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American Morning
Debate Focus Group; Post-Debate Analysis; In-Flight Cell Phones
Aired October 01, 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: Happy Friday morning from New York City to you and all of the cabbie drivers out there as well this morning. It is just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In just a few minutes, we'll go back to Columbus, Ohio, where Bill Hemmer is standing by. He's going to tell us about the feedback he got from a focus group that watched the debate last night. They used those things, the little meters that we handed out. What did the candidates say to get the best reaction and the worst? We're going to find out.
We will also get Jeff Greenfield's take on the debate and who came out better. That is just ahead.
But first, we want to check on the stories "Now in the News" once again with Rick Sanchez.
Quite a bit going on in Samarra.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there, and also in the Middle East; more problems, as a matter of fact, in the Middle East.
Heidi, good morning.
The death toll is rising in the fight for control of the Iraqi city of Samarra. At least 109 insurgents have now been killed in the massive fighting there. There is also word of at least one American fatality. Military sources say four U.S. troops have been injured.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is undergoing a non-surgical heart procedure this morning. Blair arrived at the London hospital to treat a recurring heart murmur. Blair says that he will seek a third term as prime minister, but will not seek a fourth. He's expected to make a full recovery.
In Virginia, authorities are searching for a 3-year-old boy, who has now been missing since Wednesday. Police are saying that Tyrique Davis (ph) was being watched by his mother's boyfriend, who claims the child was taken from a Wal-Mart parking lot. However, authorities are not focusing their search in the Wal-Mart area; rather, in a wooded area, where the boyfriend was working earlier in the day. Police have arrested him, but on unrelated charges.
This turns out to be a hazing ritual, a hazing ritual gone right in this case. As we told you yesterday, Cleveland Indians pitcher Kyle Denney wasn't seriously hurt when shot in the leg while riding on a team bus. Well, it may have been because he was wearing knee-high white cheerleader boots as part of a tradition to haze rookies. We'll leave it at that, Heidi. Denney rejoined his team in Minneapolis just yesterday.
All right. Anticipation is rising to see how things went with Bill and the metered audience that he's been teasing for the past half-hour. We can't wait to see this report, Mr. Bill, in Columbus, Ohio.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Yes, by the way, there is always another side of the story, isn't there, for that Cleveland Indians pitcher? Wow! Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: You know, about a week ago, we came out with this poll with the folks at Gallup. We found 18 percent of those surveyed were still undecided about who they would vote for come November 2. If this race is as close as we believe it is at this point, 18 percent is a pretty sizable number.
Last night, we took our own sample, our own chunk of Buckeyes here in the middle part of Ohio, to find out how they reacted to last night's debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (voice over): They were 22 mostly undecided voters in a critical battleground state, brought together on the campus of Ohio State University. They were truckers and teachers, accountants and retirees.
CNN equipped them with hand-held touch pads to gauge their reactions in real time. The women were measured with a yellow line, the men with a blue line.
Senator Kerry won strong approval when he suggested the president took the fight to the wrong enemy.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't leave a failed Iraq, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake of judgment to go there and take the focus off of Osama bin Laden. It was.
HEMMER: President Bush then scored high marks when he suggested that Senator Kerry was not backing U.S. allies.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I mean, you can't expect to build alliance when you denigrate the contributions of those who are serving side-by-side with American troops in Iraq.
HEMMER: Later, strong words from the senator about those killed in Iraq sent the meters lower.
KERRY: More in July than June, more in August than July, more in September than in August. HEMMER: Then a strong rebuttal by the president was not well- received.
BUSH: You cannot lead the war on terror if you keep changing positions on the war on terror and say things like, well, this is just a grand diversion. It's not a grand diversion. This is an essential that we get it right.
HEMMER: Reaction from our focus group was generally mixed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think after this, leaning a little more towards Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight it kind of made me lean a little more towards Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was very even. Neither party made their point much above the other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Again, just a part of the sample we picked up last night here in Columbus.
One very interesting aspect that we found to this. The women you saw were in yellow, the men were in blue. For the first 20 minutes of this debate last night, the women showed all positive response ahead of the men towards President Bush. At the half-hour mark, right around 9:30 Eastern Time, something changed, because the women then went to John Kerry and outpaced the men in their positive response to the Massachusetts senator. And then in the final 20 minutes, almost like the stretch run last night, it flipped again. The women went back to George Bush.
And what all of this means, we cannot say. It's clearly not scientific. It only gives us a snapshot of what these 22 men and women were thinking and feeling here.
The bottom line, we believe, through this group of Ohioans last night, is this debate was a tie essentially for them, watching here on the campus of Ohio State University.
From Columbus to Miami, Florida, Jeff Greenfield is with me now looking at his analysis from last night.
And, Jeff, as we say good morning to you, I want to play a bit of a part from last night of John Kerry playing to his strengths for the senator and how he presented his arguments last night on foreign policy. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I believe in being strong and resolute and determined. And I will hunt down and kill the terrorists wherever they are. I can make America safer than President Bush has made us. I have a better plan for homeland security. I know I can do a better job in Iraq. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The bottom line: Did he appear to be commander-in- chief-like last night, Jeff?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Yes. What I think, Bill, is actually he was playing in that remark less his strength than to a perceived weakness, that a lot of voters think he isn't resolute and that he's changed his position. So, that was one of several examples, it's a good example, of where he was using language of strength and determination.
And I think both in his presentation on substance and in his demeanor he did take a good step toward accomplishing what he wanted to do.
Now in contrast, President Bush, who has been known throughout his public career -- it only goes back a decade -- as man who stays relentlessly on message, was very much in that picture last night. Take a look at this sample, if you will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I know we won't achieve if we send mixed signals. The only thing consistent about my opponent's position is that he's been inconsistent. He changes positions. You cannot lead if you send mixed messages. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to our troops. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to our allies. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to the Iraqi citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, in case you missed this, Bill, the president was saying that Senator Kerry can't lead because he sends mixed messages. And my own question about that is whether or not in repeating that as often as he did, at least a dozen times by my count, he may have gone one step too further in suggesting to voters that he was basically reciting talking points at that point -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes. Do you believe, Jeff, based on what you heard and saw there in Miami last night, did one man do a better job of swaying voters in that 90-minute period?
GREENFIELD: Until the last part of that question, I was prepared to give you a definitive answer. I think John Kerry did a better job in debate terms. That's what -- you know, that's what the snap polls showed. That's what most of the experts, even the "New York Post," a very pro-Bush paper, had its bipartisan panel say that Kerry actually did better.
But that's a different question from asking did they sway voters, because it's entirely possible that if a voter -- if enough voters have made up their minds, if the undecideds are smaller than our poll and the Bush campaign thinks it is, then it's perfectly consistent for people to say, well, I think Kerry won the debate, but I'm still voting for Bush because I think he's better on terror or Iraq or whatever. That's what we're not going to know for another two or three days.
And remember, four years ago the first snap polls of the first debate showed that Al Gore had -- quote -- "won on points." But two days later when the stories appeared about his sighing and a couple of mistakes he made, then the opinion changed.
So, I really think, you know, much as I know, we're all fascinated by snap polls and voters with dials, we've got to wait a day or two to see whether or not this is going to have a political effect -- Bill.
HEMMER: You know, it was around midnight last night, and you were on last night explaining to our viewers from the filing center where the reporters were, watching this monitor of the cutaway reactions of John Kerry and George Bush.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: And we talked to Dan Bartlett about this about 30 minutes ago. What did you notice in the president last night when John Kerry was talking that a lot of us did not see?
GREENFIELD: Well, if you watched it on CNN, as opposed to watching it in the press filing center or on the other networks, when they called up that split screen shot, you did see the president at times looking, I guess testy would be the best word, or annoyed. One paper described it as occasionally looking disgusted.
And if you believe that what lawyers call demeanor evidence, how people comport themselves, makes a difference, then that shot, I think, has to have the Bush campaign a little concerned. Because if you didn't know anything about the candidates, if you just went and looked at that picture, Kerry, as I like to put it, Kerry took the room in that shot. He was the more composed figure.
Again, that's a long way from saying that's going to change people's minds in the debates. You know, and I have no idea what the Bush White House is going to say about that, or care. But that's what I noticed from that.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jeff. Jeff Greenfield in Miami, Florida, this morning.
We are a week from today -- a week from today is debate No. 2 in St. Louis, Missouri, when John Kerry and George Bush go at it again. In the middle debate next Tuesday night here in the Buckeye State, Cleveland, Ohio, John Edwards faces off with Dick Cheney. Four years ago, George Bush won this state by 3 and a half percentage points over Al Gore. We'll see if it's the same ballgame this year.
Back to Heidi now in New York with more there -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Three and a half percentage points, not huge. We'll have to see what happens, as you say. All right, Bill, thanks a lot.
Some people just can't cope without their cell phones and will use them just about anywhere they go. But cell phones have always been banned on commercial airliners. Now, some high-tech companies and the aviation industry are working to let you chat during flights.
Kathleen Koch reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please turn off and put away all electronic devices, including cellular phones and two-way pagers.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Familiar announcements soon to be obsolete. In tests this summer, companies like Airbus and American airlines teamed with telecommunications firms to show using cell phones in flight can be safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounded just as if I was on the ground talking to someone next door.
KOCH: For years, there has been concern the signals from cell phones would interfere with aircraft navigation systems. But new technology installs laptop-sized pico cells on aircraft. They picking up on-board cell phone calls and sends them directly to satellites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a huge safety factor, because we are transmitting at such a low power to a cell site right in the airplane.
KOCH: The components are small, lightweight, only a satellite antenna visible outside the aircraft. A non-profit aeronautics group is crafting guidelines to test the wireless technology to meet federal aviation administration approval.
It's convenience versus safety. And from an aviation point of view, safety will always be dominant. But the body of evidence is growing that there is a way to make this happen.
KOCH: Passengers are already speaking up about what they would prefer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly a cell phone-less flight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes it is nice to get away from the cell phone, but it would be nice to have it for an emergency situation if I needed it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would endorse that wholeheartedly. I think in today's world of technology, we should have already been there.
KOCH (on camera): Besides FAA approval, the Federal Communications Commission will have to be convinced that making calls from 30,000 feet won't wreak havoc with cell systems here on the ground.
(voice over): If there are no hang-ups, the prediction is cell phones could be in use in aircraft by 2006.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The FAA and the FCC, of course, still have to approve the use of the new cell phone technology on planes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." And he's got this week's picks for your office football pool. By the way, guess who is in the lead here on AMERICAN MORNING?
Plus, singer Melissa Etheridge takes a stab at sitcom success. But the bigger buzz might be about her TV roommate. "90-Second Pop" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day" once again. Debate, debate, debate.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Debate, debate, debate. Foreign policy, the subject last night for this first debate. The dominating foreign policy (AUDIO GAP) in Iraq.
The question this morning is: Do you think the candidates are delivering the right message about Iraq? And we're getting a lot of e-mail, I mean, like thousands of letters. There is some sort of conspiracy thing going on, you know what I mean?
Barbara from Bath, Maine, writes: "Both Kerry and Bush have similar takes on the war. However, Kerry's ideas have more emphasis on training the Iraqi people as quickly as possible. I must admit I thought the debate was good, and I hadn't even planned on watching it."
Thomas in Madison, New Jersey, writes: "Mr. Bush seemed to be speaking a great deal in the future tense as he described implementation of his policies in Iraq on terrorism. We've been at this awhile, and it appears he's unwilling to make changes, as such action might imply some less-than-perfect decisions."
And Roger in Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin: "I know what happened in the last four years. The next four years was my concern, and there was no discussion."
AM@CNN.com. A quiz on "The Cafferty File" at 8:50, something a little different. I think you might enjoy it.
COLLINS: We're looking forward to that. You know, it was interesting, because we thought we weren't going to see any of the cutaway shots. We also thought we weren't going to be able to see any sort of impromptu exchange. But they got to do quite a few of those 30-second delays that Jim Lehrer allowed.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: And then we also did get to see quite a few cutaways, reaction shots.
CAFFERTY: As it should be.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: And what did you think, Jack? I mean, you were thinking that...
CAFFERTY: I think -- I think...
COLLINS: A train wreck is what you were hoping for.
SERWER: Right.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I don't think we saw a train wreck, but I don't think it was President Bush's finest moment by a long shot. And I think John Kerry distinguished himself.
SERWER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a little bit, didn't he?
CAFFERTY: No, but it was -- you know, it was watchable.
SERWER: Right.
CAFFERTY: It wasn't as tedious as I thought it was going to be.
COLLINS: And, hey, you know what? We're going to talk about it for about two more hours or so.
CAFFERTY: Or 30 more days.
COLLINS: Yes. Thanks, Jack.
Andy...
SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: ... stuff going on all over.
SERWER: Yes, let's talk about the markets and then on to the football stuff.
We ended the quarter yesterday, and let's check out those numbers. Heidi, I promise you some good news. This is not the good news.
COLLINS: Oh, I guess not.
SERWER: This is the bad news. It was a bad quarter, and Nasdaq in particular. But here is the good news for you. The futures are up smartly this morning.
COLLINS: Smartly. I love that.
SERWER: Smartly. So, it looks like we're going to have a higher open on the Street. We'll see how that goes.
Now it is time for football. Let's look at the cumulative scores here, the anchors on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, and see how we've done. It's not so good.
CAFFERTY: Let's don't.
COLLINS: Not so good!
SERWER: That's good. Do we got them up?
COLLINS: I think it's fabulous.
SERWER: Maybe we don't. We don't have them? There we go. Oh!
COLLINS: Oh, wait. That's not the cumulative.
CAFFERTY: Look at that.
SERWER: That's not -- I'm not sure what that is. Let's just go to the games, because that's not the right screen. Heidi is in the lead. Heidi Collins, the...
COLLINS: See, we don't have the graphic simply because I'm in the lead.
SERWER: I know. You're (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: And I think I'm last. So...
SERWER: He is the one who is messing around with the screens.
CAFFERTY: That's right. I'm last.
SERWER: All right, let's talk about the game this week. A couple upsets I'm picking here. We've got the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills. Everyone says the Patriots are going to win this game. Now let's talk about it.
I think the Bills are going to win this game. The Pats are going for an 18th win in a row, which would be a record. I don't think it's going to happen. Of course, it's the Brady Bunch versus Bledsoe. I think Bledsoe is going to look for a little bit of revenge.
On to the Falcons versus the Panthers. To borrow a phrase from Pedro Martinez, the Falcons are the Panthers' daddy, 7 and 8 against them. You know about that.
COLLINS: Them are fighting words.
SERWER: This is Michael Vick against Julius Peppers (ph) and Mr. Rucker. And I think that the Panthers are going to pull this one out. Of course, I'm just trying to be nice to Will Surat (ph). He's our producer. He's from Carolina.
And then the last one here, Tennessee Titans versus San Diego Chargers. I'm going for the Chargers, because I go for them every week and they lose. So, eventually they're going to win. How is that for a football mind?
COLLINS: Yes.
SERWER: OK, and here we go. You stay classy, San Diego. Of course that's from the legend of Ron Burgundy (ph). You stay classy. I don't think they're going to win. Billy Volick (ph) may be replace Eric McNair (Ph). Bill Volick (ph)...
CAFFERTY: Oh, no.
SERWER: ... may be Tennessee's quarterback. He's actually so bad. Yes.
COLLINS: All right, well, it's going to be another tough week.
SERWER: You are ahead, by the way.
COLLINS: Thanks. We'll get that graphic for sure coming up any minute now.
SERWER: You are ahead. You're in the lead.
COLLINS: All right, thanks, Andy.
And still to come this morning, something fishy about today's "90-Second Pop, too". Will "Shark Tale," in theaters this weekend, will it sink or swim at the box office? We'll talk about it head on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: "90-Second Pop" for a Friday now. And here to play with us on this Friday, B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly." Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York" magazine. And Josh Elliott, staff writer for "Sports Illustrated." We are going to be talking a little sports here.
JOSH ELLIOTT, STAFF WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": I know.
COLLINS: Not football, but we'll talk a little baseball in a minute.
Sarah, I want to start with you, though. We just heard some music from Melissa Etheridge.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: That's right.
COLLINS: She apparently is going to move to the sitcom area now about an unconventional family. And she is going to apparently play a music teacher who is gay but living with a straight man. Some would say, hey, isn't there a show already like that kind of in reverse?
BERNARD: I know. It sounds like "Will & Grace," right?" COLLINS: Right.
BERNARD: Flipped around. Well, I was so surprised that she didn't go the reality show route. So, I think it's kind of quaint that she's chosen a sitcom. But this is really noteworthy, because there are so few out-gay actresses on a network show -- this is going to be a really big deal -- and playing a character who is a lesbian not in the closet.
COLLINS: But Ellen DeGeneres, didn't she kind of pave the way for that?
BERNARD: She did. And actually Melissa Etheridge did some cameos on "Ellen."
COLLINS: Right.
BERNARD: And I was going to say, one of the big questions is, I mean, we don't really know if she can act or not. I mean, that was pretty much her...
COLLINS: True.
BERNARD: ... and that's the only showcase.
ELLIOTT: I mean, "Will & Grace" is such a well-acted show. And so I think if all you -- I mean, you know, Ellen wasn't, and that's why it went the way of the do-do. That's what I wonder, is will the show be...
BERNARD: And she can actually be an actress.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Right.
ELLIOTT: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Well, you know...
BERNARD: Well...
SIGESMUND: I was going to say, the show actually does not have a commitment from a network yet. It's just sort of -- it seems like a trial balloon right now. And also, I'm a little worried, because, you know, she is an icon. She's a gay icon. She's one of the few female gay women out there.
COLLINS: All right.
SIGESMUND: But that might not be enough.
COLLINS: We'll keep our eyes open on this one.
BERNARD: She's actually in another movie called "Southern Comfort" she's filming with Demi Moore, Alan Cummings (ph).
COLLINS: So, we'll get a sense of it then. BERNARD: That's right.
COLLINS: All right.
BERNARD: And she plays a trans-gendered man.
COLLINS: OK. OK. And speaking of movies...
ELLIOTT: All right.
COLLINS: It's kind of a segue there. B.J., we're talking about the weekend movies now. We've got "Ladder 49."
SIGESMUND: Right.
COLLINS: And also "Shark Tale." I've got to tell you, very, very excited at our house.
SIGESMUND: Well, you a very young child. "Shark Tale" is the biggest fall release of all time. Dreamworks is trying to create another franchise in the vein of "Shrek" or "Finding Nemo." It's opening in 4,000 theaters. It's got the voices of Will Smith, Rene Zellweger, Angelica -- I'm sorry -- Angelina Jolie.
COLLINS: Right.
SIGESMUND: A lot of huge names attached to this film. The reviews have been not that great. It's no Nemo. The reviews have been a little...
COLLINS: It ain't know no Nemo.
SIGESMUND: It might be more family-oriented. It might be better for young kids than really for teenagers, older kids and adults.
COLLINS: Because Nemo, there was death and destruction right from the beginning.
BERNARD: Right. That was kind of upsetting.
COLLINS: It was very traumatic to some kids.
SIGESMUND: Yes. And this one is more steered toward younger kids.
COLLINS: OK.
BERNARD: I think it's amazing how many celebrities they've packed into this one movie. And it's amazing how much they get paid. They got -- do you know that the people in "Shrek 2," Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, they got $10 million...
SIGESMUND: Ten million.
BERNARD: ... just to lend their voices for that.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
ELLIOTT: For, like, a day.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BERNARD: For a day's work or something.
COLLINS: Unbelievable. Unbelievable. What about "Ladder 49?"
SIGESMUND: In "Ladder 49," this is the more adult choice this weekend. This is about a team of firefighters. Joaquin Phoenix is in it. John Travolta plays his boss. It's very melodramatic, they say. It's about, you know, the trials and tribulations of fighting fires. A lot of the footage that you've seen in trailers and on commercials looks dangerously close to the footage that we saw around 9/11, which may be a turnoff to some people.
COLLINS: Yes.
SIGESMUND: I'm expecting this movie to be No. 2 this weekend, far below "Shark Tale."
COLLINS: OK. All right, let's talk sports. What do you think, Josh?
ELLIOTT: OK.
COLLINS: Last year the baseball playoffs, just amazing. I mean, very, very exciting. What do you think about this year, though? There is a lot going on.
ELLIOTT: Well, this weekend is truly a weekend to kind of go back nostalgically and take a trip into our past, where the country actually cared about baseball.
COLLINS: Yes.
ELLIOTT: I mean, we're an NFL-obsessed country now. But for this weekend, there are five teams in the National League competing for the last two playoff spots there. There are two teams that will be basically playing a best 2 out of 3 in the American League. And I think we are going to be obsessed with it this weekend. And I really think this is going to be -- this will catapult us into October. And, you know, again, it will be as entertaining, I think, in years past.
But we've never seen so many teams alive in the last weekend after...
COLLINS: Yes.
ELLIOTT: ... when you think of 162-game schedule, plus spring training. These teams have been competing since February.
COLLINS: Yes. It's going to be...
(CROSSTALK) ELLIOTT: Yes, it's coming down to a weekend.
COLLINS: OK, so -- go ahead, B.J.
SIGESMUND: I was just going to say, what I think is amazing, though, is that some of the playoffs are going to be up against some of the debates. And the networks have had to make decisions on whether they're going to cover the debates or the game. Like Fox is airing one of the playoff games during the vice presidential debate. And they said that they're going to re-run -- they'll run the debates later that night at midnight.
ELLIOTT: Well, see, and I think...
BERNARD: That's probably going to be a good idea actually.
(CROSSTALK)
ELLIOTT: Absolutely. I mean, the debates are up against the playoffs. I mean, I really think that's the way to look at it.
BERNARD: Well, they can always watch them on CNN or something.
COLLINS: Oh, there you go! So, it's a great idea. And, of course, we've also got the Expos moving to D.C. So interesting news there all over the place baseball-wise.
ELLIOTT: Well, and you guys are doing football picks now?
BERNARD: And Heidi won the pool, didn't she?
COLLINS: I didn't mention that. Say it again. It's not going to last. Anyway, guys, thank you so much for your time, as always, B.J., Sarah and Josh this morning.
Still to come, who did win the debate? The early numbers are out. And we're going to have them for you coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired October 1, 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: Happy Friday morning from New York City to you and all of the cabbie drivers out there as well this morning. It is just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In just a few minutes, we'll go back to Columbus, Ohio, where Bill Hemmer is standing by. He's going to tell us about the feedback he got from a focus group that watched the debate last night. They used those things, the little meters that we handed out. What did the candidates say to get the best reaction and the worst? We're going to find out.
We will also get Jeff Greenfield's take on the debate and who came out better. That is just ahead.
But first, we want to check on the stories "Now in the News" once again with Rick Sanchez.
Quite a bit going on in Samarra.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, there, and also in the Middle East; more problems, as a matter of fact, in the Middle East.
Heidi, good morning.
The death toll is rising in the fight for control of the Iraqi city of Samarra. At least 109 insurgents have now been killed in the massive fighting there. There is also word of at least one American fatality. Military sources say four U.S. troops have been injured.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is undergoing a non-surgical heart procedure this morning. Blair arrived at the London hospital to treat a recurring heart murmur. Blair says that he will seek a third term as prime minister, but will not seek a fourth. He's expected to make a full recovery.
In Virginia, authorities are searching for a 3-year-old boy, who has now been missing since Wednesday. Police are saying that Tyrique Davis (ph) was being watched by his mother's boyfriend, who claims the child was taken from a Wal-Mart parking lot. However, authorities are not focusing their search in the Wal-Mart area; rather, in a wooded area, where the boyfriend was working earlier in the day. Police have arrested him, but on unrelated charges.
This turns out to be a hazing ritual, a hazing ritual gone right in this case. As we told you yesterday, Cleveland Indians pitcher Kyle Denney wasn't seriously hurt when shot in the leg while riding on a team bus. Well, it may have been because he was wearing knee-high white cheerleader boots as part of a tradition to haze rookies. We'll leave it at that, Heidi. Denney rejoined his team in Minneapolis just yesterday.
All right. Anticipation is rising to see how things went with Bill and the metered audience that he's been teasing for the past half-hour. We can't wait to see this report, Mr. Bill, in Columbus, Ohio.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Yes, by the way, there is always another side of the story, isn't there, for that Cleveland Indians pitcher? Wow! Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: You know, about a week ago, we came out with this poll with the folks at Gallup. We found 18 percent of those surveyed were still undecided about who they would vote for come November 2. If this race is as close as we believe it is at this point, 18 percent is a pretty sizable number.
Last night, we took our own sample, our own chunk of Buckeyes here in the middle part of Ohio, to find out how they reacted to last night's debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER (voice over): They were 22 mostly undecided voters in a critical battleground state, brought together on the campus of Ohio State University. They were truckers and teachers, accountants and retirees.
CNN equipped them with hand-held touch pads to gauge their reactions in real time. The women were measured with a yellow line, the men with a blue line.
Senator Kerry won strong approval when he suggested the president took the fight to the wrong enemy.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't leave a failed Iraq, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake of judgment to go there and take the focus off of Osama bin Laden. It was.
HEMMER: President Bush then scored high marks when he suggested that Senator Kerry was not backing U.S. allies.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I mean, you can't expect to build alliance when you denigrate the contributions of those who are serving side-by-side with American troops in Iraq.
HEMMER: Later, strong words from the senator about those killed in Iraq sent the meters lower.
KERRY: More in July than June, more in August than July, more in September than in August. HEMMER: Then a strong rebuttal by the president was not well- received.
BUSH: You cannot lead the war on terror if you keep changing positions on the war on terror and say things like, well, this is just a grand diversion. It's not a grand diversion. This is an essential that we get it right.
HEMMER: Reaction from our focus group was generally mixed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think after this, leaning a little more towards Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight it kind of made me lean a little more towards Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was very even. Neither party made their point much above the other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Again, just a part of the sample we picked up last night here in Columbus.
One very interesting aspect that we found to this. The women you saw were in yellow, the men were in blue. For the first 20 minutes of this debate last night, the women showed all positive response ahead of the men towards President Bush. At the half-hour mark, right around 9:30 Eastern Time, something changed, because the women then went to John Kerry and outpaced the men in their positive response to the Massachusetts senator. And then in the final 20 minutes, almost like the stretch run last night, it flipped again. The women went back to George Bush.
And what all of this means, we cannot say. It's clearly not scientific. It only gives us a snapshot of what these 22 men and women were thinking and feeling here.
The bottom line, we believe, through this group of Ohioans last night, is this debate was a tie essentially for them, watching here on the campus of Ohio State University.
From Columbus to Miami, Florida, Jeff Greenfield is with me now looking at his analysis from last night.
And, Jeff, as we say good morning to you, I want to play a bit of a part from last night of John Kerry playing to his strengths for the senator and how he presented his arguments last night on foreign policy. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I believe in being strong and resolute and determined. And I will hunt down and kill the terrorists wherever they are. I can make America safer than President Bush has made us. I have a better plan for homeland security. I know I can do a better job in Iraq. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The bottom line: Did he appear to be commander-in- chief-like last night, Jeff?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Yes. What I think, Bill, is actually he was playing in that remark less his strength than to a perceived weakness, that a lot of voters think he isn't resolute and that he's changed his position. So, that was one of several examples, it's a good example, of where he was using language of strength and determination.
And I think both in his presentation on substance and in his demeanor he did take a good step toward accomplishing what he wanted to do.
Now in contrast, President Bush, who has been known throughout his public career -- it only goes back a decade -- as man who stays relentlessly on message, was very much in that picture last night. Take a look at this sample, if you will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I know we won't achieve if we send mixed signals. The only thing consistent about my opponent's position is that he's been inconsistent. He changes positions. You cannot lead if you send mixed messages. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to our troops. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to our allies. Mixed messages send the wrong signals to the Iraqi citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, in case you missed this, Bill, the president was saying that Senator Kerry can't lead because he sends mixed messages. And my own question about that is whether or not in repeating that as often as he did, at least a dozen times by my count, he may have gone one step too further in suggesting to voters that he was basically reciting talking points at that point -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes. Do you believe, Jeff, based on what you heard and saw there in Miami last night, did one man do a better job of swaying voters in that 90-minute period?
GREENFIELD: Until the last part of that question, I was prepared to give you a definitive answer. I think John Kerry did a better job in debate terms. That's what -- you know, that's what the snap polls showed. That's what most of the experts, even the "New York Post," a very pro-Bush paper, had its bipartisan panel say that Kerry actually did better.
But that's a different question from asking did they sway voters, because it's entirely possible that if a voter -- if enough voters have made up their minds, if the undecideds are smaller than our poll and the Bush campaign thinks it is, then it's perfectly consistent for people to say, well, I think Kerry won the debate, but I'm still voting for Bush because I think he's better on terror or Iraq or whatever. That's what we're not going to know for another two or three days.
And remember, four years ago the first snap polls of the first debate showed that Al Gore had -- quote -- "won on points." But two days later when the stories appeared about his sighing and a couple of mistakes he made, then the opinion changed.
So, I really think, you know, much as I know, we're all fascinated by snap polls and voters with dials, we've got to wait a day or two to see whether or not this is going to have a political effect -- Bill.
HEMMER: You know, it was around midnight last night, and you were on last night explaining to our viewers from the filing center where the reporters were, watching this monitor of the cutaway reactions of John Kerry and George Bush.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: And we talked to Dan Bartlett about this about 30 minutes ago. What did you notice in the president last night when John Kerry was talking that a lot of us did not see?
GREENFIELD: Well, if you watched it on CNN, as opposed to watching it in the press filing center or on the other networks, when they called up that split screen shot, you did see the president at times looking, I guess testy would be the best word, or annoyed. One paper described it as occasionally looking disgusted.
And if you believe that what lawyers call demeanor evidence, how people comport themselves, makes a difference, then that shot, I think, has to have the Bush campaign a little concerned. Because if you didn't know anything about the candidates, if you just went and looked at that picture, Kerry, as I like to put it, Kerry took the room in that shot. He was the more composed figure.
Again, that's a long way from saying that's going to change people's minds in the debates. You know, and I have no idea what the Bush White House is going to say about that, or care. But that's what I noticed from that.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jeff. Jeff Greenfield in Miami, Florida, this morning.
We are a week from today -- a week from today is debate No. 2 in St. Louis, Missouri, when John Kerry and George Bush go at it again. In the middle debate next Tuesday night here in the Buckeye State, Cleveland, Ohio, John Edwards faces off with Dick Cheney. Four years ago, George Bush won this state by 3 and a half percentage points over Al Gore. We'll see if it's the same ballgame this year.
Back to Heidi now in New York with more there -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Three and a half percentage points, not huge. We'll have to see what happens, as you say. All right, Bill, thanks a lot.
Some people just can't cope without their cell phones and will use them just about anywhere they go. But cell phones have always been banned on commercial airliners. Now, some high-tech companies and the aviation industry are working to let you chat during flights.
Kathleen Koch reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please turn off and put away all electronic devices, including cellular phones and two-way pagers.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Familiar announcements soon to be obsolete. In tests this summer, companies like Airbus and American airlines teamed with telecommunications firms to show using cell phones in flight can be safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounded just as if I was on the ground talking to someone next door.
KOCH: For years, there has been concern the signals from cell phones would interfere with aircraft navigation systems. But new technology installs laptop-sized pico cells on aircraft. They picking up on-board cell phone calls and sends them directly to satellites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a huge safety factor, because we are transmitting at such a low power to a cell site right in the airplane.
KOCH: The components are small, lightweight, only a satellite antenna visible outside the aircraft. A non-profit aeronautics group is crafting guidelines to test the wireless technology to meet federal aviation administration approval.
It's convenience versus safety. And from an aviation point of view, safety will always be dominant. But the body of evidence is growing that there is a way to make this happen.
KOCH: Passengers are already speaking up about what they would prefer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly a cell phone-less flight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes it is nice to get away from the cell phone, but it would be nice to have it for an emergency situation if I needed it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would endorse that wholeheartedly. I think in today's world of technology, we should have already been there.
KOCH (on camera): Besides FAA approval, the Federal Communications Commission will have to be convinced that making calls from 30,000 feet won't wreak havoc with cell systems here on the ground.
(voice over): If there are no hang-ups, the prediction is cell phones could be in use in aircraft by 2006.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The FAA and the FCC, of course, still have to approve the use of the new cell phone technology on planes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." And he's got this week's picks for your office football pool. By the way, guess who is in the lead here on AMERICAN MORNING?
Plus, singer Melissa Etheridge takes a stab at sitcom success. But the bigger buzz might be about her TV roommate. "90-Second Pop" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day" once again. Debate, debate, debate.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Debate, debate, debate. Foreign policy, the subject last night for this first debate. The dominating foreign policy (AUDIO GAP) in Iraq.
The question this morning is: Do you think the candidates are delivering the right message about Iraq? And we're getting a lot of e-mail, I mean, like thousands of letters. There is some sort of conspiracy thing going on, you know what I mean?
Barbara from Bath, Maine, writes: "Both Kerry and Bush have similar takes on the war. However, Kerry's ideas have more emphasis on training the Iraqi people as quickly as possible. I must admit I thought the debate was good, and I hadn't even planned on watching it."
Thomas in Madison, New Jersey, writes: "Mr. Bush seemed to be speaking a great deal in the future tense as he described implementation of his policies in Iraq on terrorism. We've been at this awhile, and it appears he's unwilling to make changes, as such action might imply some less-than-perfect decisions."
And Roger in Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin: "I know what happened in the last four years. The next four years was my concern, and there was no discussion."
AM@CNN.com. A quiz on "The Cafferty File" at 8:50, something a little different. I think you might enjoy it.
COLLINS: We're looking forward to that. You know, it was interesting, because we thought we weren't going to see any of the cutaway shots. We also thought we weren't going to be able to see any sort of impromptu exchange. But they got to do quite a few of those 30-second delays that Jim Lehrer allowed.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: And then we also did get to see quite a few cutaways, reaction shots.
CAFFERTY: As it should be.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: And what did you think, Jack? I mean, you were thinking that...
CAFFERTY: I think -- I think...
COLLINS: A train wreck is what you were hoping for.
SERWER: Right.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I don't think we saw a train wreck, but I don't think it was President Bush's finest moment by a long shot. And I think John Kerry distinguished himself.
SERWER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a little bit, didn't he?
CAFFERTY: No, but it was -- you know, it was watchable.
SERWER: Right.
CAFFERTY: It wasn't as tedious as I thought it was going to be.
COLLINS: And, hey, you know what? We're going to talk about it for about two more hours or so.
CAFFERTY: Or 30 more days.
COLLINS: Yes. Thanks, Jack.
Andy...
SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: ... stuff going on all over.
SERWER: Yes, let's talk about the markets and then on to the football stuff.
We ended the quarter yesterday, and let's check out those numbers. Heidi, I promise you some good news. This is not the good news.
COLLINS: Oh, I guess not.
SERWER: This is the bad news. It was a bad quarter, and Nasdaq in particular. But here is the good news for you. The futures are up smartly this morning.
COLLINS: Smartly. I love that.
SERWER: Smartly. So, it looks like we're going to have a higher open on the Street. We'll see how that goes.
Now it is time for football. Let's look at the cumulative scores here, the anchors on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, and see how we've done. It's not so good.
CAFFERTY: Let's don't.
COLLINS: Not so good!
SERWER: That's good. Do we got them up?
COLLINS: I think it's fabulous.
SERWER: Maybe we don't. We don't have them? There we go. Oh!
COLLINS: Oh, wait. That's not the cumulative.
CAFFERTY: Look at that.
SERWER: That's not -- I'm not sure what that is. Let's just go to the games, because that's not the right screen. Heidi is in the lead. Heidi Collins, the...
COLLINS: See, we don't have the graphic simply because I'm in the lead.
SERWER: I know. You're (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: And I think I'm last. So...
SERWER: He is the one who is messing around with the screens.
CAFFERTY: That's right. I'm last.
SERWER: All right, let's talk about the game this week. A couple upsets I'm picking here. We've got the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills. Everyone says the Patriots are going to win this game. Now let's talk about it.
I think the Bills are going to win this game. The Pats are going for an 18th win in a row, which would be a record. I don't think it's going to happen. Of course, it's the Brady Bunch versus Bledsoe. I think Bledsoe is going to look for a little bit of revenge.
On to the Falcons versus the Panthers. To borrow a phrase from Pedro Martinez, the Falcons are the Panthers' daddy, 7 and 8 against them. You know about that.
COLLINS: Them are fighting words.
SERWER: This is Michael Vick against Julius Peppers (ph) and Mr. Rucker. And I think that the Panthers are going to pull this one out. Of course, I'm just trying to be nice to Will Surat (ph). He's our producer. He's from Carolina.
And then the last one here, Tennessee Titans versus San Diego Chargers. I'm going for the Chargers, because I go for them every week and they lose. So, eventually they're going to win. How is that for a football mind?
COLLINS: Yes.
SERWER: OK, and here we go. You stay classy, San Diego. Of course that's from the legend of Ron Burgundy (ph). You stay classy. I don't think they're going to win. Billy Volick (ph) may be replace Eric McNair (Ph). Bill Volick (ph)...
CAFFERTY: Oh, no.
SERWER: ... may be Tennessee's quarterback. He's actually so bad. Yes.
COLLINS: All right, well, it's going to be another tough week.
SERWER: You are ahead, by the way.
COLLINS: Thanks. We'll get that graphic for sure coming up any minute now.
SERWER: You are ahead. You're in the lead.
COLLINS: All right, thanks, Andy.
And still to come this morning, something fishy about today's "90-Second Pop, too". Will "Shark Tale," in theaters this weekend, will it sink or swim at the box office? We'll talk about it head on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: "90-Second Pop" for a Friday now. And here to play with us on this Friday, B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly." Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York" magazine. And Josh Elliott, staff writer for "Sports Illustrated." We are going to be talking a little sports here.
JOSH ELLIOTT, STAFF WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": I know.
COLLINS: Not football, but we'll talk a little baseball in a minute.
Sarah, I want to start with you, though. We just heard some music from Melissa Etheridge.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: That's right.
COLLINS: She apparently is going to move to the sitcom area now about an unconventional family. And she is going to apparently play a music teacher who is gay but living with a straight man. Some would say, hey, isn't there a show already like that kind of in reverse?
BERNARD: I know. It sounds like "Will & Grace," right?" COLLINS: Right.
BERNARD: Flipped around. Well, I was so surprised that she didn't go the reality show route. So, I think it's kind of quaint that she's chosen a sitcom. But this is really noteworthy, because there are so few out-gay actresses on a network show -- this is going to be a really big deal -- and playing a character who is a lesbian not in the closet.
COLLINS: But Ellen DeGeneres, didn't she kind of pave the way for that?
BERNARD: She did. And actually Melissa Etheridge did some cameos on "Ellen."
COLLINS: Right.
BERNARD: And I was going to say, one of the big questions is, I mean, we don't really know if she can act or not. I mean, that was pretty much her...
COLLINS: True.
BERNARD: ... and that's the only showcase.
ELLIOTT: I mean, "Will & Grace" is such a well-acted show. And so I think if all you -- I mean, you know, Ellen wasn't, and that's why it went the way of the do-do. That's what I wonder, is will the show be...
BERNARD: And she can actually be an actress.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Right.
ELLIOTT: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Well, you know...
BERNARD: Well...
SIGESMUND: I was going to say, the show actually does not have a commitment from a network yet. It's just sort of -- it seems like a trial balloon right now. And also, I'm a little worried, because, you know, she is an icon. She's a gay icon. She's one of the few female gay women out there.
COLLINS: All right.
SIGESMUND: But that might not be enough.
COLLINS: We'll keep our eyes open on this one.
BERNARD: She's actually in another movie called "Southern Comfort" she's filming with Demi Moore, Alan Cummings (ph).
COLLINS: So, we'll get a sense of it then. BERNARD: That's right.
COLLINS: All right.
BERNARD: And she plays a trans-gendered man.
COLLINS: OK. OK. And speaking of movies...
ELLIOTT: All right.
COLLINS: It's kind of a segue there. B.J., we're talking about the weekend movies now. We've got "Ladder 49."
SIGESMUND: Right.
COLLINS: And also "Shark Tale." I've got to tell you, very, very excited at our house.
SIGESMUND: Well, you a very young child. "Shark Tale" is the biggest fall release of all time. Dreamworks is trying to create another franchise in the vein of "Shrek" or "Finding Nemo." It's opening in 4,000 theaters. It's got the voices of Will Smith, Rene Zellweger, Angelica -- I'm sorry -- Angelina Jolie.
COLLINS: Right.
SIGESMUND: A lot of huge names attached to this film. The reviews have been not that great. It's no Nemo. The reviews have been a little...
COLLINS: It ain't know no Nemo.
SIGESMUND: It might be more family-oriented. It might be better for young kids than really for teenagers, older kids and adults.
COLLINS: Because Nemo, there was death and destruction right from the beginning.
BERNARD: Right. That was kind of upsetting.
COLLINS: It was very traumatic to some kids.
SIGESMUND: Yes. And this one is more steered toward younger kids.
COLLINS: OK.
BERNARD: I think it's amazing how many celebrities they've packed into this one movie. And it's amazing how much they get paid. They got -- do you know that the people in "Shrek 2," Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, they got $10 million...
SIGESMUND: Ten million.
BERNARD: ... just to lend their voices for that.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
ELLIOTT: For, like, a day.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BERNARD: For a day's work or something.
COLLINS: Unbelievable. Unbelievable. What about "Ladder 49?"
SIGESMUND: In "Ladder 49," this is the more adult choice this weekend. This is about a team of firefighters. Joaquin Phoenix is in it. John Travolta plays his boss. It's very melodramatic, they say. It's about, you know, the trials and tribulations of fighting fires. A lot of the footage that you've seen in trailers and on commercials looks dangerously close to the footage that we saw around 9/11, which may be a turnoff to some people.
COLLINS: Yes.
SIGESMUND: I'm expecting this movie to be No. 2 this weekend, far below "Shark Tale."
COLLINS: OK. All right, let's talk sports. What do you think, Josh?
ELLIOTT: OK.
COLLINS: Last year the baseball playoffs, just amazing. I mean, very, very exciting. What do you think about this year, though? There is a lot going on.
ELLIOTT: Well, this weekend is truly a weekend to kind of go back nostalgically and take a trip into our past, where the country actually cared about baseball.
COLLINS: Yes.
ELLIOTT: I mean, we're an NFL-obsessed country now. But for this weekend, there are five teams in the National League competing for the last two playoff spots there. There are two teams that will be basically playing a best 2 out of 3 in the American League. And I think we are going to be obsessed with it this weekend. And I really think this is going to be -- this will catapult us into October. And, you know, again, it will be as entertaining, I think, in years past.
But we've never seen so many teams alive in the last weekend after...
COLLINS: Yes.
ELLIOTT: ... when you think of 162-game schedule, plus spring training. These teams have been competing since February.
COLLINS: Yes. It's going to be...
(CROSSTALK) ELLIOTT: Yes, it's coming down to a weekend.
COLLINS: OK, so -- go ahead, B.J.
SIGESMUND: I was just going to say, what I think is amazing, though, is that some of the playoffs are going to be up against some of the debates. And the networks have had to make decisions on whether they're going to cover the debates or the game. Like Fox is airing one of the playoff games during the vice presidential debate. And they said that they're going to re-run -- they'll run the debates later that night at midnight.
ELLIOTT: Well, see, and I think...
BERNARD: That's probably going to be a good idea actually.
(CROSSTALK)
ELLIOTT: Absolutely. I mean, the debates are up against the playoffs. I mean, I really think that's the way to look at it.
BERNARD: Well, they can always watch them on CNN or something.
COLLINS: Oh, there you go! So, it's a great idea. And, of course, we've also got the Expos moving to D.C. So interesting news there all over the place baseball-wise.
ELLIOTT: Well, and you guys are doing football picks now?
BERNARD: And Heidi won the pool, didn't she?
COLLINS: I didn't mention that. Say it again. It's not going to last. Anyway, guys, thank you so much for your time, as always, B.J., Sarah and Josh this morning.
Still to come, who did win the debate? The early numbers are out. And we're going to have them for you coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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