

WALLACE: The president rolling up his sleeves here after the first three hurricanes, requesting more than $12 billion in federal aid.

TOM FIEDLER, "THE MIAMI HERALD": It works to the president's advantage in that this gives him an opportunity to actually act presidential.

WALLACE: Senator Kerry has only visited the hurricane areas once, careful not to look like he was trying to capitalize on the tragedy. So the president benefits? Kerry loses? Well, maybe not entirely. The areas hardest-hit have been predominantly Republican, which raises this question: Could GOP turnout be lower than in years past?

FIEDLER: Does that mean that on November 2 people's lives remain enough in disarray that the idea of casting a ballot is maybe secondary to your concerns?

WALLACE: Something we won't know until after the election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And as for the two candidates, both will be heading to Florida today before their first face-to-face showdown tomorrow. But, Bill, before the president goes to Miami, he is visiting areas damaged by Hurricane Jeanne, his fourth visit to areas damaged by hurricanes.

HEMMER: With the hurricanes in the news and the damage throughout that state, has that had an effect on overseeing this election in any sense that we can gauge at this point?

WALLACE: Everyone thinks it has to have some impact. I mean, some polling places have been damaged. Voting registration, the deadline, is less than a week away. And I believe early voting starts in just about three weeks. So, we won't really know the answer. But everyone thinks, again, it will have some impact. The question is: Will everyone who wants to vote be able to do so?

HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly. A good story. Kelly Wallace here with us today. AMERICAN MORNING is live in Miami tomorrow. We'll be in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday morning. We'll hear from the voters at that point.

In the meantime, though, President Bush is getting ready for that debate, he was busy, while his mother, Barbara, along with the twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, were busy campaigning in the battleground state of New Hampshire yesterday. But where is Grandpa George? The always outgoing Jenna joked about how he is helping his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNA BUSH, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE W. BUSH: Our grandfather is also contributing. He occasionally gives a few speeches about dad. But mainly he spends his time yelling at the television screen when he sees unfair stories on the news. We keep telling him that they can't hear what he's saying, but he insists that it's helping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: President Bush himself will stump in New Hampshire on Friday.

For our coverage, the day begins on 9:00 Thursday night. Our special coverage live in primetime starts at 7:00 Eastern Time here on CNN. AMERICAN MORNING is getting ready for the first debate. We'll be live in Miami tomorrow starting at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. And then voter reaction from a focus group, 24 undecided voters in Columbus, Ohio, another battleground state. We'll have that for you on Friday at the end of this week -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Now to the Scott Peterson trial. Craig Grogan, the lead police detective, may be the prosecution's strongest witness, but the defense appears to be using his testimony to make its own case.

Dean Johnson, former San Mateo County prosecutor, has been in the courtroom. He is with us now this morning from Redwood City, California.

Dean, nice to see you today.

DEAN JOHNSON, FORMER SAN MATEO COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Thank you. Good morning.

COLLINS: Take us through what happened yesterday in court, if you would, about this whole old theory about Laci possibly being poisoned.

DEAN: Well, there was a theory very, very early in this investigation that Laci may have been poisoned. The reason the police turned to that theory was that there was no forensic evidence, no sign of struggle, no blood, nothing, in the house, which they think is the scene of the murder.

On cross-examination, it was brought out that the police followed that theory as far as they could, actually tested Laci's body for toxicology. Found nothing. So, they abandoned that theory, leaving, of course, the question: Why no forensic evidence? Why no signs of struggle either at the house or at the warehouse, which they claim were involved in the murder?

COLLINS: So, what's Geragos trying to do here in bringing this up?

DEAN: Mark Geragos is doing two things in his cross-examination. The first is what we call dissecting the prosecution's case, going through every reason that Detective Grogan had for being suspicious of Scott Peterson and putting his own spin on it, explaining, well, you really should not have been suspicious because you could look at it this way.

The other thing that Mark Geragos is doing is using Detective Grogan to begin to present his own theory about how Laci Peterson was killed.

COLLINS: Yes. And then something else that he brought up yesterday, Laci's friend, who said that Laci had told her she and Scott were no longer having sex. It wasn't a priority, having something to do with, you know, her being pregnant in the condition she was. What is Geragos trying to do here by bringing up an idea like that?

DEAN: Well, that's one of the most bizarre pieces of this cross- examination that Mark Geragos is actually going fairly deeply into Scott Peterson's extramarital affairs and the relationship with Laci. What he's saying is or what he's implying is that Amber Frey was not somebody that Scott Peterson was going to adopt as the love of his life and chuck all of his life with Laci Peterson. He was saying that there was a rift between Scott and Laci. The sexual relationship had cooled. And that the purpose of dating Amber Frey was essentially sex.

COLLINS: Well, also, Dean, you know, the prosecution has been saying he really didn't care. Scott Peterson did not care about finding his missing wife, Laci. But yet, Geragos says, wait, he went out and told police, go find the real killer. Who is more convincing here?

DEAN: That's something the jury will have to decide. As is true with many, many of the facts in this case, everybody can put their own spin on it. Mark Geragos was very effective in pointing out that contrary to what prosecutors say, Scott Peterson did seem very interested in the search for Laci, was particularly interested in what was reported as a sighting of Laci in a convenience store in Longview, Washington, even demanding that the Modesto Police Department get copies of the tape from the convenience store and allow Scott to review them personally. COLLINS: Yes, and it sounds like we might have a couple of more weeks at least before the prosecution wraps it all up. Dean Johnson, thanks so much for your time this morning.

DEAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: It's about 20 minutes before the hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy Sewer is "Minding Your Business." He's got an update on whether Disney has been able to reach a new deal with Pixar.

HEMMER: Also, what was your wedding like? Probably not as outrageous as Star Jones, if you believe the reports. "90-Second Pop" on that in a couple minutes here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: What's up, Jack? We're on the air, by the way.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How about that?

HEMMER: "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Well, there wouldn't be any point in being here if weren't on the air now, would there?

HEMMER: I'm telling you.

CAFFERTY: Hundreds of schools around the country are dealing with what to do about cell phones. I ran up the stairs and I'm out of breath. Critics say cell phones are a distraction to the students, that they abuse them by cheating on their tests and straying from their work. Some parents say they want to be able to get in touch with little Johnny in case the goldfish dies.

During the last two years, states and counties have thought about what to do about cell phone problems. The question is this: What should the restrictions be on cell phones...

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Jack, you should have phoned it in.

CAFFERTY: ... in the schools? I know.

COLLINS: Jack LaLanne is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: Huh?

COLLINS: Jack LaLanne.

CAFFERTY: Is he still alive?

COLLINS: Yes. CAFFERTY: Oh, OK.

Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey: "Schools should restrict cell phones like they do radios. Real emergencies should be called in to the school the old-fashioned way."

Greg in Colorado Springs: "How can students listen and learn if they're talking? How can teachers teach if students' minds are elsewhere? Why should I hire someone who can't read or write or add?"

Sean in Roanoke, Virginia: "While unrestricted cell phone use should not be allowed, a student with a cell phone should follow a no- disruption policy during class. In these days of Columbine-type assaults in schools, a student with a cell phone could be a lifesaver."

Robert in Tacoma: "I think the only time a student should have a cell phone in school is never. They're there to learn, not to talk to their dropout friends."

And on the subject of John Kerry's overnight suntan, one viewer wrote this, Jerry in Chickamauga, Georgia: "Do you think Senator Kerry's new orange look is to make him more appealing to Florida voters?"

What's up with that? I mean, there's a picture in one of the newspaper this morning, he's orange.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: He's orange.

HEMMER: Well, the campaign says he was playing...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: The campaign says he was playing football on Friday evening outside for an hour.

CAFFERTY: And...

HEMMER: A lot of other people...

CAFFERTY: And got orange?

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: A lot of people...

CAFFERTY: That would make me orange.

HEMMER: ... are having a lot of fun with his new look.

SERWER: He was at a Tennessee game.

HEMMER: We'll see. He's going to be in Florida today. We'll see what he looks like then.

CAFFERTY: There was an anchor guy...

COLLINS: A spray can.

CAFFERTY: There was an anchor guy at WNBC-TV years ago who came in one day, and he had tried to do the thing with his hair, and his hair was orange. And we said, "Hey, Ralph, what's up with the orange hair?" And he said, "Oh, it's from the chlorine in my pool."

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: Jack, thank you.

Oil is still hanging around the $50-a-barrel mark. And what's the deal between Disney and Pixar anyway? It's getting confusing.

Andy Serwer is joining us again, "Minding Your Business.".

Oil, oil, oil, we keep hearing about this.

SERWER: Yes, that's right, Heidi. It's still around 50 bucks, as you said. Let's take a look backwards before we go forwards this morning.

Yesterday, actually was a pretty good day on Wall Street. Stocks were up. We see the Dow is up nearly 100 points, back over 10000. Here we go.

COLLINS: Not by much.

SERWER: Oh, yes. Back and forth. Caterpillar saved the day with a positive forecast from the big tractor company. What's going on? The futures are mixed this morning, a big GDP revision for the second quarter, coming out at 8:30. They're looking to revise it to 3 percent from 2.8 percent. We'll have that for you.

What's going on with Pixar and Disney? Apparently de nada. This is from Disney's president, Bob Iger, yesterday saying a deal between the two companies is unlikely. That means Woody and Nemo are going to have to look for a new place to hang out. I'll just sit there and watch that stuff.

And then also what have we got? A quickie here. We'll be watching Orbitz. That stock is way up in pre-market trading, because Cendant is buying them. That's the online travel company.

HEMMER: Interesting.

SERWER: Up 25 percent in pre-market trading.

COLLINS: Wow! That's a lot.

SERWER: Yes. I don't know. COLLINS: Andy, thank you.

HEMMER: We'll get a break here. Families on ABC's "Wife Swap" are getting a big surprise when they meet their new mothers. But the bigger surprise may come from the critics. Back in a moment with that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Right out of Hoboken (ph). Any day is a good day when you start it with Frank. "90-Second Pop" on a Wednesday. Say hello this morning to humorist Andy Borowitz.

Andy, good morning to you.

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Author of "The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers," not to be confused with "shock and awe." Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York" magazine here today.

Sarah, nice to see you.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Nice to see you.

HEMMER: And B.J. Sigesmund. Good morning, B.J. Staff editor for "US Weekly."

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.

HEMMER: Nice to have all three of you. Three great topics, by the way.

Star Jones is getting married. Reports say she's a bride-zilla.

SIGESMUND: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Are the reports true?

BERNARD: Focus groups, everyone says.

SIGESMUND: Like all brides are bride-zillas. She has taken something small and personal and turned it into an oversized event. It started with the proposal, which happened on live television at the NBA All-Star game in front of millions of people. Then she has been documenting everything about this marriage on StarNow.com, talking about it endlessly on "The View" and on her red carpet special.

HEMMER: So she's smart. Good PR, right? This is what I read: 6 makeup artists, 8 hairstylists, 10 mani-pedi stations...

SIGESMUND: Yes.

HEMMER: ... which I did not know before this segment, by the way. BERNARD: I love hearing you say mani-pedi.

HEMMER: It sounds like AMERICAN MORNING, doesn't it?

SIGESMUND: Exactly. Well, what's come to light is that she wants to do this beauty spa the day of her marriage, the day of her wedding, with her closest friends. And she is selling event sponsorships to this event for $4,500...

BOROWITZ: Oh!

SIGESMUND: ... which she says are great promotional opportunities and great press.

BERNARD: I don't know if anyone has taken them up on that, though. I mean, that's where she really crossed the line. It's one thing to talk about yourself. I don't know about the Web site. But actually trying to get sponsors for your own wedding, I mean...

BOROWITZ: I don't know.

SIGESMUND: You can also...

BOROWITZ: It's really making me re-think the way I redid my bar mitzvah.

HEMMER: I've got $4,500, you mentioned, for an event sponsors, 1,500 to be a product sponsor.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

HEMMER: It sounds like a golf tournament.

SIGESMUND: Well, she says she's going to have Oscar-style gift bags. And you can pay $1,500 for the opportunity to put a product in that gift bag.

HEMMER: Jump on it. All right, the next topic, Sarah, "Wife Swap" is the new demented reality show on ABC.

BERNARD: That's right. It starts tonight.

HEMMER: The critics love this thing. What's the premise?

BERNARD: Well, it's actually, as a lot of these reality shows, it came from a British television show of the same name. So, what happens is you have these two family. In this case, it's one city family, one country family. And the moms swap places. It's pretty straightforward.

But what's interesting is a lot of people have sort of criticized this idea, saying it's kind of anti-women's lib or something. But I think it's just the opposite.

Tonight's episode, the city mom, who has three nannies to take care of her three kids, goes to three different gyms every day, spends her day beautifying herself probably to all of the places Star Jones wants to go, and she goes to this woman's house, who is a woodcutter in Pennsylvania. And she is made to be, you know, put to work and run this family. And she realizes how hard it is to be a working mom.

HEMMER: Hard maybe. The participants are miserable. Some of the comments: It was the worst 10 days of my life; I wouldn't do it again...

BERNARD: That's the husband...

HEMMER: ... I was absolutely miserable.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have a great time.

BERNARD: That's was the husband of the, you know, the sort of woodworking husband, who had to deal with this city mom coming in and ruining his life.

SIGESMUND: Well, what happened was the husbands actually learned huge lessons in this. The husband in New York City, the guy with money, was told by the wood-chopping wife, I want you home for dinner every night. I don't want you working late. I want you here at the table. And he was, like, I always prioritize work over my kids during the week. That's my priority. And she just did not hear any of that.

BOROWITZ: By the way, MTV is doing a show sort of like this called "pimp my bride."

BERNARD: That would be good.

HEMMER: Pure voyeurism. The next topic, if I could quickly, you get a double shot today, Sarah.

BERNARD: All right.

HEMMER: Eminem is reportedly making fun of Madonna in a new video, "Glass Carriage."

BERNARD: Terrible! Well, the last time we were talking about Eminem, he was naked in a video. So, this is hardly as controversial. But it's something he's been doing for a while. He was Bill Clinton in a video once. He was Osama. He was Marilyn Manson. So, this is kind of just another one like that.

But what I want to know is why diss Madonna? He has the blonde ponytail and the John Goteacomb (ph) bra.

SIGESMUND: That was 10 years ago.

BERNARD: That was, like, so many Madonnas ago.

BOROWITZ: My question about this is, you know, Eminem versus Madonna, who do we root for in this one? I mean, to me it's sort of "Alien Versus Predator." I mean, whomever wins, we lose. I think so. SIGESMUND: I think Madonna...

HEMMER: It's Jason and Freddy?

BOROWITZ: Yes, exactly.

BERNARD: Yes.

SIGESMUND: I think Madonna would be particularly tickled by this. Remember, at the height of the Eminem bashing a few years ago for his homophobic lyrics and all of that, Madonna stood up for him. And she defended his artistic freedom. She has always felt akin to Eminem. They're both from Michigan. They're both self-made millionaires. They're both controversial. I think she will appreciate this, and she'll smile.

HEMMER: Just imagine the stories they can share based on eight miles...

BERNARD: Yes, exactly.

HEMMER: ... running north right out of this...

BOROWITZ: My only advice...

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: My only advice to Eminem if he's going to impersonate Madonna, get going on Pilates now...

BERNARD: The biceps.

BOROWITZ: ... because those biceps need some definition.

HEMMER: That's the real truth.

BERNARD: That's totally true.

HEMMER: You guys, have a great day, OK?

All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, the first debate isn't until tomorrow night, but one candidate may already have an edge. Jeff Greenfield is going to join us to talk about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In a moment here, this is the scene from Pennsylvania, and earlier the scene from Florida. Jeanne continues to go up the East Coast. Top of the hour much more on this ongoing storm system. Back in a moment.

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


Aired September 29, 2004 - 07:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
For a lot of people in Florida right now, the names of four hurricanes are more on their minds than the names of two presidential candidates. And that is creating some serious election uncertainty. Kelly Wallace is going to more on that in just a few minutes.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also in a moment here, the Scott Peterson murder trial continues. Jurors now have a new theory to consider how Peterson could have killed his wife, but it's not the prosecution that brought it up. A look at why the defense wanted it in trial in a moment here. Dean Johnson is back with us today from California.

COLLINS: Yes, very interesting stuff. We want to check on the stories "Now in the News," though, with Rick Sanchez.

Good morning to you -- Rick.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And we're going to start with something that's good news for us here at CNN. We should say the first morning of freedom for Riad Ali after his abduction by gunmen in Gaza. The CNN producer was released yesterday into the custody of Palestinian police. Ali says that he was held by an offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, but the group denies any involvement at this point. It's still not clear, by the way, why Ali was taken.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iraq will not be the decisive issue in the British elections next year. Mr. Blair spoke this morning with Reuters News agency. Now, yesterday he gave a major address before members of his Labor Party, where he apologized for the bad intelligence leading up to the war. However, he did not apologize for the war itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I can apologize for the information that turned out to be wrong, but I can't, sincerely at least, apologize for removing Saddam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: According to public opinion polls, two of every three Britons say they no longer can trust their prime minister. This morning, police are searching for a suspect in a day care center shooting in Detroit. They said the man showed up at the door, argued, walked in and started shooting. A 3-year-old girl was killed and two women were critically wounded. Police say they still don't know why he did it. A live report from Detroit on the search for the suspect is going to be coming up, by the way, in our next hour.

And America's past time is coming back to our nation's capital; this, after a 33-year absence. Major League Baseball officials are expected to confirm today that the Montreal Expos are going to move to Washington starting next season. After the announcement, the city will celebrate with members of the old Washington Senators. The baseball players, by the way, Bill, not the politicians.

HEMMER: Listen, they've been fighting for that thing for a while, haven't they, Rick?

SANCHEZ: Good for them.

HEMMER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And, you know, nobody is going to the games in Montreal, so they might as well move it.

HEMMER: Point taken. Thank you, Rick. We'll talk to you a bit later.

Florida, the center of campaign 2000 four years ago, is center stage once again in 2004. This time, Florida could be the one battleground state where voters may have their minds on other things. That's what four hurricanes in only six weeks will do to the electorate.

Kelly Wallace is looking at that and joins us now this morning here.

Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

I heard one analyst say it's been all hurricanes all the time, so politics is an afterthought. So, the question, of course, is: What impact will all of these hurricanes have on campaign '04? All sides agree the hurricanes will have some impact. The question is how much and who benefits?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): In Melbourne, Florida, cleaning up after the latest hurricane and, frankly, not concentrating on anything else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What election?

WALLACE: John and Nancy Vinhammer (ph) say they made up their minds before Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Still, will they check out the first debate on Thursday? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if we have a TV or not, to be perfectly honest.

WALLACE: Floridians are more focused on damages than debates, more consumed with power outages...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The power is all still out.

WALLACE: ... than power politics. This has made statewide polling so difficult that it's next to impossible to know exactly where Sunshine State voters stand.

With that in mind, before the hurricanes, President Bush had a 4- point lead with likely voters. In the CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll out last week, he was ahead by 3 points.

The hurricanes have kept the two major candidates largely off the stump, but one has not been out of sight.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What else you need?

WALLACE: The president rolling up his sleeves here after the first three hurricanes, requesting more than $12 billion in federal aid.

TOM FIEDLER, "THE MIAMI HERALD": It works to the president's advantage in that this gives him an opportunity to actually act presidential.

WALLACE: Senator Kerry has only visited the hurricane areas once, careful not to look like he was trying to capitalize on the tragedy. So the president benefits? Kerry loses? Well, maybe not entirely. The areas hardest-hit have been predominantly Republican, which raises this question: Could GOP turnout be lower than in years past?

FIEDLER: Does that mean that on November 2 people's lives remain enough in disarray that the idea of casting a ballot is maybe secondary to your concerns?

WALLACE: Something we won't know until after the election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And as for the two candidates, both will be heading to Florida today before their first face-to-face showdown tomorrow. But, Bill, before the president goes to Miami, he is visiting areas damaged by Hurricane Jeanne, his fourth visit to areas damaged by hurricanes.

HEMMER: With the hurricanes in the news and the damage throughout that state, has that had an effect on overseeing this election in any sense that we can gauge at this point?

WALLACE: Everyone thinks it has to have some impact. I mean, some polling places have been damaged. Voting registration, the deadline, is less than a week away. And I believe early voting starts in just about three weeks. So, we won't really know the answer. But everyone thinks, again, it will have some impact. The question is: Will everyone who wants to vote be able to do so?

HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly. A good story. Kelly Wallace here with us today. AMERICAN MORNING is live in Miami tomorrow. We'll be in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday morning. We'll hear from the voters at that point.

In the meantime, though, President Bush is getting ready for that debate, he was busy, while his mother, Barbara, along with the twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, were busy campaigning in the battleground state of New Hampshire yesterday. But where is Grandpa George? The always outgoing Jenna joked about how he is helping his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNA BUSH, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE W. BUSH: Our grandfather is also contributing. He occasionally gives a few speeches about dad. But mainly he spends his time yelling at the television screen when he sees unfair stories on the news. We keep telling him that they can't hear what he's saying, but he insists that it's helping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: President Bush himself will stump in New Hampshire on Friday.

For our coverage, the day begins on 9:00 Thursday night. Our special coverage live in primetime starts at 7:00 Eastern Time here on CNN. AMERICAN MORNING is getting ready for the first debate. We'll be live in Miami tomorrow starting at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. And then voter reaction from a focus group, 24 undecided voters in Columbus, Ohio, another battleground state. We'll have that for you on Friday at the end of this week -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Now to the Scott Peterson trial. Craig Grogan, the lead police detective, may be the prosecution's strongest witness, but the defense appears to be using his testimony to make its own case.

Dean Johnson, former San Mateo County prosecutor, has been in the courtroom. He is with us now this morning from Redwood City, California.

Dean, nice to see you today.

DEAN JOHNSON, FORMER SAN MATEO COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Thank you. Good morning.

COLLINS: Take us through what happened yesterday in court, if you would, about this whole old theory about Laci possibly being poisoned.

DEAN: Well, there was a theory very, very early in this investigation that Laci may have been poisoned. The reason the police turned to that theory was that there was no forensic evidence, no sign of struggle, no blood, nothing, in the house, which they think is the scene of the murder.

On cross-examination, it was brought out that the police followed that theory as far as they could, actually tested Laci's body for toxicology. Found nothing. So, they abandoned that theory, leaving, of course, the question: Why no forensic evidence? Why no signs of struggle either at the house or at the warehouse, which they claim were involved in the murder?

COLLINS: So, what's Geragos trying to do here in bringing this up?

DEAN: Mark Geragos is doing two things in his cross-examination. The first is what we call dissecting the prosecution's case, going through every reason that Detective Grogan had for being suspicious of Scott Peterson and putting his own spin on it, explaining, well, you really should not have been suspicious because you could look at it this way.

The other thing that Mark Geragos is doing is using Detective Grogan to begin to present his own theory about how Laci Peterson was killed.

COLLINS: Yes. And then something else that he brought up yesterday, Laci's friend, who said that Laci had told her she and Scott were no longer having sex. It wasn't a priority, having something to do with, you know, her being pregnant in the condition she was. What is Geragos trying to do here by bringing up an idea like that?

DEAN: Well, that's one of the most bizarre pieces of this cross- examination that Mark Geragos is actually going fairly deeply into Scott Peterson's extramarital affairs and the relationship with Laci. What he's saying is or what he's implying is that Amber Frey was not somebody that Scott Peterson was going to adopt as the love of his life and chuck all of his life with Laci Peterson. He was saying that there was a rift between Scott and Laci. The sexual relationship had cooled. And that the purpose of dating Amber Frey was essentially sex.

COLLINS: Well, also, Dean, you know, the prosecution has been saying he really didn't care. Scott Peterson did not care about finding his missing wife, Laci. But yet, Geragos says, wait, he went out and told police, go find the real killer. Who is more convincing here?

DEAN: That's something the jury will have to decide. As is true with many, many of the facts in this case, everybody can put their own spin on it. Mark Geragos was very effective in pointing out that contrary to what prosecutors say, Scott Peterson did seem very interested in the search for Laci, was particularly interested in what was reported as a sighting of Laci in a convenience store in Longview, Washington, even demanding that the Modesto Police Department get copies of the tape from the convenience store and allow Scott to review them personally. COLLINS: Yes, and it sounds like we might have a couple of more weeks at least before the prosecution wraps it all up. Dean Johnson, thanks so much for your time this morning.

DEAN: Thank you.

HEMMER: It's about 20 minutes before the hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy Sewer is "Minding Your Business." He's got an update on whether Disney has been able to reach a new deal with Pixar.

HEMMER: Also, what was your wedding like? Probably not as outrageous as Star Jones, if you believe the reports. "90-Second Pop" on that in a couple minutes here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: What's up, Jack? We're on the air, by the way.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How about that?

HEMMER: "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Well, there wouldn't be any point in being here if weren't on the air now, would there?

HEMMER: I'm telling you.

CAFFERTY: Hundreds of schools around the country are dealing with what to do about cell phones. I ran up the stairs and I'm out of breath. Critics say cell phones are a distraction to the students, that they abuse them by cheating on their tests and straying from their work. Some parents say they want to be able to get in touch with little Johnny in case the goldfish dies.

During the last two years, states and counties have thought about what to do about cell phone problems. The question is this: What should the restrictions be on cell phones...

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Jack, you should have phoned it in.

CAFFERTY: ... in the schools? I know.

COLLINS: Jack LaLanne is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: Huh?

COLLINS: Jack LaLanne.

CAFFERTY: Is he still alive?

COLLINS: Yes. CAFFERTY: Oh, OK.

Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey: "Schools should restrict cell phones like they do radios. Real emergencies should be called in to the school the old-fashioned way."

Greg in Colorado Springs: "How can students listen and learn if they're talking? How can teachers teach if students' minds are elsewhere? Why should I hire someone who can't read or write or add?"

Sean in Roanoke, Virginia: "While unrestricted cell phone use should not be allowed, a student with a cell phone should follow a no- disruption policy during class. In these days of Columbine-type assaults in schools, a student with a cell phone could be a lifesaver."

Robert in Tacoma: "I think the only time a student should have a cell phone in school is never. They're there to learn, not to talk to their dropout friends."

And on the subject of John Kerry's overnight suntan, one viewer wrote this, Jerry in Chickamauga, Georgia: "Do you think Senator Kerry's new orange look is to make him more appealing to Florida voters?"

What's up with that? I mean, there's a picture in one of the newspaper this morning, he's orange.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: He's orange.

HEMMER: Well, the campaign says he was playing...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: The campaign says he was playing football on Friday evening outside for an hour.

CAFFERTY: And...

HEMMER: A lot of other people...

CAFFERTY: And got orange?

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: A lot of people...

CAFFERTY: That would make me orange.

HEMMER: ... are having a lot of fun with his new look.

SERWER: He was at a Tennessee game.

HEMMER: We'll see. He's going to be in Florida today. We'll see what he looks like then.

CAFFERTY: There was an anchor guy...

COLLINS: A spray can.

CAFFERTY: There was an anchor guy at WNBC-TV years ago who came in one day, and he had tried to do the thing with his hair, and his hair was orange. And we said, "Hey, Ralph, what's up with the orange hair?" And he said, "Oh, it's from the chlorine in my pool."

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: Jack, thank you.

Oil is still hanging around the $50-a-barrel mark. And what's the deal between Disney and Pixar anyway? It's getting confusing.

Andy Serwer is joining us again, "Minding Your Business.".

Oil, oil, oil, we keep hearing about this.

SERWER: Yes, that's right, Heidi. It's still around 50 bucks, as you said. Let's take a look backwards before we go forwards this morning.

Yesterday, actually was a pretty good day on Wall Street. Stocks were up. We see the Dow is up nearly 100 points, back over 10000. Here we go.

COLLINS: Not by much.

SERWER: Oh, yes. Back and forth. Caterpillar saved the day with a positive forecast from the big tractor company. What's going on? The futures are mixed this morning, a big GDP revision for the second quarter, coming out at 8:30. They're looking to revise it to 3 percent from 2.8 percent. We'll have that for you.

What's going on with Pixar and Disney? Apparently de nada. This is from Disney's president, Bob Iger, yesterday saying a deal between the two companies is unlikely. That means Woody and Nemo are going to have to look for a new place to hang out. I'll just sit there and watch that stuff.

And then also what have we got? A quickie here. We'll be watching Orbitz. That stock is way up in pre-market trading, because Cendant is buying them. That's the online travel company.

HEMMER: Interesting.

SERWER: Up 25 percent in pre-market trading.

COLLINS: Wow! That's a lot.

SERWER: Yes. I don't know. COLLINS: Andy, thank you.

HEMMER: We'll get a break here. Families on ABC's "Wife Swap" are getting a big surprise when they meet their new mothers. But the bigger surprise may come from the critics. Back in a moment with that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Right out of Hoboken (ph). Any day is a good day when you start it with Frank. "90-Second Pop" on a Wednesday. Say hello this morning to humorist Andy Borowitz.

Andy, good morning to you.

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Author of "The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers," not to be confused with "shock and awe." Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York" magazine here today.

Sarah, nice to see you.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Nice to see you.

HEMMER: And B.J. Sigesmund. Good morning, B.J. Staff editor for "US Weekly."

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.

HEMMER: Nice to have all three of you. Three great topics, by the way.

Star Jones is getting married. Reports say she's a bride-zilla.

SIGESMUND: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Are the reports true?

BERNARD: Focus groups, everyone says.

SIGESMUND: Like all brides are bride-zillas. She has taken something small and personal and turned it into an oversized event. It started with the proposal, which happened on live television at the NBA All-Star game in front of millions of people. Then she has been documenting everything about this marriage on StarNow.com, talking about it endlessly on "The View" and on her red carpet special.

HEMMER: So she's smart. Good PR, right? This is what I read: 6 makeup artists, 8 hairstylists, 10 mani-pedi stations...

SIGESMUND: Yes.

HEMMER: ... which I did not know before this segment, by the way. BERNARD: I love hearing you say mani-pedi.

HEMMER: It sounds like AMERICAN MORNING, doesn't it?

SIGESMUND: Exactly. Well, what's come to light is that she wants to do this beauty spa the day of her marriage, the day of her wedding, with her closest friends. And she is selling event sponsorships to this event for $4,500...

BOROWITZ: Oh!

SIGESMUND: ... which she says are great promotional opportunities and great press.

BERNARD: I don't know if anyone has taken them up on that, though. I mean, that's where she really crossed the line. It's one thing to talk about yourself. I don't know about the Web site. But actually trying to get sponsors for your own wedding, I mean...

BOROWITZ: I don't know.

SIGESMUND: You can also...

BOROWITZ: It's really making me re-think the way I redid my bar mitzvah.

HEMMER: I've got $4,500, you mentioned, for an event sponsors, 1,500 to be a product sponsor.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

HEMMER: It sounds like a golf tournament.

SIGESMUND: Well, she says she's going to have Oscar-style gift bags. And you can pay $1,500 for the opportunity to put a product in that gift bag.

HEMMER: Jump on it. All right, the next topic, Sarah, "Wife Swap" is the new demented reality show on ABC.

BERNARD: That's right. It starts tonight.

HEMMER: The critics love this thing. What's the premise?

BERNARD: Well, it's actually, as a lot of these reality shows, it came from a British television show of the same name. So, what happens is you have these two family. In this case, it's one city family, one country family. And the moms swap places. It's pretty straightforward.

But what's interesting is a lot of people have sort of criticized this idea, saying it's kind of anti-women's lib or something. But I think it's just the opposite.

Tonight's episode, the city mom, who has three nannies to take care of her three kids, goes to three different gyms every day, spends her day beautifying herself probably to all of the places Star Jones wants to go, and she goes to this woman's house, who is a woodcutter in Pennsylvania. And she is made to be, you know, put to work and run this family. And she realizes how hard it is to be a working mom.

HEMMER: Hard maybe. The participants are miserable. Some of the comments: It was the worst 10 days of my life; I wouldn't do it again...

BERNARD: That's the husband...

HEMMER: ... I was absolutely miserable.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have a great time.

BERNARD: That's was the husband of the, you know, the sort of woodworking husband, who had to deal with this city mom coming in and ruining his life.

SIGESMUND: Well, what happened was the husbands actually learned huge lessons in this. The husband in New York City, the guy with money, was told by the wood-chopping wife, I want you home for dinner every night. I don't want you working late. I want you here at the table. And he was, like, I always prioritize work over my kids during the week. That's my priority. And she just did not hear any of that.

BOROWITZ: By the way, MTV is doing a show sort of like this called "pimp my bride."

BERNARD: That would be good.

HEMMER: Pure voyeurism. The next topic, if I could quickly, you get a double shot today, Sarah.

BERNARD: All right.

HEMMER: Eminem is reportedly making fun of Madonna in a new video, "Glass Carriage."

BERNARD: Terrible! Well, the last time we were talking about Eminem, he was naked in a video. So, this is hardly as controversial. But it's something he's been doing for a while. He was Bill Clinton in a video once. He was Osama. He was Marilyn Manson. So, this is kind of just another one like that.

But what I want to know is why diss Madonna? He has the blonde ponytail and the John Goteacomb (ph) bra.

SIGESMUND: That was 10 years ago.

BERNARD: That was, like, so many Madonnas ago.

BOROWITZ: My question about this is, you know, Eminem versus Madonna, who do we root for in this one? I mean, to me it's sort of "Alien Versus Predator." I mean, whomever wins, we lose. I think so. SIGESMUND: I think Madonna...

HEMMER: It's Jason and Freddy?

BOROWITZ: Yes, exactly.

BERNARD: Yes.

SIGESMUND: I think Madonna would be particularly tickled by this. Remember, at the height of the Eminem bashing a few years ago for his homophobic lyrics and all of that, Madonna stood up for him. And she defended his artistic freedom. She has always felt akin to Eminem. They're both from Michigan. They're both self-made millionaires. They're both controversial. I think she will appreciate this, and she'll smile.

HEMMER: Just imagine the stories they can share based on eight miles...

BERNARD: Yes, exactly.

HEMMER: ... running north right out of this...

BOROWITZ: My only advice...

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: My only advice to Eminem if he's going to impersonate Madonna, get going on Pilates now...

BERNARD: The biceps.

BOROWITZ: ... because those biceps need some definition.

HEMMER: That's the real truth.

BERNARD: That's totally true.

HEMMER: You guys, have a great day, OK?

All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, the first debate isn't until tomorrow night, but one candidate may already have an edge. Jeff Greenfield is going to join us to talk about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In a moment here, this is the scene from Pennsylvania, and earlier the scene from Florida. Jeanne continues to go up the East Coast. Top of the hour much more on this ongoing storm system. Back in a moment.

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