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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

U.S. Failed to Rescue Hostages; Can Feds Find Way to Save Flu Shots for Those Who Need Them Most?

Aired October 12, 2004 - 17:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, a developing story. Behind the scenes in Baghdad. There is new information we've just obtained about a failed U.S. rescue mission in Iraq. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Flu fighters. Can the feds find a way to save the shots for those who need them most?

On the offensive, they're going all out against the insurgents, but are they going too far?

Grief in Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was just 13. She went to school like a regular little girl, and she filled my life with joy.

BLITZER: But a tragic loss is only the beginning of this shocking story.

Final showdown. Can they keep their tempers in Tempe?

Can he keep them on top of it? I'll ask the man in the middle, moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, October 12, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: CNN has learned the United States has tried on more than one occasion to rescue those two Americans and one British citizen recently beheaded by their kidnappers in Iraq. For the latest, let's go straight to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, now it can be told. Back in September, when shortly after the kidnapping of American hostages Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley and the British hostage, Kenneth Bigley from their home in Baghdad, the U.S. launched a military operation to try to rescue them. In fact, there were two attempts both in Baghdad, according to an official with direct knowledge of the operations. The first came in mid September when all the hostages were believed to still be alive, but CNN has been told it failed, because when the rescue team reached the location in Baghdad, no one was there. It's not clear if the hostages had been moved or whether the intelligence was faulty and simply they were never there in the first place.

Then after Eugene Armstrong was beheaded a few days later, there was a second rescue attempt when two hostages were still believed to be alive. Again, the result was the same. No one was found at the location where the hostage rescue team went. The failed rescue attempts have not been acknowledged publicly, but at the time U.S. officials said they were doing everything possible to secure the release of the hostages including possible rescue or arranging for their release. While these rescue attempts failed, it was not for lack of trying. As one U.S. official said, there were a lot of people spending a lot of sleepless nights trying to find them -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

U.S. and Iraqi forces meanwhile are on the offensive against insurgents in much of the country. But in Baghdad, they're trying to avoid an all-out fight. Our senior international correspondent Brent Sadler reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S.-led military action on multiple fronts in Iraq. America warplanes hit two suspected terror targets in Fallujah in the early hours of Tuesday destroying a safe house and a planning center used by foreign fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi according to U.S. officials.

Zarqawi associates were targeted it's claimed, while planning more suicide bombings and kidnappings. Escalating anti-insurgent operations in Ramadi, some 60 miles west of Baghdad where Iraqi troops, backed up by U.S. Marines, launched a series of raids on seven mosques in the city.

Holy sites are normally afforded protected status in the fighting but in Ramadi, U.S. officials say these mosques were used for insurgent activity, including weapons storage, recruitment for fighters and harboring terrorists. But in Sadr City, close to the capital, U.S. forces have put a hold on military action pending the outcome of a voluntary surrender of weapons by Mehdi army fighters which began yesterday.

But progress is slow. No other encouraging signs, either, say U.S. commanders. Militants, they say, have not removed hundreds of improvised bombs that line some of Sadr City's streets with the density of mine fields.

COL. ABE ABRAMS, U.S. ARMY: Over a 1.5 kilometer stretch of road, had over 120 improvised explosive devices.

SADLER: Every bullet, bomb and machine gun that's handed in is being carefully counted day by day, but so far, says U.S. military commanders, the tally is less than convincing. By Saturday, though, come what may with the weapons count says the U.S. military, security sweeps in the Shia slum neighborhood will resume to root out weapons or insurgents. But if the militia really disarms and relinquishes thousands of armaments, a less intense military action is expected.

ABRAMS: If the numbers are not very high, we'll have a requirement to broaden our search into many other places, and it will be anything but surgical or cursory.

SADLER: A clear warning that by week's end the Mehdi army faces renewed offensive military action by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces unless the militia lays down its huge arsenal of weapons between now and then. Brent Sadler, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Did the U.S.-led invasion let a genie out of the bottle? The International Atomic Energy Agency which monitored Iraq sites before the war says equipment and materials have been systematically disappearing from the country. The IAEA says that in the wrong hands that equipment can be used to make nuclear weapons. According to the agency, satellite photos show entire buildings have been dismantled. A top adviser to Iraq's interior ministry today blamed U.S. forces for not securing the facilities. Here in Washington, the State Department says the missing machinery is a concern, but believes the situation is now, and I'm quoting, under control.

Let's turn now from concerns about Iraq to a more domestic concern, namely the shortage of flu vaccine. With the nation's vaccine supply half of what it ought to be, government health officials today unveiled a plan to protect those most at risk. CNN medical correspondent Christy Feig joining us now live with details -- Christy.

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Wolf. We continue to hear stories about the fallout of this shortage of flu vaccine. It's echoing around the country and now the government is trying to make sure what little we do have gets to those who need it most.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEIG (voice-over): Seniors desperate for a flu vaccine wait for hours in a line that wraps around this public's grocery store in Sarasota, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm almost 400th in line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't get a ticket, you don't get a shot.

FEIG: They're willing to wait because it's almost impossible to find one since the nation's supply was slashed in half. So the Centers for Disease Control has inked a deal with Adventis, the remaining maker of the U.S. flu shot to reroute about 22 million doses they have not yet shipped to those who ordered it such as doctor's offices, pharmacies or grocery stores.

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC: We're going first to the people who need the vaccine most and where we can logically predict the greatest number of at-risk people.

FEIG: That's children 6 months to 23 months, anyone with a chronic disease and everyone over the age of 65. So 14 million doses will be sent to nursing homes, pediatrician's offices and VA hospitals. The agency says they're also mapping county by county where flu cases are being reported, hoping to send the vaccine there to stop an outbreak in its early stages. But in the fight for existing vaccines stories of price gouging abound.

GERBERDING: Shame on the people who are price gouging. This is a reprehensible thing to be doing, I think an immoral thing in this context.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEIG: Now, the CDC's hands are tied when it comes to stopping those who are raising prices just because laws vary by state. It's up to those state governments to crack down -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Christy Feig reporting for us. Thanks, very much. And to our viewers here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the question is this. Have you received a flu shot already this year? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Moderating the final showdown. I'll speak to the veteran journalist Bob Schieffer live this hour. He's getting ready to moderate the third and final presidential debate in Tempe tomorrow night. He'll speak with us now.

Plus, on the trail, recovering both candidates as they make their final preparations to get your vote. We'll have live reports from the campaigns.

Digging up the past, from nude photos to old allegations. Why some candidates are turning to dirty politics. Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first thing Andrew (ph) yelled out was, "grab the baby!" So I picked up the whole bassinet. And then from what I could see, the crocodile started to take Andrew out of the -- drag him out of the tent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Crocodile attack. A camper becomes this 14-foot reptile's bait while a grandmother comes to the rescue. An update on a story we brought you yesterday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: President Bush campaigned in Colorado today, declaring that Democrat John Kerry's statements in Bush's words, simply do not pass the credibility test. Later, the president headed for Arizona, where this year's third and final presidential debate will take place tomorrow night. CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash reports from Scottsdale, Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad is a great president.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Colorado Springs the president is introduced for the first time on the trail by one of his daughters before taking the podium to warm up for his final face off with John Kerry.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those issues have highlighted the clear differences between the Senator and me on issues ranging from jobs, to taxes, to health care, to the war on terror. As much as he has tried to obscure it, on issue after issue, my opponent has showed why he earned his ranking as the most liberal member of the United States Senate.

BASH: A central Bush message of the day is health care and the attack line is a familiar one that John Kerry has a costly big government plan. A new Bush ad.

AD ANNOUNCER: $1.5 trillion. Rationing, less access, fewer choices, long waits, and Washington bureaucrats not your doctor, make final decisions on your health.

BASH: Kerry aides shot back health costs have spiked and millions have lost coverage on the president's watch. Bush aides do recognize the last debate on domestic issues will be a fight on John Kerry's turf. On health care, for example, the president trails the senator by 19 percent, according to CNN/"USA Today" latest poll. The president spent two days campaigning in Colorado, which should be solid Bush country. He won here by more than 8 percent in 2000. It's gone Republican nine out of the last eleven elections, but an exploding Hispanic population tending to vote Democrat and job loss help make Colorado a neck and neck race.

And the Bush campaign has another concern. A ballot initiative for Colorado's nine electoral votes to be split based on the popular vote instead of winner take all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): But if Colorado's electoral votes were split in 2000, Al Gore would have had three more and he would be in the White House. But Wolf, President Bush for now is focusing, of course, on tomorrow night. He is huddling with some senior advisers this afternoon here in Arizona and he is going to focus as we just heard on the senator's record, really try to zero in on it and try to paint him as a big government liberal -- Wolf. BLITZER: Dana Bash reporting for us. Thanks, Dana, very much. And to our viewers, we have an important programming note. The first lady Mrs. Laura Bush is the guest on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. That airs 9 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific.

Democrat John Kerry also is preparing for tomorrow night's debate. He spent the day in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That's where CNN's Ed Henry is right now -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Wolf. That's right. While you just heard, obviously, the president and vice president still out there on the attack against John Kerry, he is actually looking very calm and cool. This hour, he's heading out for a bike ride. He has been behind closed doors all day with staffers, preparing for the debate. That has led to inevitable questions about whether Kerry is missing an opportunity to defend himself against these attacks, but the Kerry camp insist they put out a new ad this week pushing back against the comments -- the attacks over the comments that Kerry made about trying to reduce terrorists to a nuisance, they say they've also put out a lot of surrogates for John Kerry and they want to let him stick to his routine. They believe he won the first two debates, they think if he stays calm, if he keeps doing what he's been doing before he can win this third debate as well. And today in fact John Kerry let his running mate do the talking. John Edwards went on the attack against President Bush and also had a little prediction about tomorrow's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kerry is going to win that debate tomorrow and one of the reasons he is going to win is because George Bush is out of touch. He is out of touch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Senator Kerry had planned to head to Arizona tonight to get closer to the debate site. He changed those plans and decided to stay in Santa Fe for another evening in part because he did not want to be in the air flying to Phoenix while the game one of the Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees baseball series was going on tonight. He wanted to be here, watching the game. Again, I spoke to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson earlier today. He said that behind closed doors, John Kerry has been talking a lot about baseball, cracking jokes. He's very calm and confident. They think all the pressure is on President Bush, because again the Democrats think he lost the first two debates and the pressure and the heat is on President Bush -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Henry reporting for us. Thanks very much, Ed. As the presidential candidates prepare for their final debate tomorrow night, there's a growing controversy over an upcoming television program about John Kerry's activities during the Vietnam War.

This is extraordinary that someone can go out there and preempt regular television. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: This is extraordinary that someone can go out there and preempt regular television...

BLITZER (voice-over): Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe says the DNC has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission over Sinclair Broadcast Group's plans to air a program in prime time in these final days before the election, accusing John Kerry of betraying American POWs during the Vietnam War.

MCAULIFFE: If people want to pay pay-per-view and watch documentaries that's their right, but to go out and preempt regular broadcasting to put on a 90-minute attack against a presidential candidate the week before the election is absolutely outrageous and it's illegal.

BLITZER: Sinclair plans to have its stations air the show commercial-free. The Democrats' complaint charges that Sinclair's plans amount to a, quote, "illegal in kind contribution to the Bush/Cheney campaign." McAuliffe says this is the first time the DNC has ever filed an FEC complaint against a media organization. Sinclair operates 62 local channels across the country, including in such battleground states as Ohio, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin. It insists there is nothing wrong with airing the program, "Stolen Honor, Wounds That Never Heal."

MARK HYMAN, SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP: This is definitely a newsworthy event. These Vietnam prisoners of war had suffered horrific abuse and unspeakable torture for many years and most of them maintained silence for 31 years and felt the need to respond to claims made by John Kerry.

BLITZER: Sinclair has offered John Kerry an opportunity to appear on its stations to respond to the program. The Kerry campaign says it's not taking the offer seriously. McAuliffe says the DNC would be interested only if Kerry also got 90 minutes in prime time. In April, Sinclair made news when it ordered its seven ABC affiliates not to air a "Nightline" segment that featured Ted Koppel reading the names of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. At the time a Sinclair executive called the broadcast, quote, "contrary to the public interest."

The Bush/Cheney campaign says it avoided filing any FEC complaints in the face of what it says were unfair allegations that were widely broadcast against President Bush, including the CBS "60 Minutes" report, the Michael Moore film, "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the Kitty Kelley bestseller on the Bush family.

KEN MEHLMAN, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Each campaign has to decide how they want to deal with a broadcast that they don't like. In our case, we try to tell the truth. In their case, they apparently file a legal complaint.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll continue to follow this story for our viewers. More on the political situation coming up later this hour.

There's also been a controversy surrounding the killing of a 13- year-old Palestinian girl. Some Israeli soldiers shocked by the actions of their commanding officer are now speaking out.

Also ahead, asking the questions at the final debate. CBS journalist Bob Schieffer will be the man in control. He joins me live this hour.

And the discovery of a Mafia graveyard in New York City? Evidence that the remains are from victims targeted by the former mob boss, John Gotti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting this story into CNN just now. A United States senator says he's so worried about the possibility of a terror attack, he's closing his Capitol Hill office until after the November 2 election. CNN's John Bisney is here with us with details.

First of all, who is the senator?

JOHN BISNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is a Democrat from Minnesota, Wolf. This is his first term. And he has decided, based on some reports that he has received from the Senate leadership that it would be prudent for him to close his Senate office on Capitol Hill in the Russell Building.

That would be Mark Dayton, the Democratic senator from Minnesota. What exactly is he saying, what happened, what convinced him that it would be prudent to shut down his Russell Senate office?

BISNEY: Several weeks ago, Dayton got a briefing or looked at documents that were given to the Senate leadership on the possible threat terror -- threat representation to the Capitol. Based on that, Dayton said there was enough in there that alarmed him that he decided it would be better for his staff's safety, for his own personal safety, for his family's safety if he were to, until the election, close down the office, the implication being that there might be some sort of a terrorist activity against the Capitol before the November 2 election.

BLITZER: Now he got the same briefing that 99 other U.S. senators got and he's the only one shutting down his office?

BISNEY: He's the only one. We've talked to other senators in the leadership who say that as far as they're concerned, there's no specific threat right now that would lead them to this level of caution.

BLITZER: You've spoken to Capitol Hill Police as well?

BISNEY: Capitol Hill Police, CNN has also spoken to the FBI, to Homeland Security. All of them say, Wolf, there is, again, nothing new, nothing new in the past several weeks that would suggest there's anything specific that Senator Dayton would be reacting to. BLITZER: So basically it's just Senator Mark Dayton, he, himself, thinks it's prudent to do it. He is quoted by the Associated Press as saying he would advise people from his state to avoid Capitol Hill until after the November 2 election.

And he adds this: "I would not bring my two sons to the Capitol between now and the election." But a lot of people think he's way overreacting. Is that the right?

BISNEY: There is that belief, that Senator Dayton is going too far. Nevertheless he says he has thought this through. This is his personal decision. He says he could not be away in Minnesota and have something happen in his office that would put his staff or any visitors people at risk. That's why he decided to take the step.

BLITZER: John Bisney, thanks very much. We'll continue to follow this story for our viewers. Let's move on now to some other news we're monitoring, including the violence raging in Gaza. United Nations officials say a 10-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and critically wounded as she sat in her classroom in (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

The Israeli military say troops fired toward the source of a mortar attack and may have hit the girl. CNN's Guy Raz has this story of another young school girl whose death is sending out shock waves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The lonely corner desk of a young girl. Just days ago, Iman al-Hams sat here with homework.

HWAYDA AL-HAMS, IMAN'S MOTHER (through translator): She was just 13. She went to school like a regular little girl and she filled my life with joy. She was on her way to school. There was a lot of shooting that morning. And when she was first hit, she became hysterical. Instead of running back home, she ran towards the soldiers.

RAZ: The Israeli army initially said soldiers suspected young Iman was carrying a bomb in her school bag. The army says normal rules of engagement were followed. The case was closed. But Iman had been hit by 20 bullets, a fact that raised questions and prompted two soldiers who witnessed the incident to contact the Israeli newspaper "Ye'diot Achronot."

In conversations with reporter Yosi Oshua (ph), the soldiers recounted a grizzly tale. Their voices have been disguised. "I was sure she was 12 or maybe younger. I reported it over the 2-way radio. Shots were fired. Iman fell to the ground. Then our commander shot her twice. He made sure she was dead and then I don't know why, but he decided to turn back towards her body and unloaded a round of bullets into it. This was the most revolting thing I have ever seen as a soldier."

(on camera): The reports prompted the Israeli army to launch a criminal investigation into the conduct of the commanding officer. (voice-over): In a statement, the army said: "The Israeli Defense Forces recognize the gravity of the incident and the allegations raised require a full investigation."

Israel says its latest incursion into Gaza, now in its third week, was designed to end rocket attacks on Israeli towns, but one of the outcomes has been the death of nearly 30 children, including Iman al-Hams.

AL-HAMS (through translator): She filled this house, she filled our lives with joy and her death has left us with a great feeling of emptiness.

RAZ: An empty room. A life abruptly ended.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The third and final presidential debate tomorrow night. So much at stake for all sides. We'll talk to the moderator, Bob Schieffer of CBS News.

Sex scandals, the oldest campaign trick in the book. Are they fair play or dirty politics?

Plus, the high court and a higher law. Details of a Supreme Court surprise here in Washington earlier today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Ready to face the nation, along with President Bush and Senator Kerry. I'll speak with the man in the power seat at tomorrow night's debate, Bob Schieffer standing by. He'll join me live. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of the other stories now in the news.

In what could be the most important church-state ruling of its term, the U.S. Supreme Court has unexpectedly agreed to consider the highly sensitive issue of displaying the Ten Commandments on public property. The justices agreed to tackle the matter after conflicting rulings by appeals courts around the country.

The FBI says it may have discovered a makeshift graveyard used by the Mafia to bury its victims. After receiving a tip and digging through concrete and dirt for several days, FBI agents unearthed human remains from a lot in Queens, New York. They say as many as six murder victims were buried there in the late 1970s and early '80s.

And a chaotic seen in Huntington New York. Just about an hour ago, a multilevel building collapsed because of a natural gas explosion. The building houses a car sales dealership. Suffolk County Police say all the employees have been accounted for. Eight people suffered minor injuries.

And this just in from the Associated Press in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A jury has found serial killing suspect Derrick Todd Lee guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a Baton Rouge woman. The same jury will begin deliberations tomorrow morning on whether Lee should be executed.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Throughout the presidential campaign, there's been a lot of talk about what President Bush and Senator Kerry did during the Vietnam era when they were young. As it turns out, they're not the only candidates being confronted with questions about the past.

Our Brian Todd has been looking into that. He's joining us now live -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wolf, it is the season. And as two congressman are finding out today, there seems to be no better time to dig up a politician's past than when he's in a contentious election race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): As he tries to fend off a Republican challenger, Democratic Congressman David Wu of Oregon is not fending off a 28-year-old accusation. Tuesday's edition of "The Oregonian" newspaper is reporting claims that Wu tried to force a former girlfriend to have sex with him when he was a 21-year-old junior at Stanford University in 1976.

The newspaper interviewed a former campus police officer for the story. Neither Wu nor the woman in question commented for the article, but after it was published, Wu spoke to CNN affiliate KION.

REP. DAVID WU (D), OREGON: I was sorry then. And I'm sorry since and I'm sorry today that such a bad thing happened, and I take full responsibility for it.

TODD: Republican Congressman Pete Sessions has a more benign personal issue now making the rounds of his campaign. Democrats are circulating old newspaper features from 1974, Southwest Texas State University. It's hard to confirm that of any these naked bodies belong to then 18-year-old freshman Pete Sessions, but Democrats say he is among a huge group of students shown streaking across campus.

Democrats accuse Sessions of hypocrisy, because he wrote a newspaper column criticizing Janet Jackson's risque performance at the Super Bowl this year. In a statement issued to CNN, Sessions' campaign says, "Trying to equate the immature action of an 18-year-old during his first year in college with that of a 37-year-old woman who was in front of 150 million people makes no sense."

Sessions and his Democratic opponent, Congressman Martin Frost, are waging an increasingly nasty campaign in the region where Frost has been hurt by GOP redistricting. Perhaps Sessions and David Wu can relate to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who faced allegations of groping shortly before his election as California governor, or Representative Bob Livingston, derailed just before he was to be elevated to House speaker in 1999 amid charges of sexual infidelity.

REP. ROBERT LIVINGSTON (D), LOUISIANA: I have hurt you all deeply and I beg your forgiveness.

TODD: The list goes on. And the use of past behavior as present political weapon is as old as the Republic, but is it effective?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: It tends to work in two circumstances, when the charges are really serious, like sexual abuse or harassment. Those are serious charges and people will take them seriously. The other case is when you find the politician sounds like a hypocrite.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, with Congressman Wu and Sessions both confronting these reports head on, the only intrigue left in either story seems to lie with voters in Oregon or Texas, as we wait to see if either man is punished on November 2 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thank you very much for that report.

This year's vice presidential and presidential debates have been among the most closely watched in recent memory and each has been very different from the others, flavored, in part, by the different moderators.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM LEHRER, MODERATOR: I'm Jim Lehrer of "The NewsHour" on PBS.

BLITZER (voice-over): This was the 10th presidential debate Lehrer has moderated. And it went strictly by the rules, spelled out in detail by the candidates themselves. They included two-minute answer, 90-second rebuttals, and not addressing each other directly.

GWEN IFILL, MODERATOR: Good evening.

BLITZER: Lehrer's PBS colleague, Gwen Ifill, moderated the one and only vice presidential debate, also running a tight ship.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I could respond, Gwen, but it is going to take more than 30 seconds.

IFILL: Well, that's all you've got.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: ABC's Charles Gibson had a tougher time moderating the second presidential debate. With the poll numbers closer than ever and President Bush trying to make up for what was widely seen as a poor showing in the first debate, the dialogue seemed harder to control.

CHARLES GIBSON, MODERATOR: Mr. President, let's extend for a minute...

BUSH: Let me just -- I've got to answer this.

GIBSON: Exactly. And with Reservists being held on duty...

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: Let me answer what he just said, about around the world.

GIBSON: Well, I want to get into the issue of the back-door draft...

BUSH: You tell Tony Blair we're going alone. Tell Tony Blair we're going alone.

BLITZER: Gibson tried to keep the candidates on topic.

GIBSON: I heard you both say -- I have heard you both say during the campaign, I just heard you say it, that you're going to cut the deficit by a half in four years. But I didn't hear one thing in the last three and a half minutes that would indicate how either one of you do that.

BLITZER: Both candidates responded and once again both failed to answer the question.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Moderating the third and final debate. Coming up, I'll speak live with the veteran journalist Bob Schieffer. He's standing by.

Also, a day of mourning for victims of a horrific terror attack.

Plus, two important terror anniversaries. We'll have details of both.

Also ahead:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SOROHAN, CAMPER: Then she saw that the croc had the baby, so she grabbed -- she jumped on top of the croc.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A grandmother's heroic action, we'll show you how it turned out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Bob Schieffer, the host of the CBS program "Face the Nation," will moderate tomorrow night's third and final presidential debate. Bob is joining us now live from Tempe, Arizona.

It must be hot out there. I'll be out there tomorrow.

Bob, how do you prepare to moderate a debate like this? Clearly, it's a lot different than moderating just "Face the Nation."

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Well, it's an hour and a half longer, or an hour and a half, where "Face the Nation" is a half hour, so I guess I have to have a lot more questions.

But I have been spending a lot of time over the past two weeks, Wolf, talking to other reporters, talking to experts, just talking to people I trust about what they thought would be the areas I ought to cover. I have only have one mandate from the Debate Commission, and that is to talk about domestic affairs. And so that's where I will try to shape this debate tomorrow night.

I must have 100 questions right now. My job tonight and tomorrow morning is to try to winnow it down to the areas that I think are most important. And, obviously, that's going to be taxes. It's going to be Social Security reform. It's going to health care. You can make a list. It's easy to make a list, but figuring how to get in as much as we possibly can on the subjects that they ought to talk about, I think that's going to be the challenge.

BLITZER: And you write these questions yourself and you're not allowed to share them with anyone. Is that right?

SCHIEFFER: That is exactly right. I haven't even told my wife what the final questions are going to be. She has suggested a few along the way, as a lot of my colleagues have. As a matter of fact, Wolf, I got a box of suggestions from an organization, and they told me in the cover letter that there were 11,000 questions in there.

Now, I'm going to have to have full disclosure here and tell you I didn't read all 11,000, but I thought there were a couple of pretty good ones in there and I made some notes from them. So I'm getting -- yesterday, I got about 1,600 e-mails at the office with questions. So, there's no shortage of questions out there. But I have just got to get them winnowed down here.

But it's really been fun. And I must say, I'm really looking forward to this.

BLITZER: And we're looking forward to your questions as well.

Talk a little bit of how you're going to discipline these two presidential candidates. We saw Charlie Gibson, at least on one, maybe two occasions, have a little trouble making sure they kept within their timelines and simply didn't want to respond when they weren't allowed to respond.

SCHIEFFER: Well, I will try to remind them that I'm enforcing the rules that their campaigns have worked out.

I mean, if it had been left to me to set the rules, I might have set it up in kind of a different way, but I have agreed. The commission has asked me to moderate the debate under the rules that these two campaigns have worked out. So, if one of them runs over, I'll have to warn them that I'll have to give the other candidate the same opportunity. But I don't think we'll have too much trouble there.

There are lights to tell them when to slow down. And I'm told that I will have a buzzer that I can sound if worse comes to worse. So I hope I don't have to do that. I don't think we will.

BLITZER: Well, what happens, though, what do you do if -- if what happened the other night in Saint Louis happens, that John Kerry says something really, really nasty at the president and it's time for you to move on to another subject, but the president is obviously anxious to respond and he just starts talking? How do you -- he's the president of the United States.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHIEFFER: Well, I don't suppose I could tell him to go take a time out, could I? That might be -- I don't suppose you could ask either one of them to do that. But I would try to accommodate that, but I think what I would do, Wolf -- and we won't know until it happens, if it does -- I would always make sure that if I let one of them do something and run over, I would try to make sure that the other got the same opportunity.

And these men are gentlemen. This is a hard, tough campaign, but they know the rules and they know they wouldn't look too good and people wouldn't like it if they tried to take advantage of the rules. They're good politicians. So I don't think they're going to do that.

BLITZER: And you have the discretion. After the two-minute initial response, the 90-second rebuttal, you can then give them each 30 additional seconds, if you want. Is that right?

SCHIEFFER: Yes, that's how it works.

I myself am not allowed to ask follow-up questions. I wish that I could, but maybe I can frame some of these questions in the beginning in such a way that will force the other candidate to ask the follow-up question, because that's really the important thing. This is not about moderators and it's not about rules. It's about these two men who are trying out, who want us to hire them for the most important and the most powerful job in the world, I guess.

And what I hope I can do as the moderator is give the American people a better picture and a better feel for who these men are, what they stand for and why they believe what they believe. So, if I can do that, then I think I will have done my job.

BLITZER: Have you ever done any of these presidential debates before? SCHIEFFER: No, this is the first one for me. I have obviously moderated debates and I've interviewed presidents over the years, long before I came to "Face the Nation."

My first presidential interview was Gerald Ford back when I was the White House correspondent. Back in those days, I interviewed Ford, President Carter, Ronald Reagan. I guess I've interviewed most of them since then, as you have, Wolf. But this is the first time I've been asked to do one of these presidential debates.

And I must tell you, I am really excited about it. Anything we can do, it seems to me, to get the focus of these campaigns these days off these nasty television commercials and into a format like these debates, which we can all really learn from, I think the better off the whole process is. I think the excitement is building around these things. I think that's evidence that people are interested.

There's really kind of a World Series atmosphere out here about all of this. And I think that's just all to the good.

BLITZER: You've watched all the debates over the years, just as I have. But have you gone back in recent days and looked at some of the videotape to see how some of your predecessors, as moderators, how they did in the '60s, '70s, '80s '90s?

SCHIEFFER: Yes.

And, actually, I've been at most of the debates over the years. I was there when Ronald Reagan turned to Walter Mondale that day and said I will not hold your youth and inexperience against you. It was a wonderful moment. I was also there for the famous gotcha, when Lloyd Bentsen turned to Dan Quayle that time. I saw Gerald Ford when he said that Poland was not under the domination of the Soviet Union.

There have been some very dramatic moments. And I have been lucky enough to have been there and seen most of them. So, I am just very, very -- I'm not only honored and somewhat awed by all of this. I'm just excited. Even if I were not going to be the moderator, Wolf, I would be anxious to see what these two men are going to say, because we've got as close a campaign here, as close a race as I can recall. And I think a lot of what happens in this debate will be a major factor in who wins this election.

BLITZER: Bob Schieffer is the host of "Face the Nation," which is seen every Sunday morning. He is also the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News.

We'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow in Tempe, Bob. When I say this, I really mean it. Good luck tomorrow night. Literally, the whole world is going to be watching. I don't want to make you too nervous.

SCHIEFFER: Oh, don't tell me that.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHIEFFER: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob Schieffer, one of the best in the business and a good friend, thanks very much.

By the way, "Face the Nation" there's a 50th anniversary new book out about "Face the Nation." This is something all of you news junkies out there probably will want to get a copy of, with an accompanying DVD as well.

Forty days since the siege, a memorial held for the hundreds lost in Russia's school massacre. We'll have details of what happened today.

Plus, crocodile hunted. A camper becomes bait and a grandmother emerges as a hero. We'll get to that.

First, though, a look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A general strike in Nigeria is in its second day. Nigeria is the world's seventh largest oil exporter and concerns about the strike have helped pushed world oil prices to record highs.

Mourning in Indonesia. Ceremonies in Indonesia marked the second anniversary of the Bali bombings. The 2002 terrorist attacks killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

Cole anniversary. Today also marks one other grim anniversary. On this day four years ago, suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 sailors.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the Russian town of Beslan, hundreds of people are marking the end of the traditional Christian Orthodox mourning period for the victims of the school massacre. But more than a month later, the town remains in sorrow.

Here is CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They walk the school corridors, study the bullet holes in the walls, find notebooks left behind from that awful day 40 days ago.

"We came here because we thought we could still see them," Marina tells me. "We don't believe that they died. We think they're still here" Twelve-year-old David (ph) recalls one particular group of victims. He manages only six words. "The Tombios (ph)," he says, "one family, six people."

At the cemetery, a ceremony marks the end of 40 days of mourning. Most people here are Orthodox Christians who believe the soul rises to heaven on the 40th day.

(on camera): In a spiritual sense, the people of Beslan are saying goodbye to more than 300 people killed in the hostage crisis, more than half of them just children.

(voice-over): There are crosses over most graves, but just a stick at 12-year-old Emma's (ph). Her parents are Muslim. For 2- year-old Christina (ph), a doll still in its packaging.

Muslim rebels have claimed responsibility for the Beslan attack. Amidst calls for revenge, many of the mothers here struggle to understand the killers.

"How could you raise your hand against children?" she asks a crowd around her daughter's grave. "Those killers weren't brought up on their mother's milk. They were brought up on bombs."

After 40 days, Beslan is still in shock.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Beslan, Russia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here is how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it's not a scientific poll.

Now some incredible new details on a story we first told you about yesterday. It sounds like a movie plot. A giant crocodile stocks campers on a remote beach in the middle of the night. But this one is all too real. And Australians have a new hero, a grandmother who jumped on the beast's back to save the day.

ITN's Harry Foset (ph) tells the tale.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY FOSET (ph), ITN REPORTER (voice-over): Northern Queensland has seen it share of amazing crocodile tales, but this one ranks with the best. The main protagonists, a 14-foot, 47-stone saltwater crocodile described by one local expert as a pretty serious piece of machinery, and the 60-year-old grandmother who wrestled it and ultimately won.

Diane Kerr was sleeping in a tent with her young baby and husband when she was awoken by a thud and saw the crocodile just outside. DIANE KERR, CAMPER: The first thing Andrew yelled out was, grab the baby, so I picked up the whole bassinet. And then, from what I could see, the crocodile started to take Andrew out of the -- drag him out of the tent.

FOSET: While she clung on to her husband's hand, their neighbors came to the rescue.

SOROHAN: He -- we looked up. There's the crocodile toward the mesh, grabbed him by the leg and pulled him out. And all we heard was the screaming over here.

So we grabbed the torch and dived out of the tent. The wife came around this side. And I went around that side and she thought the croc had the baby. So she grabbed -- she jumped on top of the croc and the croc actually bit right into her right arm.

FOSET: The crocodile then dragged Alicia Sorohan towards the water before until son Jason (ph) shot it dead. A radio beacon and an SOS scrolled in the sand brought park rangers to the scene, before the victims were taken to hospital, suffering broken limbs and deep cuts.

As for the cause of the attack, it's thought the crocodile might have been attracted by scraps left by the fisherman and other campers. Experts say its behavior was atypical, but are warning of the dangers of holidaying in croc country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: I'll be in Tempe, Arizona, tomorrow for the final debate.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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


Aired October 12, 2004 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, a developing story. Behind the scenes in Baghdad. There is new information we've just obtained about a failed U.S. rescue mission in Iraq. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): Flu fighters. Can the feds find a way to save the shots for those who need them most?

On the offensive, they're going all out against the insurgents, but are they going too far?

Grief in Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was just 13. She went to school like a regular little girl, and she filled my life with joy.

BLITZER: But a tragic loss is only the beginning of this shocking story.

Final showdown. Can they keep their tempers in Tempe?

Can he keep them on top of it? I'll ask the man in the middle, moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News.

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, October 12, 2004.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: CNN has learned the United States has tried on more than one occasion to rescue those two Americans and one British citizen recently beheaded by their kidnappers in Iraq. For the latest, let's go straight to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, now it can be told. Back in September, when shortly after the kidnapping of American hostages Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley and the British hostage, Kenneth Bigley from their home in Baghdad, the U.S. launched a military operation to try to rescue them. In fact, there were two attempts both in Baghdad, according to an official with direct knowledge of the operations. The first came in mid September when all the hostages were believed to still be alive, but CNN has been told it failed, because when the rescue team reached the location in Baghdad, no one was there. It's not clear if the hostages had been moved or whether the intelligence was faulty and simply they were never there in the first place.

Then after Eugene Armstrong was beheaded a few days later, there was a second rescue attempt when two hostages were still believed to be alive. Again, the result was the same. No one was found at the location where the hostage rescue team went. The failed rescue attempts have not been acknowledged publicly, but at the time U.S. officials said they were doing everything possible to secure the release of the hostages including possible rescue or arranging for their release. While these rescue attempts failed, it was not for lack of trying. As one U.S. official said, there were a lot of people spending a lot of sleepless nights trying to find them -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie, very much.

U.S. and Iraqi forces meanwhile are on the offensive against insurgents in much of the country. But in Baghdad, they're trying to avoid an all-out fight. Our senior international correspondent Brent Sadler reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S.-led military action on multiple fronts in Iraq. America warplanes hit two suspected terror targets in Fallujah in the early hours of Tuesday destroying a safe house and a planning center used by foreign fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi according to U.S. officials.

Zarqawi associates were targeted it's claimed, while planning more suicide bombings and kidnappings. Escalating anti-insurgent operations in Ramadi, some 60 miles west of Baghdad where Iraqi troops, backed up by U.S. Marines, launched a series of raids on seven mosques in the city.

Holy sites are normally afforded protected status in the fighting but in Ramadi, U.S. officials say these mosques were used for insurgent activity, including weapons storage, recruitment for fighters and harboring terrorists. But in Sadr City, close to the capital, U.S. forces have put a hold on military action pending the outcome of a voluntary surrender of weapons by Mehdi army fighters which began yesterday.

But progress is slow. No other encouraging signs, either, say U.S. commanders. Militants, they say, have not removed hundreds of improvised bombs that line some of Sadr City's streets with the density of mine fields.

COL. ABE ABRAMS, U.S. ARMY: Over a 1.5 kilometer stretch of road, had over 120 improvised explosive devices.

SADLER: Every bullet, bomb and machine gun that's handed in is being carefully counted day by day, but so far, says U.S. military commanders, the tally is less than convincing. By Saturday, though, come what may with the weapons count says the U.S. military, security sweeps in the Shia slum neighborhood will resume to root out weapons or insurgents. But if the militia really disarms and relinquishes thousands of armaments, a less intense military action is expected.

ABRAMS: If the numbers are not very high, we'll have a requirement to broaden our search into many other places, and it will be anything but surgical or cursory.

SADLER: A clear warning that by week's end the Mehdi army faces renewed offensive military action by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces unless the militia lays down its huge arsenal of weapons between now and then. Brent Sadler, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Did the U.S.-led invasion let a genie out of the bottle? The International Atomic Energy Agency which monitored Iraq sites before the war says equipment and materials have been systematically disappearing from the country. The IAEA says that in the wrong hands that equipment can be used to make nuclear weapons. According to the agency, satellite photos show entire buildings have been dismantled. A top adviser to Iraq's interior ministry today blamed U.S. forces for not securing the facilities. Here in Washington, the State Department says the missing machinery is a concern, but believes the situation is now, and I'm quoting, under control.

Let's turn now from concerns about Iraq to a more domestic concern, namely the shortage of flu vaccine. With the nation's vaccine supply half of what it ought to be, government health officials today unveiled a plan to protect those most at risk. CNN medical correspondent Christy Feig joining us now live with details -- Christy.

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Wolf. We continue to hear stories about the fallout of this shortage of flu vaccine. It's echoing around the country and now the government is trying to make sure what little we do have gets to those who need it most.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEIG (voice-over): Seniors desperate for a flu vaccine wait for hours in a line that wraps around this public's grocery store in Sarasota, Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm almost 400th in line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't get a ticket, you don't get a shot.

FEIG: They're willing to wait because it's almost impossible to find one since the nation's supply was slashed in half. So the Centers for Disease Control has inked a deal with Adventis, the remaining maker of the U.S. flu shot to reroute about 22 million doses they have not yet shipped to those who ordered it such as doctor's offices, pharmacies or grocery stores.

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC: We're going first to the people who need the vaccine most and where we can logically predict the greatest number of at-risk people.

FEIG: That's children 6 months to 23 months, anyone with a chronic disease and everyone over the age of 65. So 14 million doses will be sent to nursing homes, pediatrician's offices and VA hospitals. The agency says they're also mapping county by county where flu cases are being reported, hoping to send the vaccine there to stop an outbreak in its early stages. But in the fight for existing vaccines stories of price gouging abound.

GERBERDING: Shame on the people who are price gouging. This is a reprehensible thing to be doing, I think an immoral thing in this context.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEIG: Now, the CDC's hands are tied when it comes to stopping those who are raising prices just because laws vary by state. It's up to those state governments to crack down -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Christy Feig reporting for us. Thanks, very much. And to our viewers here is your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the question is this. Have you received a flu shot already this year? You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

Moderating the final showdown. I'll speak to the veteran journalist Bob Schieffer live this hour. He's getting ready to moderate the third and final presidential debate in Tempe tomorrow night. He'll speak with us now.

Plus, on the trail, recovering both candidates as they make their final preparations to get your vote. We'll have live reports from the campaigns.

Digging up the past, from nude photos to old allegations. Why some candidates are turning to dirty politics. Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first thing Andrew (ph) yelled out was, "grab the baby!" So I picked up the whole bassinet. And then from what I could see, the crocodile started to take Andrew out of the -- drag him out of the tent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Crocodile attack. A camper becomes this 14-foot reptile's bait while a grandmother comes to the rescue. An update on a story we brought you yesterday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: President Bush campaigned in Colorado today, declaring that Democrat John Kerry's statements in Bush's words, simply do not pass the credibility test. Later, the president headed for Arizona, where this year's third and final presidential debate will take place tomorrow night. CNN White House correspondent Dana Bash reports from Scottsdale, Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad is a great president.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Colorado Springs the president is introduced for the first time on the trail by one of his daughters before taking the podium to warm up for his final face off with John Kerry.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those issues have highlighted the clear differences between the Senator and me on issues ranging from jobs, to taxes, to health care, to the war on terror. As much as he has tried to obscure it, on issue after issue, my opponent has showed why he earned his ranking as the most liberal member of the United States Senate.

BASH: A central Bush message of the day is health care and the attack line is a familiar one that John Kerry has a costly big government plan. A new Bush ad.

AD ANNOUNCER: $1.5 trillion. Rationing, less access, fewer choices, long waits, and Washington bureaucrats not your doctor, make final decisions on your health.

BASH: Kerry aides shot back health costs have spiked and millions have lost coverage on the president's watch. Bush aides do recognize the last debate on domestic issues will be a fight on John Kerry's turf. On health care, for example, the president trails the senator by 19 percent, according to CNN/"USA Today" latest poll. The president spent two days campaigning in Colorado, which should be solid Bush country. He won here by more than 8 percent in 2000. It's gone Republican nine out of the last eleven elections, but an exploding Hispanic population tending to vote Democrat and job loss help make Colorado a neck and neck race.

And the Bush campaign has another concern. A ballot initiative for Colorado's nine electoral votes to be split based on the popular vote instead of winner take all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): But if Colorado's electoral votes were split in 2000, Al Gore would have had three more and he would be in the White House. But Wolf, President Bush for now is focusing, of course, on tomorrow night. He is huddling with some senior advisers this afternoon here in Arizona and he is going to focus as we just heard on the senator's record, really try to zero in on it and try to paint him as a big government liberal -- Wolf. BLITZER: Dana Bash reporting for us. Thanks, Dana, very much. And to our viewers, we have an important programming note. The first lady Mrs. Laura Bush is the guest on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight. That airs 9 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific.

Democrat John Kerry also is preparing for tomorrow night's debate. He spent the day in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That's where CNN's Ed Henry is right now -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Wolf. That's right. While you just heard, obviously, the president and vice president still out there on the attack against John Kerry, he is actually looking very calm and cool. This hour, he's heading out for a bike ride. He has been behind closed doors all day with staffers, preparing for the debate. That has led to inevitable questions about whether Kerry is missing an opportunity to defend himself against these attacks, but the Kerry camp insist they put out a new ad this week pushing back against the comments -- the attacks over the comments that Kerry made about trying to reduce terrorists to a nuisance, they say they've also put out a lot of surrogates for John Kerry and they want to let him stick to his routine. They believe he won the first two debates, they think if he stays calm, if he keeps doing what he's been doing before he can win this third debate as well. And today in fact John Kerry let his running mate do the talking. John Edwards went on the attack against President Bush and also had a little prediction about tomorrow's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kerry is going to win that debate tomorrow and one of the reasons he is going to win is because George Bush is out of touch. He is out of touch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Senator Kerry had planned to head to Arizona tonight to get closer to the debate site. He changed those plans and decided to stay in Santa Fe for another evening in part because he did not want to be in the air flying to Phoenix while the game one of the Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees baseball series was going on tonight. He wanted to be here, watching the game. Again, I spoke to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson earlier today. He said that behind closed doors, John Kerry has been talking a lot about baseball, cracking jokes. He's very calm and confident. They think all the pressure is on President Bush, because again the Democrats think he lost the first two debates and the pressure and the heat is on President Bush -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Henry reporting for us. Thanks very much, Ed. As the presidential candidates prepare for their final debate tomorrow night, there's a growing controversy over an upcoming television program about John Kerry's activities during the Vietnam War.

This is extraordinary that someone can go out there and preempt regular television. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: This is extraordinary that someone can go out there and preempt regular television...

BLITZER (voice-over): Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe says the DNC has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission over Sinclair Broadcast Group's plans to air a program in prime time in these final days before the election, accusing John Kerry of betraying American POWs during the Vietnam War.

MCAULIFFE: If people want to pay pay-per-view and watch documentaries that's their right, but to go out and preempt regular broadcasting to put on a 90-minute attack against a presidential candidate the week before the election is absolutely outrageous and it's illegal.

BLITZER: Sinclair plans to have its stations air the show commercial-free. The Democrats' complaint charges that Sinclair's plans amount to a, quote, "illegal in kind contribution to the Bush/Cheney campaign." McAuliffe says this is the first time the DNC has ever filed an FEC complaint against a media organization. Sinclair operates 62 local channels across the country, including in such battleground states as Ohio, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin. It insists there is nothing wrong with airing the program, "Stolen Honor, Wounds That Never Heal."

MARK HYMAN, SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP: This is definitely a newsworthy event. These Vietnam prisoners of war had suffered horrific abuse and unspeakable torture for many years and most of them maintained silence for 31 years and felt the need to respond to claims made by John Kerry.

BLITZER: Sinclair has offered John Kerry an opportunity to appear on its stations to respond to the program. The Kerry campaign says it's not taking the offer seriously. McAuliffe says the DNC would be interested only if Kerry also got 90 minutes in prime time. In April, Sinclair made news when it ordered its seven ABC affiliates not to air a "Nightline" segment that featured Ted Koppel reading the names of U.S. troops killed in Iraq. At the time a Sinclair executive called the broadcast, quote, "contrary to the public interest."

The Bush/Cheney campaign says it avoided filing any FEC complaints in the face of what it says were unfair allegations that were widely broadcast against President Bush, including the CBS "60 Minutes" report, the Michael Moore film, "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the Kitty Kelley bestseller on the Bush family.

KEN MEHLMAN, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Each campaign has to decide how they want to deal with a broadcast that they don't like. In our case, we try to tell the truth. In their case, they apparently file a legal complaint.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We'll continue to follow this story for our viewers. More on the political situation coming up later this hour.

There's also been a controversy surrounding the killing of a 13- year-old Palestinian girl. Some Israeli soldiers shocked by the actions of their commanding officer are now speaking out.

Also ahead, asking the questions at the final debate. CBS journalist Bob Schieffer will be the man in control. He joins me live this hour.

And the discovery of a Mafia graveyard in New York City? Evidence that the remains are from victims targeted by the former mob boss, John Gotti.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting this story into CNN just now. A United States senator says he's so worried about the possibility of a terror attack, he's closing his Capitol Hill office until after the November 2 election. CNN's John Bisney is here with us with details.

First of all, who is the senator?

JOHN BISNEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is a Democrat from Minnesota, Wolf. This is his first term. And he has decided, based on some reports that he has received from the Senate leadership that it would be prudent for him to close his Senate office on Capitol Hill in the Russell Building.

That would be Mark Dayton, the Democratic senator from Minnesota. What exactly is he saying, what happened, what convinced him that it would be prudent to shut down his Russell Senate office?

BISNEY: Several weeks ago, Dayton got a briefing or looked at documents that were given to the Senate leadership on the possible threat terror -- threat representation to the Capitol. Based on that, Dayton said there was enough in there that alarmed him that he decided it would be better for his staff's safety, for his own personal safety, for his family's safety if he were to, until the election, close down the office, the implication being that there might be some sort of a terrorist activity against the Capitol before the November 2 election.

BLITZER: Now he got the same briefing that 99 other U.S. senators got and he's the only one shutting down his office?

BISNEY: He's the only one. We've talked to other senators in the leadership who say that as far as they're concerned, there's no specific threat right now that would lead them to this level of caution.

BLITZER: You've spoken to Capitol Hill Police as well?

BISNEY: Capitol Hill Police, CNN has also spoken to the FBI, to Homeland Security. All of them say, Wolf, there is, again, nothing new, nothing new in the past several weeks that would suggest there's anything specific that Senator Dayton would be reacting to. BLITZER: So basically it's just Senator Mark Dayton, he, himself, thinks it's prudent to do it. He is quoted by the Associated Press as saying he would advise people from his state to avoid Capitol Hill until after the November 2 election.

And he adds this: "I would not bring my two sons to the Capitol between now and the election." But a lot of people think he's way overreacting. Is that the right?

BISNEY: There is that belief, that Senator Dayton is going too far. Nevertheless he says he has thought this through. This is his personal decision. He says he could not be away in Minnesota and have something happen in his office that would put his staff or any visitors people at risk. That's why he decided to take the step.

BLITZER: John Bisney, thanks very much. We'll continue to follow this story for our viewers. Let's move on now to some other news we're monitoring, including the violence raging in Gaza. United Nations officials say a 10-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and critically wounded as she sat in her classroom in (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

The Israeli military say troops fired toward the source of a mortar attack and may have hit the girl. CNN's Guy Raz has this story of another young school girl whose death is sending out shock waves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The lonely corner desk of a young girl. Just days ago, Iman al-Hams sat here with homework.

HWAYDA AL-HAMS, IMAN'S MOTHER (through translator): She was just 13. She went to school like a regular little girl and she filled my life with joy. She was on her way to school. There was a lot of shooting that morning. And when she was first hit, she became hysterical. Instead of running back home, she ran towards the soldiers.

RAZ: The Israeli army initially said soldiers suspected young Iman was carrying a bomb in her school bag. The army says normal rules of engagement were followed. The case was closed. But Iman had been hit by 20 bullets, a fact that raised questions and prompted two soldiers who witnessed the incident to contact the Israeli newspaper "Ye'diot Achronot."

In conversations with reporter Yosi Oshua (ph), the soldiers recounted a grizzly tale. Their voices have been disguised. "I was sure she was 12 or maybe younger. I reported it over the 2-way radio. Shots were fired. Iman fell to the ground. Then our commander shot her twice. He made sure she was dead and then I don't know why, but he decided to turn back towards her body and unloaded a round of bullets into it. This was the most revolting thing I have ever seen as a soldier."

(on camera): The reports prompted the Israeli army to launch a criminal investigation into the conduct of the commanding officer. (voice-over): In a statement, the army said: "The Israeli Defense Forces recognize the gravity of the incident and the allegations raised require a full investigation."

Israel says its latest incursion into Gaza, now in its third week, was designed to end rocket attacks on Israeli towns, but one of the outcomes has been the death of nearly 30 children, including Iman al-Hams.

AL-HAMS (through translator): She filled this house, she filled our lives with joy and her death has left us with a great feeling of emptiness.

RAZ: An empty room. A life abruptly ended.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The third and final presidential debate tomorrow night. So much at stake for all sides. We'll talk to the moderator, Bob Schieffer of CBS News.

Sex scandals, the oldest campaign trick in the book. Are they fair play or dirty politics?

Plus, the high court and a higher law. Details of a Supreme Court surprise here in Washington earlier today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Ready to face the nation, along with President Bush and Senator Kerry. I'll speak with the man in the power seat at tomorrow night's debate, Bob Schieffer standing by. He'll join me live. We'll get to that.

First, though, a quick check of the other stories now in the news.

In what could be the most important church-state ruling of its term, the U.S. Supreme Court has unexpectedly agreed to consider the highly sensitive issue of displaying the Ten Commandments on public property. The justices agreed to tackle the matter after conflicting rulings by appeals courts around the country.

The FBI says it may have discovered a makeshift graveyard used by the Mafia to bury its victims. After receiving a tip and digging through concrete and dirt for several days, FBI agents unearthed human remains from a lot in Queens, New York. They say as many as six murder victims were buried there in the late 1970s and early '80s.

And a chaotic seen in Huntington New York. Just about an hour ago, a multilevel building collapsed because of a natural gas explosion. The building houses a car sales dealership. Suffolk County Police say all the employees have been accounted for. Eight people suffered minor injuries.

And this just in from the Associated Press in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A jury has found serial killing suspect Derrick Todd Lee guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a Baton Rouge woman. The same jury will begin deliberations tomorrow morning on whether Lee should be executed.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Throughout the presidential campaign, there's been a lot of talk about what President Bush and Senator Kerry did during the Vietnam era when they were young. As it turns out, they're not the only candidates being confronted with questions about the past.

Our Brian Todd has been looking into that. He's joining us now live -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wolf, it is the season. And as two congressman are finding out today, there seems to be no better time to dig up a politician's past than when he's in a contentious election race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): As he tries to fend off a Republican challenger, Democratic Congressman David Wu of Oregon is not fending off a 28-year-old accusation. Tuesday's edition of "The Oregonian" newspaper is reporting claims that Wu tried to force a former girlfriend to have sex with him when he was a 21-year-old junior at Stanford University in 1976.

The newspaper interviewed a former campus police officer for the story. Neither Wu nor the woman in question commented for the article, but after it was published, Wu spoke to CNN affiliate KION.

REP. DAVID WU (D), OREGON: I was sorry then. And I'm sorry since and I'm sorry today that such a bad thing happened, and I take full responsibility for it.

TODD: Republican Congressman Pete Sessions has a more benign personal issue now making the rounds of his campaign. Democrats are circulating old newspaper features from 1974, Southwest Texas State University. It's hard to confirm that of any these naked bodies belong to then 18-year-old freshman Pete Sessions, but Democrats say he is among a huge group of students shown streaking across campus.

Democrats accuse Sessions of hypocrisy, because he wrote a newspaper column criticizing Janet Jackson's risque performance at the Super Bowl this year. In a statement issued to CNN, Sessions' campaign says, "Trying to equate the immature action of an 18-year-old during his first year in college with that of a 37-year-old woman who was in front of 150 million people makes no sense."

Sessions and his Democratic opponent, Congressman Martin Frost, are waging an increasingly nasty campaign in the region where Frost has been hurt by GOP redistricting. Perhaps Sessions and David Wu can relate to the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who faced allegations of groping shortly before his election as California governor, or Representative Bob Livingston, derailed just before he was to be elevated to House speaker in 1999 amid charges of sexual infidelity.

REP. ROBERT LIVINGSTON (D), LOUISIANA: I have hurt you all deeply and I beg your forgiveness.

TODD: The list goes on. And the use of past behavior as present political weapon is as old as the Republic, but is it effective?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: It tends to work in two circumstances, when the charges are really serious, like sexual abuse or harassment. Those are serious charges and people will take them seriously. The other case is when you find the politician sounds like a hypocrite.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now, with Congressman Wu and Sessions both confronting these reports head on, the only intrigue left in either story seems to lie with voters in Oregon or Texas, as we wait to see if either man is punished on November 2 -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd, thank you very much for that report.

This year's vice presidential and presidential debates have been among the most closely watched in recent memory and each has been very different from the others, flavored, in part, by the different moderators.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM LEHRER, MODERATOR: I'm Jim Lehrer of "The NewsHour" on PBS.

BLITZER (voice-over): This was the 10th presidential debate Lehrer has moderated. And it went strictly by the rules, spelled out in detail by the candidates themselves. They included two-minute answer, 90-second rebuttals, and not addressing each other directly.

GWEN IFILL, MODERATOR: Good evening.

BLITZER: Lehrer's PBS colleague, Gwen Ifill, moderated the one and only vice presidential debate, also running a tight ship.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I could respond, Gwen, but it is going to take more than 30 seconds.

IFILL: Well, that's all you've got.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: ABC's Charles Gibson had a tougher time moderating the second presidential debate. With the poll numbers closer than ever and President Bush trying to make up for what was widely seen as a poor showing in the first debate, the dialogue seemed harder to control.

CHARLES GIBSON, MODERATOR: Mr. President, let's extend for a minute...

BUSH: Let me just -- I've got to answer this.

GIBSON: Exactly. And with Reservists being held on duty...

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: Let me answer what he just said, about around the world.

GIBSON: Well, I want to get into the issue of the back-door draft...

BUSH: You tell Tony Blair we're going alone. Tell Tony Blair we're going alone.

BLITZER: Gibson tried to keep the candidates on topic.

GIBSON: I heard you both say -- I have heard you both say during the campaign, I just heard you say it, that you're going to cut the deficit by a half in four years. But I didn't hear one thing in the last three and a half minutes that would indicate how either one of you do that.

BLITZER: Both candidates responded and once again both failed to answer the question.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Moderating the third and final debate. Coming up, I'll speak live with the veteran journalist Bob Schieffer. He's standing by.

Also, a day of mourning for victims of a horrific terror attack.

Plus, two important terror anniversaries. We'll have details of both.

Also ahead:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL SOROHAN, CAMPER: Then she saw that the croc had the baby, so she grabbed -- she jumped on top of the croc.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A grandmother's heroic action, we'll show you how it turned out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Bob Schieffer, the host of the CBS program "Face the Nation," will moderate tomorrow night's third and final presidential debate. Bob is joining us now live from Tempe, Arizona.

It must be hot out there. I'll be out there tomorrow.

Bob, how do you prepare to moderate a debate like this? Clearly, it's a lot different than moderating just "Face the Nation."

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Well, it's an hour and a half longer, or an hour and a half, where "Face the Nation" is a half hour, so I guess I have to have a lot more questions.

But I have been spending a lot of time over the past two weeks, Wolf, talking to other reporters, talking to experts, just talking to people I trust about what they thought would be the areas I ought to cover. I have only have one mandate from the Debate Commission, and that is to talk about domestic affairs. And so that's where I will try to shape this debate tomorrow night.

I must have 100 questions right now. My job tonight and tomorrow morning is to try to winnow it down to the areas that I think are most important. And, obviously, that's going to be taxes. It's going to be Social Security reform. It's going to health care. You can make a list. It's easy to make a list, but figuring how to get in as much as we possibly can on the subjects that they ought to talk about, I think that's going to be the challenge.

BLITZER: And you write these questions yourself and you're not allowed to share them with anyone. Is that right?

SCHIEFFER: That is exactly right. I haven't even told my wife what the final questions are going to be. She has suggested a few along the way, as a lot of my colleagues have. As a matter of fact, Wolf, I got a box of suggestions from an organization, and they told me in the cover letter that there were 11,000 questions in there.

Now, I'm going to have to have full disclosure here and tell you I didn't read all 11,000, but I thought there were a couple of pretty good ones in there and I made some notes from them. So I'm getting -- yesterday, I got about 1,600 e-mails at the office with questions. So, there's no shortage of questions out there. But I have just got to get them winnowed down here.

But it's really been fun. And I must say, I'm really looking forward to this.

BLITZER: And we're looking forward to your questions as well.

Talk a little bit of how you're going to discipline these two presidential candidates. We saw Charlie Gibson, at least on one, maybe two occasions, have a little trouble making sure they kept within their timelines and simply didn't want to respond when they weren't allowed to respond.

SCHIEFFER: Well, I will try to remind them that I'm enforcing the rules that their campaigns have worked out.

I mean, if it had been left to me to set the rules, I might have set it up in kind of a different way, but I have agreed. The commission has asked me to moderate the debate under the rules that these two campaigns have worked out. So, if one of them runs over, I'll have to warn them that I'll have to give the other candidate the same opportunity. But I don't think we'll have too much trouble there.

There are lights to tell them when to slow down. And I'm told that I will have a buzzer that I can sound if worse comes to worse. So I hope I don't have to do that. I don't think we will.

BLITZER: Well, what happens, though, what do you do if -- if what happened the other night in Saint Louis happens, that John Kerry says something really, really nasty at the president and it's time for you to move on to another subject, but the president is obviously anxious to respond and he just starts talking? How do you -- he's the president of the United States.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHIEFFER: Well, I don't suppose I could tell him to go take a time out, could I? That might be -- I don't suppose you could ask either one of them to do that. But I would try to accommodate that, but I think what I would do, Wolf -- and we won't know until it happens, if it does -- I would always make sure that if I let one of them do something and run over, I would try to make sure that the other got the same opportunity.

And these men are gentlemen. This is a hard, tough campaign, but they know the rules and they know they wouldn't look too good and people wouldn't like it if they tried to take advantage of the rules. They're good politicians. So I don't think they're going to do that.

BLITZER: And you have the discretion. After the two-minute initial response, the 90-second rebuttal, you can then give them each 30 additional seconds, if you want. Is that right?

SCHIEFFER: Yes, that's how it works.

I myself am not allowed to ask follow-up questions. I wish that I could, but maybe I can frame some of these questions in the beginning in such a way that will force the other candidate to ask the follow-up question, because that's really the important thing. This is not about moderators and it's not about rules. It's about these two men who are trying out, who want us to hire them for the most important and the most powerful job in the world, I guess.

And what I hope I can do as the moderator is give the American people a better picture and a better feel for who these men are, what they stand for and why they believe what they believe. So, if I can do that, then I think I will have done my job.

BLITZER: Have you ever done any of these presidential debates before? SCHIEFFER: No, this is the first one for me. I have obviously moderated debates and I've interviewed presidents over the years, long before I came to "Face the Nation."

My first presidential interview was Gerald Ford back when I was the White House correspondent. Back in those days, I interviewed Ford, President Carter, Ronald Reagan. I guess I've interviewed most of them since then, as you have, Wolf. But this is the first time I've been asked to do one of these presidential debates.

And I must tell you, I am really excited about it. Anything we can do, it seems to me, to get the focus of these campaigns these days off these nasty television commercials and into a format like these debates, which we can all really learn from, I think the better off the whole process is. I think the excitement is building around these things. I think that's evidence that people are interested.

There's really kind of a World Series atmosphere out here about all of this. And I think that's just all to the good.

BLITZER: You've watched all the debates over the years, just as I have. But have you gone back in recent days and looked at some of the videotape to see how some of your predecessors, as moderators, how they did in the '60s, '70s, '80s '90s?

SCHIEFFER: Yes.

And, actually, I've been at most of the debates over the years. I was there when Ronald Reagan turned to Walter Mondale that day and said I will not hold your youth and inexperience against you. It was a wonderful moment. I was also there for the famous gotcha, when Lloyd Bentsen turned to Dan Quayle that time. I saw Gerald Ford when he said that Poland was not under the domination of the Soviet Union.

There have been some very dramatic moments. And I have been lucky enough to have been there and seen most of them. So, I am just very, very -- I'm not only honored and somewhat awed by all of this. I'm just excited. Even if I were not going to be the moderator, Wolf, I would be anxious to see what these two men are going to say, because we've got as close a campaign here, as close a race as I can recall. And I think a lot of what happens in this debate will be a major factor in who wins this election.

BLITZER: Bob Schieffer is the host of "Face the Nation," which is seen every Sunday morning. He is also the chief Washington correspondent for CBS News.

We'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow in Tempe, Bob. When I say this, I really mean it. Good luck tomorrow night. Literally, the whole world is going to be watching. I don't want to make you too nervous.

SCHIEFFER: Oh, don't tell me that.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHIEFFER: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Bob Schieffer, one of the best in the business and a good friend, thanks very much.

By the way, "Face the Nation" there's a 50th anniversary new book out about "Face the Nation." This is something all of you news junkies out there probably will want to get a copy of, with an accompanying DVD as well.

Forty days since the siege, a memorial held for the hundreds lost in Russia's school massacre. We'll have details of what happened today.

Plus, crocodile hunted. A camper becomes bait and a grandmother emerges as a hero. We'll get to that.

First, though, a look at some other stories making headlines around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): A general strike in Nigeria is in its second day. Nigeria is the world's seventh largest oil exporter and concerns about the strike have helped pushed world oil prices to record highs.

Mourning in Indonesia. Ceremonies in Indonesia marked the second anniversary of the Bali bombings. The 2002 terrorist attacks killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

Cole anniversary. Today also marks one other grim anniversary. On this day four years ago, suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 sailors.

And that's our look around the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In the Russian town of Beslan, hundreds of people are marking the end of the traditional Christian Orthodox mourning period for the victims of the school massacre. But more than a month later, the town remains in sorrow.

Here is CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They walk the school corridors, study the bullet holes in the walls, find notebooks left behind from that awful day 40 days ago.

"We came here because we thought we could still see them," Marina tells me. "We don't believe that they died. We think they're still here" Twelve-year-old David (ph) recalls one particular group of victims. He manages only six words. "The Tombios (ph)," he says, "one family, six people."

At the cemetery, a ceremony marks the end of 40 days of mourning. Most people here are Orthodox Christians who believe the soul rises to heaven on the 40th day.

(on camera): In a spiritual sense, the people of Beslan are saying goodbye to more than 300 people killed in the hostage crisis, more than half of them just children.

(voice-over): There are crosses over most graves, but just a stick at 12-year-old Emma's (ph). Her parents are Muslim. For 2- year-old Christina (ph), a doll still in its packaging.

Muslim rebels have claimed responsibility for the Beslan attack. Amidst calls for revenge, many of the mothers here struggle to understand the killers.

"How could you raise your hand against children?" she asks a crowd around her daughter's grave. "Those killers weren't brought up on their mother's milk. They were brought up on bombs."

After 40 days, Beslan is still in shock.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Beslan, Russia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here is how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Remember, though, it's not a scientific poll.

Now some incredible new details on a story we first told you about yesterday. It sounds like a movie plot. A giant crocodile stocks campers on a remote beach in the middle of the night. But this one is all too real. And Australians have a new hero, a grandmother who jumped on the beast's back to save the day.

ITN's Harry Foset (ph) tells the tale.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY FOSET (ph), ITN REPORTER (voice-over): Northern Queensland has seen it share of amazing crocodile tales, but this one ranks with the best. The main protagonists, a 14-foot, 47-stone saltwater crocodile described by one local expert as a pretty serious piece of machinery, and the 60-year-old grandmother who wrestled it and ultimately won.

Diane Kerr was sleeping in a tent with her young baby and husband when she was awoken by a thud and saw the crocodile just outside. DIANE KERR, CAMPER: The first thing Andrew yelled out was, grab the baby, so I picked up the whole bassinet. And then, from what I could see, the crocodile started to take Andrew out of the -- drag him out of the tent.

FOSET: While she clung on to her husband's hand, their neighbors came to the rescue.

SOROHAN: He -- we looked up. There's the crocodile toward the mesh, grabbed him by the leg and pulled him out. And all we heard was the screaming over here.

So we grabbed the torch and dived out of the tent. The wife came around this side. And I went around that side and she thought the croc had the baby. So she grabbed -- she jumped on top of the croc and the croc actually bit right into her right arm.

FOSET: The crocodile then dragged Alicia Sorohan towards the water before until son Jason (ph) shot it dead. A radio beacon and an SOS scrolled in the sand brought park rangers to the scene, before the victims were taken to hospital, suffering broken limbs and deep cuts.

As for the cause of the attack, it's thought the crocodile might have been attracted by scraps left by the fisherman and other campers. Experts say its behavior was atypical, but are warning of the dangers of holidaying in croc country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: I'll be in Tempe, Arizona, tomorrow for the final debate.

"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

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