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American Morning
Will This be a Pivotal Night in the Election? Elizabeth Edwards Discusses Her Husband's Run for the Vice Presidential Spot
Aired October 13, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Will this be a pivotal night in the election? Tonight's final debate the last chance for millions of voters to see John Kerry and George Bush side by side.
What does the senator from Minnesota know about terror threats that made him close his office until after the election?
Who was buried in a mob graveyard discovered in Queens, New York? Authorities may have found evidence they wanted for decades.
And it's no longer just steam coming out of Mount Saint Helens. Hot lava on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
COLLINS: A beautiful morning here on this Wednesday.
Good morning to you, everybody.
Heidi Collins in for Soledad.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bill Hemmer.
Good morning, as well.
Both campaigns completely focused on the third and final debate later tonight. We'll look at what the president's team is doing, also talk to Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards' wife, about some comments he made this past week about stem cell research. So we'll get to that in a moment.
COLLINS: On another medical note, also, the shortage of flu vaccine so great now that even people whose life might depend on getting a shot may have to do without it. We're going to look at all of the doors that were closed in one man's search, talk about whether the government has a Plan B in the works.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Let's depend on the government to provide for us. Isn't the government supposed to make sure there's things like flu vaccine available to -- I mean it's the government that...
HEMMER: 'Tis the season.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Coming up in the "Cafferty File," on a more pleasant note, it's Wednesday, things people say that got our attention. Which presidential candidate, for example, longs to go through the ducts and leap onto the stage in a cape?
And we'll tell you who said that big breasts, hot pants and a gun don't qualify you as a heroine.
HEMMER: Oh, yes, you need more than that, right?
CAFFERTY: Coming up in the "Cafferty File" in about an hour. We're going to -- between now and then we're going to work at trying to get the pictures ready so we can actually put them on the air, since this is television and not radio.
HEMMER: We have goals.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: Got it.
CAFFERTY: We do have goals. Lofty as they may be, we're going to try to put the pictures on the air so that people can see what we're talking about. Otherwise they could, you know, listen to the radio.
HEMMER: That's right. I think that would be you you'd have to call it radio.
CAFFERTY: I wonder if President Bush is going to have that satellite dish strapped to his back that he had in that first debate tonight. And he wore it on (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: We're going to try to get an answer for you.
CAFFERTY: Check out that Radio Indonesia right there in his ear.
COLLINS: We're going to get to the stories now in the news at this time.
Daryn Kagan standing by at the CNN Center to do just that this morning -- Daryn, good morning to you once again.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning to you in New York City.
Israeli troops are clashing with Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza. Palestinian sources say at least two Palestinians were killed. Some seven others are wounded. Meanwhile, the Israeli Army says it has suspended a commander for his involvement in last week's killing of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl.
Here in the U.S., federal agents may have uncovered a graveyard for mafia victims. Agents say they found human remains yesterday in a lot in Queens, New York. The FBI believes the bones belong to the victims of the Bonanno crime family from the 1980s. As many as six bodies may be buried there, including a former neighbor of Gambino boss John Gotti.
One of the most famous buildings in Los Angeles is coming down. The Los Angeles School Board voted yesterday to convert parts of the history Ambassador Hotel into a school campus. The ballroom where Senator Robert Kennedy spoke will be preserved. No decision yet on the pantry where he was shot in 1968.
And lava has made an appearance at Mount Saint Helens. After weeks of rumblings, here is orange hot stuff. A new lava dome has formed at the volcano. Earthquake activity had decreased since the lava came to the surface. Scientists say this dome could dwarf the old dome, but a major eruption is not likely.
And, Heidi, you know how you say to your little boy, hot, not, no touch?
COLLINS: Yes.
KAGAN: That's like 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding.
KAGAN: No touch.
COLLINS: Unbelievable pictures.
KAGAN: Yes.
COLLINS: But still no big action, which is actually good news.
Daryn, thanks so much.
KAGAN: Sure.
COLLINS: Well, as you know, tonight is the final debate showdown between President Bush and Senator Kerry. Domestic issues on the agenda, an area many say is Kerry's strongest. So, is the president ready?
Suzanne Malveaux is live in Scottsdale, Arizona with that very story -- Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Good morning, Heidi.
It was yesterday President Bush and the first lady had dinner with Republican Senator John McCain, very popular here, as you know. The president standing on friendly territory. Arizona once a battleground state, now pretty much in President Bush's camp. Those polls show the Kerry camp pretty much pulling out of this state.
We hear from Bush aides that the president, of course, is going to be spending a day out of the spotlight. He's going to be meeting with staff and reviewing notes. But we are told that the president is ready and eager for his final debate. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush is going into his final debate looking to make up for lost ground. Polls judged Senator John Kerry the winner of the first two face-offs and the candidates now locked in a dead heat. In Colorado Springs, Mr. Bush summed up his debate strategy with his one line zinger to Kerry.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He can run but he cannot hide.
MALVEAUX: The final debate will focus on domestic issues, widely viewed as Kerry's strong suit. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows Kerry scoring much higher than Mr. Bush on health care, slightly higher on the economy, with Mr. Bush in a better position on taxes.
BUSH: Thank you all for coming.
MALVEAUX: On the eve of the debate at a GOP fundraiser in Arizona, the president contrasted his economic plan with his opponent's by casting Kerry as a tax and spend liberal.
BUSH: But you're not going to have fiscal sanity with John Kerry as the president.
MALVEAUX: It's too soon to tell whether that message will resonate with the voters at large, but political analysts say both candidates must win over voters in the final debate.
JAMES A. THRUBER, PROFESSOR: In a very close election like this one, these debates will make a difference. And there, it is unprecedented that it is this close.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, political observers say it is especially important for President Bush to focus on the economy. This is the number one issue when it comes to those Midwest battleground states. That is where the unemployment rate is relatively high -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And, Suzanne, you know, we've been seeing a lot more of the president's family along the campaign trail as the days go by.
Is this sort of an organized plan?
MALVEAUX: Well, they've certainly been putting the first lady out there front and center. She has been campaigning very hard. We saw her, of course, yesterday in New Mexico. And, of course, she has made all the rounds in the networks and the talk shows. Just recently she was on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night. And, of course, what she is doing, as well as the daughter, the daughter Jena, was a first for the campaign. She introduced the president yesterday.
They are trying to balance this, the message that the president is resolved in the war on terror, that he is, of course, committed to fighting the terrorists, homeland security, but also to balance that with a softer side, to say yes, he is concerned about health care, about education, the type of things that polls show, of course, that women are looking very closely at -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux in Scottsdale this morning.
Suzanne, thanks.
HEMMER: Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of John Edwards, has been on the trail, as well, taking aim at President Bush on terrorism and the economy and stem cell research. And on that last issue, stem cell research, Mrs. Edwards answering for her husband this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
HEMMER: I'd like to start with what your husband said earlier this week about stem cell research on the stump.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get out of that wheelchair and walk again. That's what we can do in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Republicans have jumped on that comment.
What was he suggesting?
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, V.P. CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: I think he's just trying to do what all of us try to do, and that is to put a personal face on some of the problems that we address. You know, when you talk about 1.6 million people having lost their jobs in this country, it's just too big a number. And when you talk about the people who can benefit from stem cell research, these -- too big a number.
So Christopher Reeve and Michael J. Fox are people who have come out in favor of this. They're faces that people can attach to the policies that John Kerry and John Edwards would promote.
And I think it was just his way of putting a face on the problem.
HEMMER: Senator Bill Frist, the only doctor in the Senate, by my count, called your husband's comments "crass and shameful."
Your reaction to that? Were they appropriate?
E. EDWARDS: Just as I said, I mean I think that these -- that too often the discussions that we have are abstract. But the problems people face are real. Each person, for example, who is a casualty in Iraq is a real person with a real name. When the president said the other day, in the first debate, I think, that he knows about the casualties, he sees those numbers on his desk, that, I thought, was actually fairly crass, you know, because these aren't just numbers on a piece of paper. They're people with names and husbands and wives and children and parents and hopes and dreams and closets full of clothes. And I think that it's important to bring it down to a personal level as we talk about these policies because they have...
HEMMER: What senator...
E. EDWARDS: ... because they have personal effects.
HEMMER: Right.
I apologize for the interruption here. What Senator Frist was suggesting, though, offer the hope but not the hype.
Did your husband go too far?
E. EDWARDS: Well, I don't even -- I'm afraid, Bill, I don't even really understand that. I think that that's exactly...
HEMMER: In the sense that medical research has not advanced itself to the point where Christopher Reeve would be able to walk had he lived past this past weekend.
E. EDWARDS: I think what Christopher Reeve believed and what John Kerry believes, what my husband believes, is that the solution to these problems with spinal chord injuries, with Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes, a whole range of problems that people face today, debilitating sometimes, diseases, can be solved if we start down a path. And that, the way that we get there, one of the ways we hope to get to the solutions to these problems are by using the stem cell research and making certain that we have the federal government working on behalf of our American citizens to find solutions to these problems.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HEMMER: Elizabeth Edwards from earlier today.
Another reminder, later tonight, third and final match up, Tempe, Arizona, prime time coverage 7:00 Eastern here on CNN -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The race doesn't appear close, but many eyes are still on the U.S. Senate race in Illinois between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Alan Keyes. The two had their first of three debates last night. Among the topics, the Bush administration's foreign policies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: This administration has not been very good at what's been called the exercise of soft power. You know, all of us recognize and reserve the right of the United States to exercise its military power in the national interests and for our national security. But we also have to recognize that a lot of our power comes from our ideals. ALAN KEYES (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: You cannot give a soft response to a hard threat. It would be kind of like trying to meet a bayonet with a spaghetti noodle. And it's not going to help the people of this country to survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Most polls show Obama with a commanding 40 point lead over Keyes. And both Barack Obama and Alan Keyes will be our guests next week when AMERICAN MORNING goes to Chicago. That's AMERICAN MORNING on the road in Chicago all next week.
HEMMER: In the meantime, at 12 minutes past the hour, from Iraq today, Saddam Hussein is recovering from surgery. U.S. military officials say the former Iraqi dictator was treated for a hernia two weeks ago in Baghdad. The operation lasted about an hour. Hussein returned to his cell that same day. And officials say the surgery was routine and no complications there, as well.
In this country, Capitol Hill, the office of Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton is closed today over worries of a possible terrorist attack. The Capitol Police say they have not received word of any specific threat, but Senator Dayton cited a report, a recent report, as the reason for the closure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: Recently, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, presented us with a top secret intelligence report on our national security. Obviously, that document's top secret classification prevents me from discussing its contents. However, based upon that information, I've decided to close my office in the Russell Senate Office Building until after the upcoming election. I do so out of extreme but necessary precaution to protect the lives and safety of my Senate staff and my Minnesota constituents, who might otherwise visit my office in the next few weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator Dayton says he will not reopen until after the election. That's several weeks away now. We know 20 days from today.
Peter King, a congressman from New York, is our guest on this very issue next hour. We'll get to it then -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Right now, though, we want to check on the weather.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the latest forecast -- good morning once again, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Heidi.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In a moment here, jurors in the Peterson trial get ready to hear the defense case yesterday only to find out about yet another delay. What's holding up things this time and for how long? We'll get to that in a moment.
COLLINS: Plus, the lives of some people may depend on finding a flu shot. So, what do they do when there's a shortage? We'll look at one man's search.
HEMMER: Also, he admitted to a gruesome killing. But millionaire Robert Durst was acquitted of murder anyway. Now he is going free. We'll find out what's next from his lawyer on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The Scott Peterson murder trial, already in its 20th week, now delayed for at least another week. The Associated Press says a source close to the trial tells them that prosecutors need time to get ready for a rebuttal for some new defense photographs and a concrete expert, as well. The prosecution says Peterson made homemade anchors to weigh down his dead wife's body.
Also, more charges in the murder trial of former electrician Daniel Pelosi, accused of murdering Long Island, New York millionaire Ted Ammon back in 2001. Pelosi now faces additional charges for attempting to tamper with the jury and witnesses, as well as attempted assault. Oral arguments are scheduled for later today in that case -- Heidi.
COLLINS: In Texas, real estate heir Robert Durst is getting out of prison. Durst was acquitted of murder one year ago after he admitted killing and dismembering his 71-year-old neighbor. He has been serving time on two bond jumping charges, but that's up now and he's expected to be released this week.
Dick Deguerin is Durst's attorney.
He's joining me now from Austin, Texas.
Mr. Deguerin, thanks for being with us.
DICK DEGUERIN, ROBERT DURST'S ATTORNEY: Sure, Heidi.
Thanks.
COLLINS: As we have just stated, Robert Durst was acquitted of murder, but he did admit to accidentally shooting Morris Black, cutting up his body and discarding it in Galveston Bay.
Do you have an understanding of why some might look at this case in dismay and say I can't believe he's getting out just after three years?
DEGUERIN: Sure. It's because the trial was sensationalized and the news media reported on the most sensational parts of the case. And they didn't hear what the jury heard, that is, the news media, the general public didn't hear what the jury heard.
It was an accidental death. They struggled over a gun, the gun went off and he died. And then what happened after that is that Bob Durst panicked and he disposed of the body in a gruesome way and then ran off. That's what attracted everybody, that and the fact that he was wealthy and from New York and so forth.
COLLINS: So that he panicked and dismembered a body -- the body, is to say that it was sensationalized by the media?
DEGUERIN: Well, that -- of course that's sensational. But it doesn't have anything to do with the way that Mr. Black died. The jury was able to separate in their deliberations what happened to cause Mr. Black's death, which was an accident, and the stuff that happened afterwards, which was horrible.
COLLINS: As we have said, it's expected that he'll be released this week on parole and we have also explained that he pled guilty to two felony counts of jumping bail.
Where will he go now?
DEGUERIN: Well, he's going to stay around Texas for a while because he'll be on what's called supervised release. It's similar to parole. And he'll have some conditions that he has to live under, not terribly hard conditions, until...
COLLINS: Is he a threat to the public, sir?
DEGUERIN: No. No, he's not a threat to the public. He's a different person from the man that I met three years ago in Pennsylvania after he had been captured.
COLLINS: How so?
DEGUERIN: Well, for one thing, for the first time in his life he's been drug and alcohol free. For the last 40 years of his life he was stoned and drunk every day. And he's been, he's recovered from that. He's had the kind of psychiatric care that he never got as an adult because of the stigma that his family thought if they'd sent him to a psychiatrist. And he's a different person.
COLLINS: The last question, quickly, for you, sir.
How did it end up? Mr. Black was Durst's friend, as you have always contended. How did it end up the way that it did?
DEGUERIN: It was pretty simple. Mr. Black had a fascination for guns. Bob came to -- back home one day and found Mr. Black. Black had taken the gun. He may have been going to steal it. And as Bob tried to get the gun from him, Mr. Black and he wrestled over the gun. The gun went off and shot Mr. Black once in the head right here. And he died almost instantly.
COLLINS: Dick Deguerin from Austin, Texas this morning.
Thanks for your time.
DEGUERIN: Thank you. HEMMER: Twenty minutes past the hour.
In a moment, the death penalty and juveniles -- the Supreme Court gets ready to hear a case that could fundamentally change American criminal justice. Back in a moment with Jack on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the Question once a day again -- the Question of the Day once again.
Good morning.
CAFFERTY: Whatever. That's fine. Whatever.
In 1993 this happened, a kid named Christopher Simmons, 17 years old, he and a 16-year-old broke into this woman, Shirley Crook's, house in Missouri. They kidnapped her, threw her in a car, drove her to a railroad bridge. While she was still alive, bound and gagged, they threw her off the bridge into the river and she drowned. Her body was found the next day.
He was sentenced to be executed, Simmons was, and now the Supreme Court is going to decide whether he should be. Lawyers for Simmons want his sentence overturned, saying that he was "a troubled youth at the time, emotionally unformed and impulsive." Not to mention a bit nasty.
The question is, should juveniles be subjected to the death penalty?
Thomas in Huntington, New York says: "No. As horrible as the crime you're talking about is, executing kids is not within the moral or ethical rights of society."
Bill in Winchester, Virginia: "Juveniles should not be executed -- or excluded" -- rather, excuse me. "Juveniles should not be excluded from the death penalty just because of age. If the crime is so serious as to consider the death penalty, it wasn't an accident. The age of reason and responsibility is well below 18 and does not arrive as a birthday gift wrapped with a bow upon that magic date."
Emmanual in Princeton, New Jersey: "Juveniles should not be sentenced to the death penalty. Nobody should be sentenced to the death penalty. Life without parole is a penalty that makes more sense than death. A sentence is about justice, not about revenge, and a civilized society cannot sentence other people to die."
And Ed in Warren, New Jersey writes this: "Now that I have heard your outrage about the case of the 17-year-old murderer, Jack, I understand better where you're coming from. Do you want to do it yourself or are you thinking of sending someone else to do it for you?"
Am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: You've got a friend in Ed, huh?
CAFFERTY: Well, you know, Ed did a little armchair psychoanalysis there and...
HEMMER: This issue really came up during the sniper case, what, two years ago now, Lee Boyd Malvo and...
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Sure.
CAFFERTY: Have they executed him yet?
HEMMER: No.
CAFFERTY: Well, they should.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Let's lighten things up right now.
Jay Leno with John Edwards last night.
Here's what they had to say about the two little ones, the two young children of John Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO," COURTESY NBC)
EDWARDS: They're very into it.
JAY LENO, HOST: Yes?
EDWARDS: You know, I did this thing, this refrain at the convention where I kept saying hope is on the way, hope is on the way. So now when Emma Claire and Jack get ready for their bathes, they start, "soap is on the way, soap is on the way."
LENO: Oh, that's actually very good.
EDWARDS: Oh, yes. Not only that, not only that, after the debate with Cheney, the kids all came up on the stage. I was holding my kids jacked up in my arms, and he leaned over to me and he said, "Which one's Cheney?"
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Ah, the things kiddos say, huh?
HEMMER: Yes.
The final debate later tonight here on CNN.
Polling shows George Bush trailing John Kerry on most domestic issues. The same polling shows Americans believe the senator will raise their taxes if he's in the White House. Two issues for Kamber and May.
Later tonight, another reminder, our coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern, live in Tempe.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Still to come, for some people, getting a flu shot could be a matter of life or death. So what do they do when there aren't enough to go around? We'll take a look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
FRANK SINATRA: Chicago, Chicago, a title and town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Here we come, too. Starting Monday morning, AMERICAN MORNING goes on the road. Chicago all week next week. We cant wait for that. It's going to be chilly. But Chicago just would not be Chicago if it were not chilly, right?
COLLINS: You know, you forget, as a Minnesotan...
HEMMER: Yes?
COLLINS: ... how quickly you become a pansy in that regard of the cold weather. Yikes!
HEMMER: Yes, but Chicago is such a stunning city, too. And there's so many wonderful landmarks and great history and tradition there. And we're going to find it all. We'll be knee deep starting Monday morning, on the road with CNN.
Back here in New York, the Northeast a bit sleepy today, by the way. Everybody was up watching this game last night.
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Aired October 13, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Will this be a pivotal night in the election? Tonight's final debate the last chance for millions of voters to see John Kerry and George Bush side by side.
What does the senator from Minnesota know about terror threats that made him close his office until after the election?
Who was buried in a mob graveyard discovered in Queens, New York? Authorities may have found evidence they wanted for decades.
And it's no longer just steam coming out of Mount Saint Helens. Hot lava on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
COLLINS: A beautiful morning here on this Wednesday.
Good morning to you, everybody.
Heidi Collins in for Soledad.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bill Hemmer.
Good morning, as well.
Both campaigns completely focused on the third and final debate later tonight. We'll look at what the president's team is doing, also talk to Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards' wife, about some comments he made this past week about stem cell research. So we'll get to that in a moment.
COLLINS: On another medical note, also, the shortage of flu vaccine so great now that even people whose life might depend on getting a shot may have to do without it. We're going to look at all of the doors that were closed in one man's search, talk about whether the government has a Plan B in the works.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Let's depend on the government to provide for us. Isn't the government supposed to make sure there's things like flu vaccine available to -- I mean it's the government that...
HEMMER: 'Tis the season.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Coming up in the "Cafferty File," on a more pleasant note, it's Wednesday, things people say that got our attention. Which presidential candidate, for example, longs to go through the ducts and leap onto the stage in a cape?
And we'll tell you who said that big breasts, hot pants and a gun don't qualify you as a heroine.
HEMMER: Oh, yes, you need more than that, right?
CAFFERTY: Coming up in the "Cafferty File" in about an hour. We're going to -- between now and then we're going to work at trying to get the pictures ready so we can actually put them on the air, since this is television and not radio.
HEMMER: We have goals.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: Got it.
CAFFERTY: We do have goals. Lofty as they may be, we're going to try to put the pictures on the air so that people can see what we're talking about. Otherwise they could, you know, listen to the radio.
HEMMER: That's right. I think that would be you you'd have to call it radio.
CAFFERTY: I wonder if President Bush is going to have that satellite dish strapped to his back that he had in that first debate tonight. And he wore it on (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: We're going to try to get an answer for you.
CAFFERTY: Check out that Radio Indonesia right there in his ear.
COLLINS: We're going to get to the stories now in the news at this time.
Daryn Kagan standing by at the CNN Center to do just that this morning -- Daryn, good morning to you once again.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning to you in New York City.
Israeli troops are clashing with Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza. Palestinian sources say at least two Palestinians were killed. Some seven others are wounded. Meanwhile, the Israeli Army says it has suspended a commander for his involvement in last week's killing of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl.
Here in the U.S., federal agents may have uncovered a graveyard for mafia victims. Agents say they found human remains yesterday in a lot in Queens, New York. The FBI believes the bones belong to the victims of the Bonanno crime family from the 1980s. As many as six bodies may be buried there, including a former neighbor of Gambino boss John Gotti.
One of the most famous buildings in Los Angeles is coming down. The Los Angeles School Board voted yesterday to convert parts of the history Ambassador Hotel into a school campus. The ballroom where Senator Robert Kennedy spoke will be preserved. No decision yet on the pantry where he was shot in 1968.
And lava has made an appearance at Mount Saint Helens. After weeks of rumblings, here is orange hot stuff. A new lava dome has formed at the volcano. Earthquake activity had decreased since the lava came to the surface. Scientists say this dome could dwarf the old dome, but a major eruption is not likely.
And, Heidi, you know how you say to your little boy, hot, not, no touch?
COLLINS: Yes.
KAGAN: That's like 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
COLLINS: Yes, no kidding.
KAGAN: No touch.
COLLINS: Unbelievable pictures.
KAGAN: Yes.
COLLINS: But still no big action, which is actually good news.
Daryn, thanks so much.
KAGAN: Sure.
COLLINS: Well, as you know, tonight is the final debate showdown between President Bush and Senator Kerry. Domestic issues on the agenda, an area many say is Kerry's strongest. So, is the president ready?
Suzanne Malveaux is live in Scottsdale, Arizona with that very story -- Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Good morning, Heidi.
It was yesterday President Bush and the first lady had dinner with Republican Senator John McCain, very popular here, as you know. The president standing on friendly territory. Arizona once a battleground state, now pretty much in President Bush's camp. Those polls show the Kerry camp pretty much pulling out of this state.
We hear from Bush aides that the president, of course, is going to be spending a day out of the spotlight. He's going to be meeting with staff and reviewing notes. But we are told that the president is ready and eager for his final debate. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Bush is going into his final debate looking to make up for lost ground. Polls judged Senator John Kerry the winner of the first two face-offs and the candidates now locked in a dead heat. In Colorado Springs, Mr. Bush summed up his debate strategy with his one line zinger to Kerry.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He can run but he cannot hide.
MALVEAUX: The final debate will focus on domestic issues, widely viewed as Kerry's strong suit. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows Kerry scoring much higher than Mr. Bush on health care, slightly higher on the economy, with Mr. Bush in a better position on taxes.
BUSH: Thank you all for coming.
MALVEAUX: On the eve of the debate at a GOP fundraiser in Arizona, the president contrasted his economic plan with his opponent's by casting Kerry as a tax and spend liberal.
BUSH: But you're not going to have fiscal sanity with John Kerry as the president.
MALVEAUX: It's too soon to tell whether that message will resonate with the voters at large, but political analysts say both candidates must win over voters in the final debate.
JAMES A. THRUBER, PROFESSOR: In a very close election like this one, these debates will make a difference. And there, it is unprecedented that it is this close.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
MALVEAUX: Now, political observers say it is especially important for President Bush to focus on the economy. This is the number one issue when it comes to those Midwest battleground states. That is where the unemployment rate is relatively high -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And, Suzanne, you know, we've been seeing a lot more of the president's family along the campaign trail as the days go by.
Is this sort of an organized plan?
MALVEAUX: Well, they've certainly been putting the first lady out there front and center. She has been campaigning very hard. We saw her, of course, yesterday in New Mexico. And, of course, she has made all the rounds in the networks and the talk shows. Just recently she was on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night. And, of course, what she is doing, as well as the daughter, the daughter Jena, was a first for the campaign. She introduced the president yesterday.
They are trying to balance this, the message that the president is resolved in the war on terror, that he is, of course, committed to fighting the terrorists, homeland security, but also to balance that with a softer side, to say yes, he is concerned about health care, about education, the type of things that polls show, of course, that women are looking very closely at -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Suzanne Malveaux in Scottsdale this morning.
Suzanne, thanks.
HEMMER: Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of John Edwards, has been on the trail, as well, taking aim at President Bush on terrorism and the economy and stem cell research. And on that last issue, stem cell research, Mrs. Edwards answering for her husband this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
HEMMER: I'd like to start with what your husband said earlier this week about stem cell research on the stump.
Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get out of that wheelchair and walk again. That's what we can do in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Republicans have jumped on that comment.
What was he suggesting?
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, V.P. CANDIDATE JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: I think he's just trying to do what all of us try to do, and that is to put a personal face on some of the problems that we address. You know, when you talk about 1.6 million people having lost their jobs in this country, it's just too big a number. And when you talk about the people who can benefit from stem cell research, these -- too big a number.
So Christopher Reeve and Michael J. Fox are people who have come out in favor of this. They're faces that people can attach to the policies that John Kerry and John Edwards would promote.
And I think it was just his way of putting a face on the problem.
HEMMER: Senator Bill Frist, the only doctor in the Senate, by my count, called your husband's comments "crass and shameful."
Your reaction to that? Were they appropriate?
E. EDWARDS: Just as I said, I mean I think that these -- that too often the discussions that we have are abstract. But the problems people face are real. Each person, for example, who is a casualty in Iraq is a real person with a real name. When the president said the other day, in the first debate, I think, that he knows about the casualties, he sees those numbers on his desk, that, I thought, was actually fairly crass, you know, because these aren't just numbers on a piece of paper. They're people with names and husbands and wives and children and parents and hopes and dreams and closets full of clothes. And I think that it's important to bring it down to a personal level as we talk about these policies because they have...
HEMMER: What senator...
E. EDWARDS: ... because they have personal effects.
HEMMER: Right.
I apologize for the interruption here. What Senator Frist was suggesting, though, offer the hope but not the hype.
Did your husband go too far?
E. EDWARDS: Well, I don't even -- I'm afraid, Bill, I don't even really understand that. I think that that's exactly...
HEMMER: In the sense that medical research has not advanced itself to the point where Christopher Reeve would be able to walk had he lived past this past weekend.
E. EDWARDS: I think what Christopher Reeve believed and what John Kerry believes, what my husband believes, is that the solution to these problems with spinal chord injuries, with Parkinson's, juvenile diabetes, a whole range of problems that people face today, debilitating sometimes, diseases, can be solved if we start down a path. And that, the way that we get there, one of the ways we hope to get to the solutions to these problems are by using the stem cell research and making certain that we have the federal government working on behalf of our American citizens to find solutions to these problems.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HEMMER: Elizabeth Edwards from earlier today.
Another reminder, later tonight, third and final match up, Tempe, Arizona, prime time coverage 7:00 Eastern here on CNN -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The race doesn't appear close, but many eyes are still on the U.S. Senate race in Illinois between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Alan Keyes. The two had their first of three debates last night. Among the topics, the Bush administration's foreign policies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: This administration has not been very good at what's been called the exercise of soft power. You know, all of us recognize and reserve the right of the United States to exercise its military power in the national interests and for our national security. But we also have to recognize that a lot of our power comes from our ideals. ALAN KEYES (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: You cannot give a soft response to a hard threat. It would be kind of like trying to meet a bayonet with a spaghetti noodle. And it's not going to help the people of this country to survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Most polls show Obama with a commanding 40 point lead over Keyes. And both Barack Obama and Alan Keyes will be our guests next week when AMERICAN MORNING goes to Chicago. That's AMERICAN MORNING on the road in Chicago all next week.
HEMMER: In the meantime, at 12 minutes past the hour, from Iraq today, Saddam Hussein is recovering from surgery. U.S. military officials say the former Iraqi dictator was treated for a hernia two weeks ago in Baghdad. The operation lasted about an hour. Hussein returned to his cell that same day. And officials say the surgery was routine and no complications there, as well.
In this country, Capitol Hill, the office of Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton is closed today over worries of a possible terrorist attack. The Capitol Police say they have not received word of any specific threat, but Senator Dayton cited a report, a recent report, as the reason for the closure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: Recently, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, presented us with a top secret intelligence report on our national security. Obviously, that document's top secret classification prevents me from discussing its contents. However, based upon that information, I've decided to close my office in the Russell Senate Office Building until after the upcoming election. I do so out of extreme but necessary precaution to protect the lives and safety of my Senate staff and my Minnesota constituents, who might otherwise visit my office in the next few weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator Dayton says he will not reopen until after the election. That's several weeks away now. We know 20 days from today.
Peter King, a congressman from New York, is our guest on this very issue next hour. We'll get to it then -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Right now, though, we want to check on the weather.
Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the latest forecast -- good morning once again, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Heidi.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: In a moment here, jurors in the Peterson trial get ready to hear the defense case yesterday only to find out about yet another delay. What's holding up things this time and for how long? We'll get to that in a moment.
COLLINS: Plus, the lives of some people may depend on finding a flu shot. So, what do they do when there's a shortage? We'll look at one man's search.
HEMMER: Also, he admitted to a gruesome killing. But millionaire Robert Durst was acquitted of murder anyway. Now he is going free. We'll find out what's next from his lawyer on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The Scott Peterson murder trial, already in its 20th week, now delayed for at least another week. The Associated Press says a source close to the trial tells them that prosecutors need time to get ready for a rebuttal for some new defense photographs and a concrete expert, as well. The prosecution says Peterson made homemade anchors to weigh down his dead wife's body.
Also, more charges in the murder trial of former electrician Daniel Pelosi, accused of murdering Long Island, New York millionaire Ted Ammon back in 2001. Pelosi now faces additional charges for attempting to tamper with the jury and witnesses, as well as attempted assault. Oral arguments are scheduled for later today in that case -- Heidi.
COLLINS: In Texas, real estate heir Robert Durst is getting out of prison. Durst was acquitted of murder one year ago after he admitted killing and dismembering his 71-year-old neighbor. He has been serving time on two bond jumping charges, but that's up now and he's expected to be released this week.
Dick Deguerin is Durst's attorney.
He's joining me now from Austin, Texas.
Mr. Deguerin, thanks for being with us.
DICK DEGUERIN, ROBERT DURST'S ATTORNEY: Sure, Heidi.
Thanks.
COLLINS: As we have just stated, Robert Durst was acquitted of murder, but he did admit to accidentally shooting Morris Black, cutting up his body and discarding it in Galveston Bay.
Do you have an understanding of why some might look at this case in dismay and say I can't believe he's getting out just after three years?
DEGUERIN: Sure. It's because the trial was sensationalized and the news media reported on the most sensational parts of the case. And they didn't hear what the jury heard, that is, the news media, the general public didn't hear what the jury heard.
It was an accidental death. They struggled over a gun, the gun went off and he died. And then what happened after that is that Bob Durst panicked and he disposed of the body in a gruesome way and then ran off. That's what attracted everybody, that and the fact that he was wealthy and from New York and so forth.
COLLINS: So that he panicked and dismembered a body -- the body, is to say that it was sensationalized by the media?
DEGUERIN: Well, that -- of course that's sensational. But it doesn't have anything to do with the way that Mr. Black died. The jury was able to separate in their deliberations what happened to cause Mr. Black's death, which was an accident, and the stuff that happened afterwards, which was horrible.
COLLINS: As we have said, it's expected that he'll be released this week on parole and we have also explained that he pled guilty to two felony counts of jumping bail.
Where will he go now?
DEGUERIN: Well, he's going to stay around Texas for a while because he'll be on what's called supervised release. It's similar to parole. And he'll have some conditions that he has to live under, not terribly hard conditions, until...
COLLINS: Is he a threat to the public, sir?
DEGUERIN: No. No, he's not a threat to the public. He's a different person from the man that I met three years ago in Pennsylvania after he had been captured.
COLLINS: How so?
DEGUERIN: Well, for one thing, for the first time in his life he's been drug and alcohol free. For the last 40 years of his life he was stoned and drunk every day. And he's been, he's recovered from that. He's had the kind of psychiatric care that he never got as an adult because of the stigma that his family thought if they'd sent him to a psychiatrist. And he's a different person.
COLLINS: The last question, quickly, for you, sir.
How did it end up? Mr. Black was Durst's friend, as you have always contended. How did it end up the way that it did?
DEGUERIN: It was pretty simple. Mr. Black had a fascination for guns. Bob came to -- back home one day and found Mr. Black. Black had taken the gun. He may have been going to steal it. And as Bob tried to get the gun from him, Mr. Black and he wrestled over the gun. The gun went off and shot Mr. Black once in the head right here. And he died almost instantly.
COLLINS: Dick Deguerin from Austin, Texas this morning.
Thanks for your time.
DEGUERIN: Thank you. HEMMER: Twenty minutes past the hour.
In a moment, the death penalty and juveniles -- the Supreme Court gets ready to hear a case that could fundamentally change American criminal justice. Back in a moment with Jack on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the Question once a day again -- the Question of the Day once again.
Good morning.
CAFFERTY: Whatever. That's fine. Whatever.
In 1993 this happened, a kid named Christopher Simmons, 17 years old, he and a 16-year-old broke into this woman, Shirley Crook's, house in Missouri. They kidnapped her, threw her in a car, drove her to a railroad bridge. While she was still alive, bound and gagged, they threw her off the bridge into the river and she drowned. Her body was found the next day.
He was sentenced to be executed, Simmons was, and now the Supreme Court is going to decide whether he should be. Lawyers for Simmons want his sentence overturned, saying that he was "a troubled youth at the time, emotionally unformed and impulsive." Not to mention a bit nasty.
The question is, should juveniles be subjected to the death penalty?
Thomas in Huntington, New York says: "No. As horrible as the crime you're talking about is, executing kids is not within the moral or ethical rights of society."
Bill in Winchester, Virginia: "Juveniles should not be executed -- or excluded" -- rather, excuse me. "Juveniles should not be excluded from the death penalty just because of age. If the crime is so serious as to consider the death penalty, it wasn't an accident. The age of reason and responsibility is well below 18 and does not arrive as a birthday gift wrapped with a bow upon that magic date."
Emmanual in Princeton, New Jersey: "Juveniles should not be sentenced to the death penalty. Nobody should be sentenced to the death penalty. Life without parole is a penalty that makes more sense than death. A sentence is about justice, not about revenge, and a civilized society cannot sentence other people to die."
And Ed in Warren, New Jersey writes this: "Now that I have heard your outrage about the case of the 17-year-old murderer, Jack, I understand better where you're coming from. Do you want to do it yourself or are you thinking of sending someone else to do it for you?"
Am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: You've got a friend in Ed, huh?
CAFFERTY: Well, you know, Ed did a little armchair psychoanalysis there and...
HEMMER: This issue really came up during the sniper case, what, two years ago now, Lee Boyd Malvo and...
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Sure.
CAFFERTY: Have they executed him yet?
HEMMER: No.
CAFFERTY: Well, they should.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Let's lighten things up right now.
Jay Leno with John Edwards last night.
Here's what they had to say about the two little ones, the two young children of John Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO," COURTESY NBC)
EDWARDS: They're very into it.
JAY LENO, HOST: Yes?
EDWARDS: You know, I did this thing, this refrain at the convention where I kept saying hope is on the way, hope is on the way. So now when Emma Claire and Jack get ready for their bathes, they start, "soap is on the way, soap is on the way."
LENO: Oh, that's actually very good.
EDWARDS: Oh, yes. Not only that, not only that, after the debate with Cheney, the kids all came up on the stage. I was holding my kids jacked up in my arms, and he leaned over to me and he said, "Which one's Cheney?"
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Ah, the things kiddos say, huh?
HEMMER: Yes.
The final debate later tonight here on CNN.
Polling shows George Bush trailing John Kerry on most domestic issues. The same polling shows Americans believe the senator will raise their taxes if he's in the White House. Two issues for Kamber and May.
Later tonight, another reminder, our coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern, live in Tempe.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Still to come, for some people, getting a flu shot could be a matter of life or death. So what do they do when there aren't enough to go around? We'll take a look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
FRANK SINATRA: Chicago, Chicago, a title and town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Here we come, too. Starting Monday morning, AMERICAN MORNING goes on the road. Chicago all week next week. We cant wait for that. It's going to be chilly. But Chicago just would not be Chicago if it were not chilly, right?
COLLINS: You know, you forget, as a Minnesotan...
HEMMER: Yes?
COLLINS: ... how quickly you become a pansy in that regard of the cold weather. Yikes!
HEMMER: Yes, but Chicago is such a stunning city, too. And there's so many wonderful landmarks and great history and tradition there. And we're going to find it all. We'll be knee deep starting Monday morning, on the road with CNN.
Back here in New York, the Northeast a bit sleepy today, by the way. Everybody was up watching this game last night.
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