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American Morning

Remembering Christopher Reeve; The Kerry Campaign; Terrorism Position

Aired October 11, 2004 - 9:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Remembering the life of Christopher Reeve today. The actor who was a natural as "Superman" and a powerful force for spinal research has died.
Baseball's former MVP Ken Caminiti is dead. Struggles off the field overshadowing a great career on it.

And did Friday's debate change the presidential campaign? A look at where the race stands today on this Monday morning.

And bursting the balloon. A wild ride over New Mexico on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. Nine o'clock here in New York. Heidi in today for Soledad.

Good morning to you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: We remember the life of Christopher Reeve today, dying yesterday of heart failure. Looking back at his career as an actor, and also what he did for people who suffered from spinal injuries. We'll also talk to a man who had a similar injury and helped Reeve adjust to his own condition. And his acting coach, Harold Guskin, who knew him well, will join us in a few moments here.

COLLINS: Also, where will the final three weeks of the presidential campaign be fought? We're going to look at what campaigns are doing as they narrow their strategy for the big push.

HEMMER: It's a sprint right now, right? Twenty-two days and counting.

What's happening, Jack? Good morning. Welcome back.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, we've had, what, four years to fix the problems that plagued the 2000 presidential election, and the system, boys and girls, is still broken. There are legal challenges pending in five states, weeks before the election is even held. And something called provisional ballots could delay the results even more than the results were delayed in Florida. If you're -- if you're interested in weighing in on whether or not you trust the results of the upcoming election to be accurate and timely, am@cnn.com.

How long were you in Florida for the last...

HEMMER: Thirty-seven days.

CAFFERTY: Man. It's a joke.

HEMMER: I hope we don't go back.

CAFFERTY: But it looks like -- it looks like it's not going to be one of those by midnight on election night we'll know who the president is.

HEMMER: We shall see.

COLLINS: Doubtful. Doubtful. All right, Jack, thank you.

Want to check on the stories "Now in the News" this morning with Kelly Wallace.

Kelly, good morning. To Iraq today.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we begin there. Good morning to you all. Good morning, everyone.

We're beginning with news of a deadly rocket attack in southern Baghdad. U.S. military sources say at least two American soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the assault.

Meantime, in Sadr City, Iraqi militants are laying down their arms this morning. It is part of a government initiative to exchange weapons for cash. The operation is expected to continue until Friday.

In Afghanistan, an investigative panel is set to look into complaints about irregularities in that country's first direct presidential election this weekend. The probe is meant to satisfy criticism from opposition presidential candidates. They wanted the election nullified because of glitches, including the use of the wrong ink to mark voters' hands. Candidates have until tomorrow to submit detailed complaints.

The Senate will start its last day before an election break in about an hour with a corporate tax bill topping its agenda. Senators worked over the weekend to reach a deal to approve the measure. It includes a $140 billion tax break for manufacturers in the United States. The Senate is also expected to pass two spending measures for homeland security and disaster relief.

And the last of the 2004 Nobel Prizes was announced earlier this morning. Finn Kydland of Norway and Edward Prescott of the United States won this year's economics prize. They are honored for their work on economic policies and business cycles.

That's a quick check of the headlines. Now back to Heidi.

COLLINS: Now some boys getting in on the act.

WALLACE: Yes, you know. I tried to get off the women-man thing, you know.

COLLINS: Getting some e-mails on that.

WALLACE: Yes, I am. People saying, "We know where your favorites are."

COLLINS: Oh, right. Kelly Wallace, thanks for that.

WALLACE: Sure.

COLLINS: We'll check back a little later with you.

Meanwhile, actor Christopher Reeve was known for his great strength on the big screen as "Superman" and for his relentless courage following a near-fatal horse riding accident nine years ago. On Saturday, Reeve slipped into a coma after going into cardiac arrest in his suburban New York City home. He died yesterday evening from heart failure, with his family by his side.

Here now is CNN's Sibila Vargas with a look back on Reeve's life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Reeve rose to fame as "Superman," the kind of invincible superhero who only exists in Hollywood fantasies. Over a span of nearly 10 years, he played the man of steel. But his acting credits extended well beyond "Superman."

He co-stared with Jane Seymour in the fantasy romance "Somewhere in Time" and won praise for his dramatic work in "The Remains of the Day." At the age of 42, Reeve's life changed forever when he was thrown from a horse during an equestrian tournament in Virginia. Two broken vertebrae in his neck left him paralyzed.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: It's so tiny, the damage, but it's keeping me in a wheelchair.

VARGAS: Reeve credited his wife Dana with rallying his spirits, giving him the will to live. He worked tirelessly on rehabilitation, readying his body for the cure he was convinced would come.

REEVE: I'm going to get up out of this chair and throw it away and walk.

And cut it. Cut it. Cut it.

VARGAS: Despite his physical limitations, Reeve was determined to go back to work. He directed the HBO film "In the Gloaming."

REEVE: I'm very, very lucky I've been able to move and doing something that I truly love. And I haven't lost anything. I've gained a lot.

VARGAS: But his primary focus became a political and medical one, supporting research into spinal cord injuries. He took an active role in the debate over federal funding of stem-cell research.

REEVE: They call it the body's self-repair (ph). And here it is, and there's a big fight about using it. That is really hard to take.

VARGAS: In 1997, he got a star on Hollywood Boulevard. At that ceremony, Reeve reflected on a life that took an unexpected turn.

REEVE: I would just like people to look back and to know that I kept at it, and through good times and bad times. That they'll look back on the body of work that I did, and know that I've tried my best all the time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Reeve is survived by his wife Dana, their 12-year-old son, and two adult children from another relationship. Christopher Reeve was 52 years old.

HEMMER: Much more on the life of Christopher Reeve now and his death and career. Harold Guskin was Reeve's acting coach for a number of films. Harold Guskin is also the author of the book "How to Stop Acting." He's my guest now here in New York.

And good morning to you. First of all, my sympathies to you for losing a friend, and not just on the professional level, but also on the personal level. When he first came to you 15 years ago, what kind of an actor was he?

HAROLD GUSKIN, REEVE'S ACTING COACH: Well, he was bold. He was a great fellow. He was just incredible.

I remember the first time he came in, I picked up the telephone at one point, somebody had called in. He went, "I can't do this. I'm out of here. I can't..." I said, "Wait a second, where you going? What's happening?"

You know, he said, "No, no, I'm serious here. We've got to get this going." I said, OK, relax. But every now and then I've got to take a telephone call. You'll be OK."

He had power. He had incredible power.

HEMMER: Was he apprehensive, though, too? Is that the suggestion in your answer?

GUSKIN: Well, it was -- in a way, it was, I think, one of the boldest things to do. If you're -- if you're a young actor coming to me, you know, who hasn't done anything, well then it's not a big deal, because I've taught a lot of famous people.

HEMMER: You've got a lot to learn. GUSKIN: So -- and also it's hoping I'm going to make them a big star. But Chris was a big star. He was a big star. And he had had a lot of recognition.

But he wasn't happy with his work. That's the kind of actor he was. He wasn't happy.

He wanted -- he wanted to go somewhere else that was more powerful, more important to him. And it's a big risk to come in to some guy who might say, "Hey, you're not doing it right. You're not doing..." You know, it's a bold thing for an actor to do who's already known to come in and have somebody start to re-teach him.

HEMMER: You gave him a whole chapter in your book.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: What warrants that?

GUSKIN: Chris warrants it. I mean, he was -- he had -- he had so much guts that we never stopped working. We worked for seven years, and in that time, it was very hard, because it was acting in a different kind of way.

It was always good, it was always effective. But he knew it wasn't free. It didn't have the life that he really wanted. And as he went further and further into it, he just -- he just got better and better and better.

At first, he wasn't getting great movies at that time. And so it was hard for the audience to see how phenomenal he was getting. And then all of a sudden he started -- people started recognizing him again, and he started to get these -- these very good films to do. "Remains of the Day" he was spectacular in.

HEMMER: And you worked together on that, too.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: I know you're very close with his wife, Dana, too.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: What do you think we lost in him as a person?

GUSKIN: Well, I think that those of us who knew him well knew what a deep and strong and gifted guy he was. Others knew him just from the big hits that he had had early in his career.

But when the accident happened, I think the world started to know Chris the way I had known him already, as this incredibly strong, caring, deep person who wasn't going to give in to anything. And so, I mean, we joked together at one point. After the accident, I said -- because he wasn't always very patient. He wasn't always as patient as I wanted him to be, and you have to be patient to be a really good actor. And I said, "It's a hell of a way to learn patience here." You know. And he had an incredible sense -- really, he was fine with it. That's -- that's -- he had this -- this nature.

Nothing actually stopped him. And I knew, and I think every one of us who knew him really well, knew that nothing was going to stop him.

And he had wanted to direct. In fact, before the accident, he had talked to me about film he was going to direct in England. And then the accident and everything fell apart.

And I knew he was going to direct. And he did direct. And he directed beautifully, this last one. He was -- the last thing we heard from him was about how happy he was.

Dana was telling us how happy he was about the -- the work that he had done there, and the actors. And Glenn Close told me that when she worked with him on the film that they did, that he directed, the first one, she said he was just magnificent. She said -- she said it was a thrill to work with him as a director. That's Glenn Close.

HEMMER: Wow.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: Harold, thank you for coming in and making time, and sharing, too. Harold Guskin, friend and coach of Christopher Reeve.

GUSKIN: My pleasure.

HEMMER: Thanks -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Former National League MVP Ken Caminiti is dead at age 41. His agent says he suffered a heart attack in New York on Sunday. Caminiti's life is marked by great success on the field but terrible problems off it.

He was a unanimous choice for MVP in 1996, when he led the San Diego Padres to a division title. After his career ended in 2001, though, he admitted to taking steroids. And just last week admitted in court he had violated his probation for a drug conviction, testing positive for cocaine last month. Ken Caminiti dead at age 41.

We're going to take a moment now to check on the weather. Chad Myers is standing by with the very latest forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, with polls showing a razor-thin race yet again, could the final debate tip that balance? We'll check in on that.

COLLINS: And some frightening moments, boy, I guess, at a balloon festival. Look at this now. We're going to hear from the pilot and the young passengers who were there. It's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just 22 days now until the presidential election. And just two days until the final debate between President Bush and Senator John Kerry.

CNN's Ed Henry is on the campaign trail with the senator in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this morning.

Ed, good morning to you.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

That's right. John Kerry is here in Santa Fe to prepare for that third and final debate with President Bush which will take place in the neighboring state of Arizona. There's a lot riding on that clash between the senator and the president as this campaign reaches the critical final three weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you ready for new leadership?

HENRY (voice-over): John Kerry spend the weekend in the battleground states of Ohio and Florida. He basked in the glow of what he believes was another strong performance in Friday night's second presidential debate.

KERRY: The most stunning moment of the whole evening was when George Bush was asked to name three mistakes that he has made, to name three mistakes. And the president couldn't even name one mistake.

HENRY: Republicans, though, said Kerry contradicted himself again on Iraq.

KERRY: I do believe Saddam Hussein was a threat. I always believed he was a threat. The president has been preoccupied with Iraq, where there wasn't a threat.

HENRY: After reading those quotes to a crowd in Florida, Vice President Cheney ridiculed Kerry.

DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's unbelievable. It's -- it -- it's -- well, it's mind-boggling.

HENRY: But Kerry has been buoyed by a rise in the polls, and allies think he's crossed a key threshold.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: The two debates that have taken place have shown to a lot of voters in America, especially undecided voters, that Senator Kerry has the strength, the character, the background to be president. He's fit to be commander in chief.

HENRY: Kerry believes he's passed that test on national security, the president's strength. Now the senator is pivoting to his turf, the domestic agenda, the focus of this week's third debate.

KERRY: I'm going to fight for your jobs. I'm going to fight for your prescription drugs. I'm going to fight for your health care. I'm going to fight for your schools. I'm going to be a president who fights harder for your jobs than I do for my own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): John Kerry will push a domestic issue here at this convention center in Santa Fe. He's going to talk about energy reform and the nation's rising gas prices.

He chose New Mexico, in part, for his debate preparations because this is a major battleground state. In fact, Al Gore only won by 366 votes in 2000. That was the smallest margin of any state, smaller than even Florida. And recent polls show it's a dead heat again -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, yes, very small margin. All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much.

HEMMER: There's also this interview getting a lot of attention in "The New York Times" magazine in which Senator Kerry was asked about the war on terror. He said, in part, "We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance.

As a former law enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution, we're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it."

The Bush team has jumped on those comments, especially that word "nuisance." And I asked Bush campaign chairman Marc -- Marc Racicot, rather, about that earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC RACICOT, BUSH CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: John Kerry has looked at it from the very beginning as a law enforcement reaction. In other words, you wait. Even though you may see gathering threats, even though you have had extraordinary damage done and injury imposed upon the people of this country on our soil, you continue to wait while those threats gather and treat it as a law enforcement operation and consider it a nuisance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was Marc Racicot from earlier.

From L.A. now, our political analyst, Carlos Watson joins us.

Carlos, good morning to you out there in Los Angeles. Is this now a nuisance for John Kerry, a comment like this?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It could be. And frankly, Bill, we're going to see a lot of these in the final days. And I think the question on the part of both campaigns is how quickly you can knock issues like this out of the news headlines, out of the news cycle. But unquestionably, this is now an issue for no other reason than the Bush campaign has very quickly put this in a compelling television ad.

HEMMER: Well then Wednesday night, debate number three, the third and final, are these debates changing much out there, Carlos, do you believe?

WATSON: They are. I mean, two very significant things, Bill, that I think you see.

Number one, clearly, John Kerry has rebutted some of the character attacks, whether or not he was fit to be commander in chief, honest and trustworthy, strong enough, et cetera. And number two, frankly, it's energized the Kerry campaign in many ways.

You're beginning to see literally dozens of House and Senate Democratic staffers take leaves of absences from their jobs in Washington and going out to work in key battleground states, like Iowa and Florida. That's a good sign for John Kerry. So ultimately, he's come out of this with a more energized campaign.

HEMMER: I tell you, it was a confusing sign for me on Friday night with our focus group in Columbus. Twenty-four men and women, 11 say Bush won, 11 say Kerry won, the other two said it was a tie. And if that's reflected across the country, boy, it is still as close as we were four years ago. Is it not?

WATSON: Although, I tell you what, I mean, it's still close to the national polls. But the president going into Wednesday clearly has more at stake because the last thing he can afford to have happen is to go through three debates and not -- and not be seen as having clearly won at least one of them. So at best, right now, he's got one tie and one loss. He needs to win on Wednesday.

HEMMER: And the viewership for debate number two down remarkably compared to debate number one that we all saw. Sixty-two million watching the first one. The figures from last Friday night not nearly as high.

So we will see on Wednesday night. Carlos, thanks.

WATSON: Look forward to seeing you.

HEMMER: Carlos Watson -- you got it. See you later, in L.A. today.

Presidential candidates debate for that third and final time in Tempe, Arizona, Wednesday night. Our coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN. The debate starts at 9:00, two hours later -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, remembering Christopher Reeve. After Reeve's accident, one paralyzed man came to him to offer inspiration. But he says he was the one who was inspired. He joins us just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time to check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day" once again.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.

Talking about the problems of the election process. Four years after the Florida recount disaster, the problem has still not been fixed. The big issue this year could revolve around something called provisional ballots.

Every state has to provide these provisional ballots to voters if they can't be found on the registration list, if they show up at the wrong polling place, or they don't have the proper identification. Then all these ballots will be separated from the others and then held until the identities can be confirmed. I thought we were under attack there for a minute. The -- and that could take a long time.

The question is this: How confident are you that the election will be accurate?

Bob in Sunrise, Florida, says: "I'm a Florida voter. And believe me when I tell you bringing back the literacy test would solve most of the problems. Also, the continuous lowering of the average I.Q. of the nation will one day prevent us from continuing as a democracy. Ignorant ears only hear the spin words and they don't have the inclination to investigate for truth or vote intelligently."

Jim in Miramar Beach, Florida: "The question never entered my mind until the fiasco we experienced in Florida in 2000. Faulty eligibility list, highway patrol roadblocks and error-prone punch cards made a fair vote almost impossible. I fear it could happen again, especially in a state governed by the brother of the president."

And Ernest in Albuquerque, New Mexico: "Jack what is your problem with the election? We can either have the Supreme Court appoint our president or we could apologize to the queen and ask her to take us back."

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Well...

HEMMER: We'll see how much trepidation the networks use this time around, took, in calling the thing on the evening of November 2.

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.

COLLINS: Very slowly.

CAFFERTY: Were we one of the guilty parties?

COLLINS: I don't think so. (CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: I believe we were.

HEMMER: Did you see "SNL" on Saturday night? Do you stay up that late?

CAFFERTY: No, I don't.

HEMMER: They had a little fun at the VP debate. Watch this here from Saturday evening on "SNL."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL HAMMOND, ACTOR: The only reason they bring up Halliburton is because they want to obscure their own record. And Senator, frankly, your record in the Senate is pretty damn pathetic.

You missed 33 out of 36 meetings of the Judiciary Committee, 70 percent of intelligence committee meetings. You did not participate in the Senate Secret Santa program or our softball team.

(LAUGHTER)

You've never chipped in for the coffee fund. I never see you in the parking lot when we hang out by our cars just before going home. You have one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate. Strom Thurmond had a better attendance record in his last term in the Senate, and he was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The response?

CAFFERTY: Edwards didn't say anything.

COLLINS: He didn't say anything. They had the split screen, though, too.

CAFFERTY: Very funny.

COLLINS: All right.

Still to come this morning, one-time Hollywood bad boy Sean Penn takes on the guys who created "South Park" and the new Team America over the November election. "90-Second Pop" has the scoop on AMERICAN MORNING..

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 11, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Remembering the life of Christopher Reeve today. The actor who was a natural as "Superman" and a powerful force for spinal research has died.
Baseball's former MVP Ken Caminiti is dead. Struggles off the field overshadowing a great career on it.

And did Friday's debate change the presidential campaign? A look at where the race stands today on this Monday morning.

And bursting the balloon. A wild ride over New Mexico on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. Nine o'clock here in New York. Heidi in today for Soledad.

Good morning to you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: We remember the life of Christopher Reeve today, dying yesterday of heart failure. Looking back at his career as an actor, and also what he did for people who suffered from spinal injuries. We'll also talk to a man who had a similar injury and helped Reeve adjust to his own condition. And his acting coach, Harold Guskin, who knew him well, will join us in a few moments here.

COLLINS: Also, where will the final three weeks of the presidential campaign be fought? We're going to look at what campaigns are doing as they narrow their strategy for the big push.

HEMMER: It's a sprint right now, right? Twenty-two days and counting.

What's happening, Jack? Good morning. Welcome back.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, we've had, what, four years to fix the problems that plagued the 2000 presidential election, and the system, boys and girls, is still broken. There are legal challenges pending in five states, weeks before the election is even held. And something called provisional ballots could delay the results even more than the results were delayed in Florida. If you're -- if you're interested in weighing in on whether or not you trust the results of the upcoming election to be accurate and timely, am@cnn.com.

How long were you in Florida for the last...

HEMMER: Thirty-seven days.

CAFFERTY: Man. It's a joke.

HEMMER: I hope we don't go back.

CAFFERTY: But it looks like -- it looks like it's not going to be one of those by midnight on election night we'll know who the president is.

HEMMER: We shall see.

COLLINS: Doubtful. Doubtful. All right, Jack, thank you.

Want to check on the stories "Now in the News" this morning with Kelly Wallace.

Kelly, good morning. To Iraq today.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we begin there. Good morning to you all. Good morning, everyone.

We're beginning with news of a deadly rocket attack in southern Baghdad. U.S. military sources say at least two American soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the assault.

Meantime, in Sadr City, Iraqi militants are laying down their arms this morning. It is part of a government initiative to exchange weapons for cash. The operation is expected to continue until Friday.

In Afghanistan, an investigative panel is set to look into complaints about irregularities in that country's first direct presidential election this weekend. The probe is meant to satisfy criticism from opposition presidential candidates. They wanted the election nullified because of glitches, including the use of the wrong ink to mark voters' hands. Candidates have until tomorrow to submit detailed complaints.

The Senate will start its last day before an election break in about an hour with a corporate tax bill topping its agenda. Senators worked over the weekend to reach a deal to approve the measure. It includes a $140 billion tax break for manufacturers in the United States. The Senate is also expected to pass two spending measures for homeland security and disaster relief.

And the last of the 2004 Nobel Prizes was announced earlier this morning. Finn Kydland of Norway and Edward Prescott of the United States won this year's economics prize. They are honored for their work on economic policies and business cycles.

That's a quick check of the headlines. Now back to Heidi.

COLLINS: Now some boys getting in on the act.

WALLACE: Yes, you know. I tried to get off the women-man thing, you know.

COLLINS: Getting some e-mails on that.

WALLACE: Yes, I am. People saying, "We know where your favorites are."

COLLINS: Oh, right. Kelly Wallace, thanks for that.

WALLACE: Sure.

COLLINS: We'll check back a little later with you.

Meanwhile, actor Christopher Reeve was known for his great strength on the big screen as "Superman" and for his relentless courage following a near-fatal horse riding accident nine years ago. On Saturday, Reeve slipped into a coma after going into cardiac arrest in his suburban New York City home. He died yesterday evening from heart failure, with his family by his side.

Here now is CNN's Sibila Vargas with a look back on Reeve's life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christopher Reeve rose to fame as "Superman," the kind of invincible superhero who only exists in Hollywood fantasies. Over a span of nearly 10 years, he played the man of steel. But his acting credits extended well beyond "Superman."

He co-stared with Jane Seymour in the fantasy romance "Somewhere in Time" and won praise for his dramatic work in "The Remains of the Day." At the age of 42, Reeve's life changed forever when he was thrown from a horse during an equestrian tournament in Virginia. Two broken vertebrae in his neck left him paralyzed.

CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR: It's so tiny, the damage, but it's keeping me in a wheelchair.

VARGAS: Reeve credited his wife Dana with rallying his spirits, giving him the will to live. He worked tirelessly on rehabilitation, readying his body for the cure he was convinced would come.

REEVE: I'm going to get up out of this chair and throw it away and walk.

And cut it. Cut it. Cut it.

VARGAS: Despite his physical limitations, Reeve was determined to go back to work. He directed the HBO film "In the Gloaming."

REEVE: I'm very, very lucky I've been able to move and doing something that I truly love. And I haven't lost anything. I've gained a lot.

VARGAS: But his primary focus became a political and medical one, supporting research into spinal cord injuries. He took an active role in the debate over federal funding of stem-cell research.

REEVE: They call it the body's self-repair (ph). And here it is, and there's a big fight about using it. That is really hard to take.

VARGAS: In 1997, he got a star on Hollywood Boulevard. At that ceremony, Reeve reflected on a life that took an unexpected turn.

REEVE: I would just like people to look back and to know that I kept at it, and through good times and bad times. That they'll look back on the body of work that I did, and know that I've tried my best all the time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Reeve is survived by his wife Dana, their 12-year-old son, and two adult children from another relationship. Christopher Reeve was 52 years old.

HEMMER: Much more on the life of Christopher Reeve now and his death and career. Harold Guskin was Reeve's acting coach for a number of films. Harold Guskin is also the author of the book "How to Stop Acting." He's my guest now here in New York.

And good morning to you. First of all, my sympathies to you for losing a friend, and not just on the professional level, but also on the personal level. When he first came to you 15 years ago, what kind of an actor was he?

HAROLD GUSKIN, REEVE'S ACTING COACH: Well, he was bold. He was a great fellow. He was just incredible.

I remember the first time he came in, I picked up the telephone at one point, somebody had called in. He went, "I can't do this. I'm out of here. I can't..." I said, "Wait a second, where you going? What's happening?"

You know, he said, "No, no, I'm serious here. We've got to get this going." I said, OK, relax. But every now and then I've got to take a telephone call. You'll be OK."

He had power. He had incredible power.

HEMMER: Was he apprehensive, though, too? Is that the suggestion in your answer?

GUSKIN: Well, it was -- in a way, it was, I think, one of the boldest things to do. If you're -- if you're a young actor coming to me, you know, who hasn't done anything, well then it's not a big deal, because I've taught a lot of famous people.

HEMMER: You've got a lot to learn. GUSKIN: So -- and also it's hoping I'm going to make them a big star. But Chris was a big star. He was a big star. And he had had a lot of recognition.

But he wasn't happy with his work. That's the kind of actor he was. He wasn't happy.

He wanted -- he wanted to go somewhere else that was more powerful, more important to him. And it's a big risk to come in to some guy who might say, "Hey, you're not doing it right. You're not doing..." You know, it's a bold thing for an actor to do who's already known to come in and have somebody start to re-teach him.

HEMMER: You gave him a whole chapter in your book.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: What warrants that?

GUSKIN: Chris warrants it. I mean, he was -- he had -- he had so much guts that we never stopped working. We worked for seven years, and in that time, it was very hard, because it was acting in a different kind of way.

It was always good, it was always effective. But he knew it wasn't free. It didn't have the life that he really wanted. And as he went further and further into it, he just -- he just got better and better and better.

At first, he wasn't getting great movies at that time. And so it was hard for the audience to see how phenomenal he was getting. And then all of a sudden he started -- people started recognizing him again, and he started to get these -- these very good films to do. "Remains of the Day" he was spectacular in.

HEMMER: And you worked together on that, too.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: I know you're very close with his wife, Dana, too.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: What do you think we lost in him as a person?

GUSKIN: Well, I think that those of us who knew him well knew what a deep and strong and gifted guy he was. Others knew him just from the big hits that he had had early in his career.

But when the accident happened, I think the world started to know Chris the way I had known him already, as this incredibly strong, caring, deep person who wasn't going to give in to anything. And so, I mean, we joked together at one point. After the accident, I said -- because he wasn't always very patient. He wasn't always as patient as I wanted him to be, and you have to be patient to be a really good actor. And I said, "It's a hell of a way to learn patience here." You know. And he had an incredible sense -- really, he was fine with it. That's -- that's -- he had this -- this nature.

Nothing actually stopped him. And I knew, and I think every one of us who knew him really well, knew that nothing was going to stop him.

And he had wanted to direct. In fact, before the accident, he had talked to me about film he was going to direct in England. And then the accident and everything fell apart.

And I knew he was going to direct. And he did direct. And he directed beautifully, this last one. He was -- the last thing we heard from him was about how happy he was.

Dana was telling us how happy he was about the -- the work that he had done there, and the actors. And Glenn Close told me that when she worked with him on the film that they did, that he directed, the first one, she said he was just magnificent. She said -- she said it was a thrill to work with him as a director. That's Glenn Close.

HEMMER: Wow.

GUSKIN: Yes.

HEMMER: Harold, thank you for coming in and making time, and sharing, too. Harold Guskin, friend and coach of Christopher Reeve.

GUSKIN: My pleasure.

HEMMER: Thanks -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Former National League MVP Ken Caminiti is dead at age 41. His agent says he suffered a heart attack in New York on Sunday. Caminiti's life is marked by great success on the field but terrible problems off it.

He was a unanimous choice for MVP in 1996, when he led the San Diego Padres to a division title. After his career ended in 2001, though, he admitted to taking steroids. And just last week admitted in court he had violated his probation for a drug conviction, testing positive for cocaine last month. Ken Caminiti dead at age 41.

We're going to take a moment now to check on the weather. Chad Myers is standing by with the very latest forecast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, with polls showing a razor-thin race yet again, could the final debate tip that balance? We'll check in on that.

COLLINS: And some frightening moments, boy, I guess, at a balloon festival. Look at this now. We're going to hear from the pilot and the young passengers who were there. It's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just 22 days now until the presidential election. And just two days until the final debate between President Bush and Senator John Kerry.

CNN's Ed Henry is on the campaign trail with the senator in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this morning.

Ed, good morning to you.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

That's right. John Kerry is here in Santa Fe to prepare for that third and final debate with President Bush which will take place in the neighboring state of Arizona. There's a lot riding on that clash between the senator and the president as this campaign reaches the critical final three weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you ready for new leadership?

HENRY (voice-over): John Kerry spend the weekend in the battleground states of Ohio and Florida. He basked in the glow of what he believes was another strong performance in Friday night's second presidential debate.

KERRY: The most stunning moment of the whole evening was when George Bush was asked to name three mistakes that he has made, to name three mistakes. And the president couldn't even name one mistake.

HENRY: Republicans, though, said Kerry contradicted himself again on Iraq.

KERRY: I do believe Saddam Hussein was a threat. I always believed he was a threat. The president has been preoccupied with Iraq, where there wasn't a threat.

HENRY: After reading those quotes to a crowd in Florida, Vice President Cheney ridiculed Kerry.

DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's unbelievable. It's -- it -- it's -- well, it's mind-boggling.

HENRY: But Kerry has been buoyed by a rise in the polls, and allies think he's crossed a key threshold.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D), NEW MEXICO: The two debates that have taken place have shown to a lot of voters in America, especially undecided voters, that Senator Kerry has the strength, the character, the background to be president. He's fit to be commander in chief.

HENRY: Kerry believes he's passed that test on national security, the president's strength. Now the senator is pivoting to his turf, the domestic agenda, the focus of this week's third debate.

KERRY: I'm going to fight for your jobs. I'm going to fight for your prescription drugs. I'm going to fight for your health care. I'm going to fight for your schools. I'm going to be a president who fights harder for your jobs than I do for my own.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): John Kerry will push a domestic issue here at this convention center in Santa Fe. He's going to talk about energy reform and the nation's rising gas prices.

He chose New Mexico, in part, for his debate preparations because this is a major battleground state. In fact, Al Gore only won by 366 votes in 2000. That was the smallest margin of any state, smaller than even Florida. And recent polls show it's a dead heat again -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, yes, very small margin. All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much.

HEMMER: There's also this interview getting a lot of attention in "The New York Times" magazine in which Senator Kerry was asked about the war on terror. He said, in part, "We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance.

As a former law enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution, we're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it."

The Bush team has jumped on those comments, especially that word "nuisance." And I asked Bush campaign chairman Marc -- Marc Racicot, rather, about that earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC RACICOT, BUSH CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: John Kerry has looked at it from the very beginning as a law enforcement reaction. In other words, you wait. Even though you may see gathering threats, even though you have had extraordinary damage done and injury imposed upon the people of this country on our soil, you continue to wait while those threats gather and treat it as a law enforcement operation and consider it a nuisance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That was Marc Racicot from earlier.

From L.A. now, our political analyst, Carlos Watson joins us.

Carlos, good morning to you out there in Los Angeles. Is this now a nuisance for John Kerry, a comment like this?

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It could be. And frankly, Bill, we're going to see a lot of these in the final days. And I think the question on the part of both campaigns is how quickly you can knock issues like this out of the news headlines, out of the news cycle. But unquestionably, this is now an issue for no other reason than the Bush campaign has very quickly put this in a compelling television ad.

HEMMER: Well then Wednesday night, debate number three, the third and final, are these debates changing much out there, Carlos, do you believe?

WATSON: They are. I mean, two very significant things, Bill, that I think you see.

Number one, clearly, John Kerry has rebutted some of the character attacks, whether or not he was fit to be commander in chief, honest and trustworthy, strong enough, et cetera. And number two, frankly, it's energized the Kerry campaign in many ways.

You're beginning to see literally dozens of House and Senate Democratic staffers take leaves of absences from their jobs in Washington and going out to work in key battleground states, like Iowa and Florida. That's a good sign for John Kerry. So ultimately, he's come out of this with a more energized campaign.

HEMMER: I tell you, it was a confusing sign for me on Friday night with our focus group in Columbus. Twenty-four men and women, 11 say Bush won, 11 say Kerry won, the other two said it was a tie. And if that's reflected across the country, boy, it is still as close as we were four years ago. Is it not?

WATSON: Although, I tell you what, I mean, it's still close to the national polls. But the president going into Wednesday clearly has more at stake because the last thing he can afford to have happen is to go through three debates and not -- and not be seen as having clearly won at least one of them. So at best, right now, he's got one tie and one loss. He needs to win on Wednesday.

HEMMER: And the viewership for debate number two down remarkably compared to debate number one that we all saw. Sixty-two million watching the first one. The figures from last Friday night not nearly as high.

So we will see on Wednesday night. Carlos, thanks.

WATSON: Look forward to seeing you.

HEMMER: Carlos Watson -- you got it. See you later, in L.A. today.

Presidential candidates debate for that third and final time in Tempe, Arizona, Wednesday night. Our coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN. The debate starts at 9:00, two hours later -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, remembering Christopher Reeve. After Reeve's accident, one paralyzed man came to him to offer inspiration. But he says he was the one who was inspired. He joins us just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time to check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day" once again.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.

Talking about the problems of the election process. Four years after the Florida recount disaster, the problem has still not been fixed. The big issue this year could revolve around something called provisional ballots.

Every state has to provide these provisional ballots to voters if they can't be found on the registration list, if they show up at the wrong polling place, or they don't have the proper identification. Then all these ballots will be separated from the others and then held until the identities can be confirmed. I thought we were under attack there for a minute. The -- and that could take a long time.

The question is this: How confident are you that the election will be accurate?

Bob in Sunrise, Florida, says: "I'm a Florida voter. And believe me when I tell you bringing back the literacy test would solve most of the problems. Also, the continuous lowering of the average I.Q. of the nation will one day prevent us from continuing as a democracy. Ignorant ears only hear the spin words and they don't have the inclination to investigate for truth or vote intelligently."

Jim in Miramar Beach, Florida: "The question never entered my mind until the fiasco we experienced in Florida in 2000. Faulty eligibility list, highway patrol roadblocks and error-prone punch cards made a fair vote almost impossible. I fear it could happen again, especially in a state governed by the brother of the president."

And Ernest in Albuquerque, New Mexico: "Jack what is your problem with the election? We can either have the Supreme Court appoint our president or we could apologize to the queen and ask her to take us back."

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Well...

HEMMER: We'll see how much trepidation the networks use this time around, took, in calling the thing on the evening of November 2.

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.

COLLINS: Very slowly.

CAFFERTY: Were we one of the guilty parties?

COLLINS: I don't think so. (CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: I believe we were.

HEMMER: Did you see "SNL" on Saturday night? Do you stay up that late?

CAFFERTY: No, I don't.

HEMMER: They had a little fun at the VP debate. Watch this here from Saturday evening on "SNL."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL HAMMOND, ACTOR: The only reason they bring up Halliburton is because they want to obscure their own record. And Senator, frankly, your record in the Senate is pretty damn pathetic.

You missed 33 out of 36 meetings of the Judiciary Committee, 70 percent of intelligence committee meetings. You did not participate in the Senate Secret Santa program or our softball team.

(LAUGHTER)

You've never chipped in for the coffee fund. I never see you in the parking lot when we hang out by our cars just before going home. You have one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate. Strom Thurmond had a better attendance record in his last term in the Senate, and he was dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The response?

CAFFERTY: Edwards didn't say anything.

COLLINS: He didn't say anything. They had the split screen, though, too.

CAFFERTY: Very funny.

COLLINS: All right.

Still to come this morning, one-time Hollywood bad boy Sean Penn takes on the guys who created "South Park" and the new Team America over the November election. "90-Second Pop" has the scoop on AMERICAN MORNING..

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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