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CNN Live At Daybreak
Baghdad's Green Zone Rocked by 2 Explosions; Debate Review; 'America's Voice': Debate Poll
Aired October 14, 2004 - 06:28 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Carol Costello.
We're going to break format right now, because we do have breaking news out of Baghdad. We want to take you there now. Two loud explosions were heard, oh, about an hour ago. Brent Sadler was standing, doing a live shot during the time.
And you heard those explosions behind you. Brent, what more can you tell us now?
BRENT SADLER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol.
Two powerful explosions within the past hour. Pretty soon afterwards, we were able to confirm that it was actually inside the Green Zone. That's the heavily-fortified part of central Baghdad that's home to the U.S. embassy, the British embassy, and many, many of Iraq's interim government officials.
Now, it's still too early to say what caused these very loud explosions, resulting in plumes of smoke coming out of the Green Zone. But CNN has just spoken to a doctor inside the Ibasina (ph) Hospital that is inside the Green Zone. And that doctor reports many casualties -- quote -- "many casualties," including soldiers and civilians.
That's the latest information we've got as far as who might have been caught in these two blasts.
What the target was, whether it was explosions, explosives placed on the ground, whether it was a rocket attack, mortars, we still don't know at this stage.
What I can confirm: Two powerful blasts within less than a minute of each other, I would guess, at the time about an hour ago inside the Green Zone, resulting in at least one fire, smoke billowing from a blast or blast sites, and now confirmation of many casualties, according to a doctor inside the Ibasina (ph) Hospital inside the Green Zone, including soldiers and civilians -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Brent Sadler live from Baghdad this morning, thank you.
We are heading into the home stretch now, just 19 more days to go until the national elections. Senator Kerry did manage to raise the hackles of the opposition with one of his comments in last night's debate, but not the hackles of President Bush. When answering a question on whether homosexuality is a choice, here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, after the debate at a GOP rally in Pennsylvania, Kerry's comment brought a sharp retort from Mary Cheney's mother, Lynne Cheney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNNE CHENEY, WIFE OF DICK CHENEY: I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more. And, you know, the only thing I concluded, this is not a good man. This is not a good man. And, of course, I am speaking as a mom and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, did Kerry take it too far? Well, let's talk to a man much more adept at political analysis than I, CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein live in Washington.
Good morning.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Are you saying more adept at taking it too far?
COSTELLO: Oh, that too.
Well, let's start with that comment from Kerry and the anger from Mrs. Cheney. What's going on here?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, obviously, you know, the fact that Dick Cheney -- the Cheneys' daughter is a lesbian and that the Cheneys have -- that Dick Cheney has spoken more favorably about gay marriage than President Bush is something the Democrats want to bring up whenever that issue arises. The family felt that he went too far by bringing her up and, in effect, at cross-drafting her across party lines to bolster his argument.
But, you know, it's funny they ended up having this sharp after- the-fact dispute on this, because I felt that both candidates in their answers on social issues, especially on this one, were going out of their way to try to signal tolerance for the other side. So, it's kind of ironic that they end up -- this ends up being the issue that they have the post-debate contention about. I'm not sure it goes very far, though -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, we were talking to another political analyst yesterday on CNN, and he thought that George Bush would mention the word "liberal" about 40 times during the debate. He didn't, but he did invoke the name of Ted Kennedy.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a mainstream in American politics, and you sit right on the far left bank. As a matter of fact, your record is such that Ted Kennedy, your colleague, is the conservative senator from Massachusetts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, he didn't have to use the word "liberal," right?
BROWNSTEIN: This was really interesting actually, because this really sort of, to me, embodies the trajectory of the debate.
In the first half of the debate, President Bush twice invoke Ted Kennedy as kind of a symbol of liberalism. By the end of the debate, President Bush was touting his own work with Senator Kennedy on the No Child Left Behind education reform bill from 2001. And to me, that showed how it evolved.
It started off, you know, pretty tough with President Bush trying to draw this ideological distinction.
But as it went on, I think President Bush -- that the whole sort of conflict lost energy, and both men in different ways tried to appeal to the center. President Bush gave us much more of his compassionate conservative identity in the second half of that debate, talking about tolerance towards gays and, for that matter, illegal immigrants, and also emphasizing his work on education. A very almost non-ideological, almost non-partisan closing statement from the president focused on optimism.
It really was a debate that grew steadily, I thought, less contentious as it went on as both candidates tried to make a centrist kind of appeal.
COSTELLO: You talk about a centrist appeal, an appeal to women, less contentious. Both talked about the women in their lives. Let's hear what John Kerry had to say about Teresa Heinz Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: You know, I guess the president and you and I are three examples of lucky people who married up. And some would say maybe me more so than others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It was a nice moment from John Kerry. George Bush also talked about his family, and that made him look warm and human. And he almost reached out and touched the viewers.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, in fact, John Kerry praised him for that. We were talking about kind of how the tone of the debate changed in the second half. I counted three times where John Kerry praised President Bush over 9/11, over his answer on religion, where again he talked about tolerance towards those who don't believe, as well as clearly identifying himself as a believer, and also in his answer on family.
You know, it was a debate that I didn't really think got a rhythm going. On the one hand, there were a lot of interesting questions, but they were kind of discreet and didn't follow in any kind of particular order. We heard a lot more from the candidates on issues that they haven't talked much about, whether it was illegal immigration or gun control.
But it didn't really advance the central arguments between them. And as a result, I think, at least in the direction of the race where it has been with Kerry gaining over the course of the debates and President Bush, although running about even in the polls, facing the somewhat ominous prospect that he's polling below 50 percent. No incumbent, Carol, wants to be in that position by the time the leaves are falling. And so, he's got to push a little bit here in these final three weeks.
COSTELLO: We've got more on the numbers coming up. Ron Brownstein live from Washington, thank you very much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: So, let's find out more about a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup snap poll taken immediately after the final presidential debate.
Frank Gallup (sic) live in Princeton, New Jersey, to show us the numbers.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol. Frank Newport at Gallup.
COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sorry. What did I say, Frank Gallup at Newport?
NEWPORT: You said, "Frank Gallup," and that's fine. I'm happy. People call me "Gallup" a lot, and it's a name I'm proud to have if you want to give it to me. Now, let's show you...
COSTELLO: I apologize, Mr. Gallup.
NEWPORT: Oh, no problem at all. Let's show you what happened last night. These are debate watchers, who, as it turned out, were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans with Independents in the middle. So, there wasn't a tilt either way to the sample itself last night. Sometimes there is with those that choose to watch the debate.
Overall, Kerry is the better debater, and that came through -- I'll show you in a minute why I say that -- 52 to 39. When we said, who did the better job in the debate? It was Kerry over George W. Bush.
One of the reasons is that he did better among Independents. That's right, in the middle here, 54 to 34, those Independents in the sample who watched last night said Kerry did the better job. Among Democrats, it was 86 to 7. And a little weakness here among Republicans. Although 73 percent said Bush did the better job, that left, you know, a little difference between Republican support for Bush doing the better job last night and the Democrats saying that Kerry did the better job. If you add all of this up, that's why there was the edge to John Kerry overall.
I didn't see a lot of change in the basic positioning of the two candidates on the issues, Carol. Prior to the debate, all of our polling had showed Kerry had an edge when we say, who could do the better job on health care? Democrats usually do. After the debate, he still had an edge on health care.
On the economy, quite close. Kerry with a slight edge. But again, that was very representative of what we had, say, in our last weekend poll. Education, dead even between the two. And on taxes, Bush had a slight edge among debate watchers last night.
All of the issue positioning, just to reiterate, are very similar to what we found prior to the debate, so I didn't see any real movement there.
Here's why I say Kerry is a better debater. We find this in all three debates when we said, who expressed himself more clearly? Look at that, 61 to 29. So, clearly we've got three straight debates now where people tell us that Kerry is the better debater, the better speaker. And that's probably why people say he did the better job. He's more caring about the needs of people like you. That's a Democrat strength, of course. He mentioned a lot cutting out taxes for those over $200,000 a year. On values, very close. Who's more likable? Bush actually has an edge over John Kerry -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, Frank, historically, does this mean anything?
NEWPORT: Well, there are two points here. One is what debate watchers say last night, it doesn't necessarily measure the impact even as what we're going to see over the weekend, because there will be spin. People will watch programs like this very program here, and people who didn't watch the debate will make up their minds.
And secondly, absolutely debates don't necessarily make an impact. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. You know, we had races like back in 1984, Carol, where Ronald Reagan didn't do well in the debates. He beat Mondale overwhelmingly in the election. So, it all adds up. Everything makes a difference in an election, but no one thing is in and of itself the most important factor -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Frank Newport, "Mr. Gallup," live from Princeton, New Jersey, this morning, thank you.
Coming up, Bill Hemmer shares some of Ohio's undecided voters' reaction to last night's debate.
And the TSA sure knows how to throw a party. Coming up, the outrageous list of banquet expenses that's raising some eyebrows this morning.
And where's the best place to park when you have to catch a flight? We'll get some pointers from a travel expert.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Let's take a look at the international markets now. The Nikkei is down 161 points, almost 162 points. The FTSE is down, oh, just about 11 points. The CAC is down just about 20 points this morning.
Now let's head to Columbus, Ohio, and check in with Bill Hemmer, who watched the debate with undecided voters.
Bill -- you're going to have much more on their reaction to the candidates' comments on "AMERICAN MORNING," but give us a taste of what you'll show your viewers.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, hey, Carol. How are you? Good morning to you.
I just caught the tail end of what you said. I had a little problem hearing you. Go ahead, if you could repeat it, if you don't mind.
COSTELLO: No, no problem. I just want to hear about your little shtick last night, because it was very interesting.
HEMMER: Oh, the little shtick we did here. OK. We had 24 mostly undecided voters here, like we had done for the previous three debates. We did it again last night. And what we essentially did, Carol, is we gave them these meters. OK? And the women were separated on one line, and the men were separated on the other. And in the course of 90 minutes, we could gauge their reaction literally in real time to how they were responding in a positive sense or a negative sense based on what they heard and based on what they saw last night.
I'll tell you what we found here, Carol, in this group of 24. Fourteen thought Kerry won last night, 6 thought George Bush won, 3 thought it was a tie. Those numbers don't add up completely. We're missing one there, but that was an abstention last night on the vote.
What I find interesting, though, is that even though our group last night found that John Kerry won this debate, at least that's what they told us anyway, it does not necessarily translate into votes at this point for the senator. Kerry picked up 10 votes last night, Bush 7. And still through all of this last night, Carol, now with 19 days and going -- and counting now, 7 are still undecided.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
HEMMER: Still some minds are being made up here in central Ohio.
COSTELLO: So, what were the hot-button issues for them?
HEMMER: A lot of people wanted to hear about health care. We heard that across the board last night.
The other thing, even though this was a domestic agenda last night and the focus was on issues here in this country, just about half of the people in the room that we polled before that debate began last night all wanted to know more about what was happening in Iraq, about some sort of exit plan and what the U.S. strategy was going to be there in that country. We did not hear a lot about that once the debate began, but that was still one of their top concerns here.
COSTELLO: Interesting. It looks cold there, Bill. I can see your breath.
HEMMER: It's not bad actually.
COSTELLO: Really?
HEMMER: It's a lot warmer today than 10 days ago, yes.
COSTELLO: It looks like it's about 40 degrees.
HEMMER: No, it's pleasant.
COSTELLO: It's pleasant.
HEMMER: It'll be downright balmy later.
COSTELLO: That's because you're a native Ohioan. Thank you, Bill. We'll catch you again in about 20 minutes.
HEMMER: Sure. See you at the top of the hour.
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
The heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad has been rocked by two powerful explosions. It happened about an hour ago. A hospital official inside the Green Zone reports many casualties, including U.S. soldiers and civilians.
Yasser Hamdi says he is not bitter after being held by the U.S. military for nearly three years as an enemy combatant. The Saudi citizen spoke to CNN in an exclusive interview after he was allowed to return home last week.
In money news, Apple is making a lot of money on the iPod. The computer company posted its highest quarterly earnings in nine years, thanks in part to the company's successful iPod. Apple says it sold more than two million iPods in the last budget quarter.
In culture, some of Elton John's prized photographs will be auctioned off today. The collection includes works from Ansel Adams (ph) and Robert Maplethorpe (ph). Some of the more than 100 photos could fetch as much as $30,000.
In sports, the Cardinals and the Astros slugged it out in game one of the National League Championship Series. The Cards came out on top 10-7. Game two is tonight in Saint Louis.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
If there is one organization that knows how to throw a party, it's the Transportation Security Administration. What, you say? Well, CNN has learned that while most TSA employees were busy patting down passengers, others were bellying up to the bar, and top managers were being showered with generous bonuses.
Here's a look at just some of the party favors at a Washington hotel banquet, like $64 for a gallon of coffee, $1,800 for cake, and more than $81,000 for awards plaques. Total tab for this party? Nearly a half a million dollars and higher average bonuses to TSA executives than any other federal agency.
Now that we know that party animals passenger screeners are, or at least their bosses, let's head to the airport. We've got some tips to save you money on parking. Basically don't park at the airport.
USAToday.com travel writer Ben Mutzabaugh joins us live from D.C.
Good morning.
BEN MUTZABAUGH, USATODAY.COM: Good morning.
Yes, we have some tips that we hope will save you some more -- will cost you less than what the TSA spent for their little shindig there, so...
COSTELLO: It was pretty embarrassing, wasn't it?
MUTZABAUGH: Yes, it sure is. But...
COSTELLO: But go ahead. Give us some tips...
MUTZABAUGH: Sure.
COSTELLO: ... on how we save money, and why airports and hotels are putting so much into this.
MUTZABAUGH: Yes. One of the tips that you can do is if you're going to the airport, you might want to consider one of the off- airport lots. Now, these are lots that are just off the airport grounds, and they're not owned by the airport. Instead, they're separate companies. They bought land around the airport, and they want you to come park there and will shuttle you to the airport.
Now, why this is a good reason, it's not only just inexpensive, but they also tend to come with a lot of perks. They have very new shuttles with cushy leather seats. They give you free drinks like soda or coffee. Some of them give you free newspapers, "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," and, of course, the one we like, "USA Today." And they'll take you right to the airport and drop you off at the terminal. The shuttles are very frequent. They pick you up and bring you right back to the lot.
COSTELLO: Like, which airports are we talking about?
MUTZABAUGH: Pretty much every airport in the country has one of these lots, or if not, several of these lots competing against each other. There is no one brand that's national in coverage. So, you sort of have to check at your local airport to see which company or companies have set up shop near your hometown airport.
COSTELLO: That's just fascinating. Tell us about parking at hotels near the airport.
MUTZABAUGH: That's something else that -- you know, this is a question that we presented to readers to mind today in the Sky Column at "USA Today," and I expected a mediocre response. But people are really passionate about their ideas for how to save money at the airport. I guess it goes along with being a frequent traveler.
But what some people do is they'll buy a room or rent a room for one night at a hotel near the airport, and then they'll take the airport shuttle to the airport, which is usually free. And sometimes the hotel allows them to park there for free for the duration of their trip. Other times they'll give them a rate of, like, maybe $2, $3 or $5 a day, which is still better than most airport rates.
And so, just for one night at a hotel, a lot of people can keep their car in a hotel lot, and then go to the airport during their trip. It's a good idea at most places, but you have to be careful because some hotel lots may not be monitored for security as closely as some of the airport lots. So, it makes your cars, in some cases, more vulnerable to break-ins or theft.
COSTELLO: Yes, and it's outside and uncovered, too, which would kind of bother me.
MUTZABAUGH: Exactly.
COSTELLO: And...
MUTZABAUGH: Exactly... COSTELLO: Go ahead.
MUTZABAUGH: And some of those...
COSTELLO: Final thought.
MUTZABAUGH: Sure. And some of those off-airport lots even charge you an extra dollar or two for covered parking, and that sounds like something you might want to take up.
COSTELLO: Truly so. Ben Mutzabaugh from "USA Today," thank you so much.
MUTZABAUGH: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, you know his rifts, you know his reputation, and now you'll get to know his new reality. But not everyone has that feel-good feeling about Tommy Lee's new venture on campus with the Cornhuskers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The sounds of Motley Crue this morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes (UNINTELLIGIBLE) future.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee has enrolled in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
MYERS: Kind of.
COSTELLO: Kind of. He's shooting a reality show there. That is Chad's old stomping ground. Chad graduated from UNL. Tommy Lee is not a student, as we said. He's an instructor there, and he's now in the marching band. He's going to march in the game against Baylor.
MYERS: Well, we don't know that yet. But we'll see.
COSTELLO: Well, yes.
MYERS: He has to show up for the practices.
COSTELLO: Well, anyway, he's shooting a reality TV show there for NBC. And we have on the phone with us right now from "The Daily Nebraskan" Melissa Lee. She's joining us live to give us more details about what the rock 'n' roller is up to.
Good morning, Melissa.
MELISSA LEE, "THE DAILY NEBRASKAN": Hi. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm fine. Are students happy Tommy Lee is there?
LEE: I would say their reaction is mixed. Some are pretty excited to have him here obviously, but others don't think that Tommy with his past problems with drugs and especially domestic violence don't think he fits in with the image that they want, you know, the university to have.
MYERS: Melissa, where is he living? Is he on campus? Is he in a frat house? Is he in a dorm? What's going on?
LEE: You know, he's not living on campus. I don't know where exactly, but it is off campus.
COSTELLO: So he's not really...
MYERS: You're not related, right?
LEE: No, we are not. No relation.
MYERS: OK, all right.
COSTELLO: So, he's not really a real student. He just pops in for classes every once in a while?
LEE: Yes. Yes, he's taking, like, five weeks of classes for each class, and he's not officially a real student but just kind of taking these classes for about a month or so.
MYERS: Some professors are calling this a risk. Maybe this whole reality show thing may put Nebraska in a bad light. What do you think?
LEE: Well, I'm optimistic. I mean, you never know how you're going to be portrayed. But I'm hoping that they will, you know, show Nebraska in a good light and the university in a good light. So...
COSTELLO: Well, the weird thing about this, Melissa, is professors are absolutely against this, because it doesn't send a good message about the educational value at the University of Nebraska. The chancellor there says this is a good thing, because enrollment is declining and this will give Nebraska pub (ph).
LEE: Right. Right. Yes, I think so. I mean, I think it's good that they're being pro-active to try to do something to combat the enrollment problem, and if this helps, so be it. I don't know that it will hurt that much, but...
MYERS: Melissa, is there any chance that he could be quarterback this week?
LEE: I don't...
MYERS: He still has four years of eligibility, I guess.
LEE: Who knows? Yes. Who knows?
MYERS: Did he make the band? Is he going to be in the drum line?
LEE: That's what I've heard is that he did, in fact, make the drum line, and he'll be playing at an upcoming football game. I don't know which one. But I've heard he will be playing. MYERS: Could you imagine if he didn't make the cut? Oh, I'm sorry, you're not good enough, Tommy.
LEE: I don't think they could do that, yes.
COSTELLO: And we also understand, Melissa, that when he went to his first class, he actually skipped it.
LEE: Yes, I heard it was a chemistry class and that he skipped it. So, I'm not sure why, but...
COSTELLO: I think he was parking his car.
LEE: Probably.
COSTELLO: Melissa Lee, thank you for joining us on DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.
MYERS: I will look forward to that reality show. I think it's like a six-week thing or something like that.
COSTELLO: It's a five-week thing.
MYERS: A five-week thing.
COSTELLO: And you're going to be watching then Baylor game against Nebraska to see if he's in that drum line, aren't you?
MYERS: Never mind.
COSTELLO: I know.
MYERS: It was 70-10 last week, we lost.
COSTELLO: I know, I know. We'll be right back.
MYERS: We lost to Texas Tech. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MYERS: It's time to give away a DAYBREAK coffee mug now this morning. The winner from yesterday from Hawaii. Some Germans are upset about what display? And that's the new display of the Berlin Wall. It will be up for a little while so people actually can see it, those that didn't get to the first time. How many times does an infant have to try a new formula or flavor before they might like it? And the answer is 10 to 15 times.
Paul Edney who stays up in Hawaii. Paul, thank you.
COSTELLO: Congratulations. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
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Aired October 14, 2004 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Carol Costello.
We're going to break format right now, because we do have breaking news out of Baghdad. We want to take you there now. Two loud explosions were heard, oh, about an hour ago. Brent Sadler was standing, doing a live shot during the time.
And you heard those explosions behind you. Brent, what more can you tell us now?
BRENT SADLER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol.
Two powerful explosions within the past hour. Pretty soon afterwards, we were able to confirm that it was actually inside the Green Zone. That's the heavily-fortified part of central Baghdad that's home to the U.S. embassy, the British embassy, and many, many of Iraq's interim government officials.
Now, it's still too early to say what caused these very loud explosions, resulting in plumes of smoke coming out of the Green Zone. But CNN has just spoken to a doctor inside the Ibasina (ph) Hospital that is inside the Green Zone. And that doctor reports many casualties -- quote -- "many casualties," including soldiers and civilians.
That's the latest information we've got as far as who might have been caught in these two blasts.
What the target was, whether it was explosions, explosives placed on the ground, whether it was a rocket attack, mortars, we still don't know at this stage.
What I can confirm: Two powerful blasts within less than a minute of each other, I would guess, at the time about an hour ago inside the Green Zone, resulting in at least one fire, smoke billowing from a blast or blast sites, and now confirmation of many casualties, according to a doctor inside the Ibasina (ph) Hospital inside the Green Zone, including soldiers and civilians -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Brent Sadler live from Baghdad this morning, thank you.
We are heading into the home stretch now, just 19 more days to go until the national elections. Senator Kerry did manage to raise the hackles of the opposition with one of his comments in last night's debate, but not the hackles of President Bush. When answering a question on whether homosexuality is a choice, here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, after the debate at a GOP rally in Pennsylvania, Kerry's comment brought a sharp retort from Mary Cheney's mother, Lynne Cheney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNNE CHENEY, WIFE OF DICK CHENEY: I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more. And, you know, the only thing I concluded, this is not a good man. This is not a good man. And, of course, I am speaking as a mom and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, did Kerry take it too far? Well, let's talk to a man much more adept at political analysis than I, CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein live in Washington.
Good morning.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning. Are you saying more adept at taking it too far?
COSTELLO: Oh, that too.
Well, let's start with that comment from Kerry and the anger from Mrs. Cheney. What's going on here?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, obviously, you know, the fact that Dick Cheney -- the Cheneys' daughter is a lesbian and that the Cheneys have -- that Dick Cheney has spoken more favorably about gay marriage than President Bush is something the Democrats want to bring up whenever that issue arises. The family felt that he went too far by bringing her up and, in effect, at cross-drafting her across party lines to bolster his argument.
But, you know, it's funny they ended up having this sharp after- the-fact dispute on this, because I felt that both candidates in their answers on social issues, especially on this one, were going out of their way to try to signal tolerance for the other side. So, it's kind of ironic that they end up -- this ends up being the issue that they have the post-debate contention about. I'm not sure it goes very far, though -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. You know, we were talking to another political analyst yesterday on CNN, and he thought that George Bush would mention the word "liberal" about 40 times during the debate. He didn't, but he did invoke the name of Ted Kennedy.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a mainstream in American politics, and you sit right on the far left bank. As a matter of fact, your record is such that Ted Kennedy, your colleague, is the conservative senator from Massachusetts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, he didn't have to use the word "liberal," right?
BROWNSTEIN: This was really interesting actually, because this really sort of, to me, embodies the trajectory of the debate.
In the first half of the debate, President Bush twice invoke Ted Kennedy as kind of a symbol of liberalism. By the end of the debate, President Bush was touting his own work with Senator Kennedy on the No Child Left Behind education reform bill from 2001. And to me, that showed how it evolved.
It started off, you know, pretty tough with President Bush trying to draw this ideological distinction.
But as it went on, I think President Bush -- that the whole sort of conflict lost energy, and both men in different ways tried to appeal to the center. President Bush gave us much more of his compassionate conservative identity in the second half of that debate, talking about tolerance towards gays and, for that matter, illegal immigrants, and also emphasizing his work on education. A very almost non-ideological, almost non-partisan closing statement from the president focused on optimism.
It really was a debate that grew steadily, I thought, less contentious as it went on as both candidates tried to make a centrist kind of appeal.
COSTELLO: You talk about a centrist appeal, an appeal to women, less contentious. Both talked about the women in their lives. Let's hear what John Kerry had to say about Teresa Heinz Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: You know, I guess the president and you and I are three examples of lucky people who married up. And some would say maybe me more so than others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It was a nice moment from John Kerry. George Bush also talked about his family, and that made him look warm and human. And he almost reached out and touched the viewers.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, in fact, John Kerry praised him for that. We were talking about kind of how the tone of the debate changed in the second half. I counted three times where John Kerry praised President Bush over 9/11, over his answer on religion, where again he talked about tolerance towards those who don't believe, as well as clearly identifying himself as a believer, and also in his answer on family.
You know, it was a debate that I didn't really think got a rhythm going. On the one hand, there were a lot of interesting questions, but they were kind of discreet and didn't follow in any kind of particular order. We heard a lot more from the candidates on issues that they haven't talked much about, whether it was illegal immigration or gun control.
But it didn't really advance the central arguments between them. And as a result, I think, at least in the direction of the race where it has been with Kerry gaining over the course of the debates and President Bush, although running about even in the polls, facing the somewhat ominous prospect that he's polling below 50 percent. No incumbent, Carol, wants to be in that position by the time the leaves are falling. And so, he's got to push a little bit here in these final three weeks.
COSTELLO: We've got more on the numbers coming up. Ron Brownstein live from Washington, thank you very much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: So, let's find out more about a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup snap poll taken immediately after the final presidential debate.
Frank Gallup (sic) live in Princeton, New Jersey, to show us the numbers.
Good morning, Frank.
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Good morning, Carol. Frank Newport at Gallup.
COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sorry. What did I say, Frank Gallup at Newport?
NEWPORT: You said, "Frank Gallup," and that's fine. I'm happy. People call me "Gallup" a lot, and it's a name I'm proud to have if you want to give it to me. Now, let's show you...
COSTELLO: I apologize, Mr. Gallup.
NEWPORT: Oh, no problem at all. Let's show you what happened last night. These are debate watchers, who, as it turned out, were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans with Independents in the middle. So, there wasn't a tilt either way to the sample itself last night. Sometimes there is with those that choose to watch the debate.
Overall, Kerry is the better debater, and that came through -- I'll show you in a minute why I say that -- 52 to 39. When we said, who did the better job in the debate? It was Kerry over George W. Bush.
One of the reasons is that he did better among Independents. That's right, in the middle here, 54 to 34, those Independents in the sample who watched last night said Kerry did the better job. Among Democrats, it was 86 to 7. And a little weakness here among Republicans. Although 73 percent said Bush did the better job, that left, you know, a little difference between Republican support for Bush doing the better job last night and the Democrats saying that Kerry did the better job. If you add all of this up, that's why there was the edge to John Kerry overall.
I didn't see a lot of change in the basic positioning of the two candidates on the issues, Carol. Prior to the debate, all of our polling had showed Kerry had an edge when we say, who could do the better job on health care? Democrats usually do. After the debate, he still had an edge on health care.
On the economy, quite close. Kerry with a slight edge. But again, that was very representative of what we had, say, in our last weekend poll. Education, dead even between the two. And on taxes, Bush had a slight edge among debate watchers last night.
All of the issue positioning, just to reiterate, are very similar to what we found prior to the debate, so I didn't see any real movement there.
Here's why I say Kerry is a better debater. We find this in all three debates when we said, who expressed himself more clearly? Look at that, 61 to 29. So, clearly we've got three straight debates now where people tell us that Kerry is the better debater, the better speaker. And that's probably why people say he did the better job. He's more caring about the needs of people like you. That's a Democrat strength, of course. He mentioned a lot cutting out taxes for those over $200,000 a year. On values, very close. Who's more likable? Bush actually has an edge over John Kerry -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, Frank, historically, does this mean anything?
NEWPORT: Well, there are two points here. One is what debate watchers say last night, it doesn't necessarily measure the impact even as what we're going to see over the weekend, because there will be spin. People will watch programs like this very program here, and people who didn't watch the debate will make up their minds.
And secondly, absolutely debates don't necessarily make an impact. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. You know, we had races like back in 1984, Carol, where Ronald Reagan didn't do well in the debates. He beat Mondale overwhelmingly in the election. So, it all adds up. Everything makes a difference in an election, but no one thing is in and of itself the most important factor -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Frank Newport, "Mr. Gallup," live from Princeton, New Jersey, this morning, thank you.
Coming up, Bill Hemmer shares some of Ohio's undecided voters' reaction to last night's debate.
And the TSA sure knows how to throw a party. Coming up, the outrageous list of banquet expenses that's raising some eyebrows this morning.
And where's the best place to park when you have to catch a flight? We'll get some pointers from a travel expert.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Let's take a look at the international markets now. The Nikkei is down 161 points, almost 162 points. The FTSE is down, oh, just about 11 points. The CAC is down just about 20 points this morning.
Now let's head to Columbus, Ohio, and check in with Bill Hemmer, who watched the debate with undecided voters.
Bill -- you're going to have much more on their reaction to the candidates' comments on "AMERICAN MORNING," but give us a taste of what you'll show your viewers.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, hey, Carol. How are you? Good morning to you.
I just caught the tail end of what you said. I had a little problem hearing you. Go ahead, if you could repeat it, if you don't mind.
COSTELLO: No, no problem. I just want to hear about your little shtick last night, because it was very interesting.
HEMMER: Oh, the little shtick we did here. OK. We had 24 mostly undecided voters here, like we had done for the previous three debates. We did it again last night. And what we essentially did, Carol, is we gave them these meters. OK? And the women were separated on one line, and the men were separated on the other. And in the course of 90 minutes, we could gauge their reaction literally in real time to how they were responding in a positive sense or a negative sense based on what they heard and based on what they saw last night.
I'll tell you what we found here, Carol, in this group of 24. Fourteen thought Kerry won last night, 6 thought George Bush won, 3 thought it was a tie. Those numbers don't add up completely. We're missing one there, but that was an abstention last night on the vote.
What I find interesting, though, is that even though our group last night found that John Kerry won this debate, at least that's what they told us anyway, it does not necessarily translate into votes at this point for the senator. Kerry picked up 10 votes last night, Bush 7. And still through all of this last night, Carol, now with 19 days and going -- and counting now, 7 are still undecided.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
HEMMER: Still some minds are being made up here in central Ohio.
COSTELLO: So, what were the hot-button issues for them?
HEMMER: A lot of people wanted to hear about health care. We heard that across the board last night.
The other thing, even though this was a domestic agenda last night and the focus was on issues here in this country, just about half of the people in the room that we polled before that debate began last night all wanted to know more about what was happening in Iraq, about some sort of exit plan and what the U.S. strategy was going to be there in that country. We did not hear a lot about that once the debate began, but that was still one of their top concerns here.
COSTELLO: Interesting. It looks cold there, Bill. I can see your breath.
HEMMER: It's not bad actually.
COSTELLO: Really?
HEMMER: It's a lot warmer today than 10 days ago, yes.
COSTELLO: It looks like it's about 40 degrees.
HEMMER: No, it's pleasant.
COSTELLO: It's pleasant.
HEMMER: It'll be downright balmy later.
COSTELLO: That's because you're a native Ohioan. Thank you, Bill. We'll catch you again in about 20 minutes.
HEMMER: Sure. See you at the top of the hour.
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:44 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
The heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad has been rocked by two powerful explosions. It happened about an hour ago. A hospital official inside the Green Zone reports many casualties, including U.S. soldiers and civilians.
Yasser Hamdi says he is not bitter after being held by the U.S. military for nearly three years as an enemy combatant. The Saudi citizen spoke to CNN in an exclusive interview after he was allowed to return home last week.
In money news, Apple is making a lot of money on the iPod. The computer company posted its highest quarterly earnings in nine years, thanks in part to the company's successful iPod. Apple says it sold more than two million iPods in the last budget quarter.
In culture, some of Elton John's prized photographs will be auctioned off today. The collection includes works from Ansel Adams (ph) and Robert Maplethorpe (ph). Some of the more than 100 photos could fetch as much as $30,000.
In sports, the Cardinals and the Astros slugged it out in game one of the National League Championship Series. The Cards came out on top 10-7. Game two is tonight in Saint Louis.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
If there is one organization that knows how to throw a party, it's the Transportation Security Administration. What, you say? Well, CNN has learned that while most TSA employees were busy patting down passengers, others were bellying up to the bar, and top managers were being showered with generous bonuses.
Here's a look at just some of the party favors at a Washington hotel banquet, like $64 for a gallon of coffee, $1,800 for cake, and more than $81,000 for awards plaques. Total tab for this party? Nearly a half a million dollars and higher average bonuses to TSA executives than any other federal agency.
Now that we know that party animals passenger screeners are, or at least their bosses, let's head to the airport. We've got some tips to save you money on parking. Basically don't park at the airport.
USAToday.com travel writer Ben Mutzabaugh joins us live from D.C.
Good morning.
BEN MUTZABAUGH, USATODAY.COM: Good morning.
Yes, we have some tips that we hope will save you some more -- will cost you less than what the TSA spent for their little shindig there, so...
COSTELLO: It was pretty embarrassing, wasn't it?
MUTZABAUGH: Yes, it sure is. But...
COSTELLO: But go ahead. Give us some tips...
MUTZABAUGH: Sure.
COSTELLO: ... on how we save money, and why airports and hotels are putting so much into this.
MUTZABAUGH: Yes. One of the tips that you can do is if you're going to the airport, you might want to consider one of the off- airport lots. Now, these are lots that are just off the airport grounds, and they're not owned by the airport. Instead, they're separate companies. They bought land around the airport, and they want you to come park there and will shuttle you to the airport.
Now, why this is a good reason, it's not only just inexpensive, but they also tend to come with a lot of perks. They have very new shuttles with cushy leather seats. They give you free drinks like soda or coffee. Some of them give you free newspapers, "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," and, of course, the one we like, "USA Today." And they'll take you right to the airport and drop you off at the terminal. The shuttles are very frequent. They pick you up and bring you right back to the lot.
COSTELLO: Like, which airports are we talking about?
MUTZABAUGH: Pretty much every airport in the country has one of these lots, or if not, several of these lots competing against each other. There is no one brand that's national in coverage. So, you sort of have to check at your local airport to see which company or companies have set up shop near your hometown airport.
COSTELLO: That's just fascinating. Tell us about parking at hotels near the airport.
MUTZABAUGH: That's something else that -- you know, this is a question that we presented to readers to mind today in the Sky Column at "USA Today," and I expected a mediocre response. But people are really passionate about their ideas for how to save money at the airport. I guess it goes along with being a frequent traveler.
But what some people do is they'll buy a room or rent a room for one night at a hotel near the airport, and then they'll take the airport shuttle to the airport, which is usually free. And sometimes the hotel allows them to park there for free for the duration of their trip. Other times they'll give them a rate of, like, maybe $2, $3 or $5 a day, which is still better than most airport rates.
And so, just for one night at a hotel, a lot of people can keep their car in a hotel lot, and then go to the airport during their trip. It's a good idea at most places, but you have to be careful because some hotel lots may not be monitored for security as closely as some of the airport lots. So, it makes your cars, in some cases, more vulnerable to break-ins or theft.
COSTELLO: Yes, and it's outside and uncovered, too, which would kind of bother me.
MUTZABAUGH: Exactly.
COSTELLO: And...
MUTZABAUGH: Exactly... COSTELLO: Go ahead.
MUTZABAUGH: And some of those...
COSTELLO: Final thought.
MUTZABAUGH: Sure. And some of those off-airport lots even charge you an extra dollar or two for covered parking, and that sounds like something you might want to take up.
COSTELLO: Truly so. Ben Mutzabaugh from "USA Today," thank you so much.
MUTZABAUGH: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, you know his rifts, you know his reputation, and now you'll get to know his new reality. But not everyone has that feel-good feeling about Tommy Lee's new venture on campus with the Cornhuskers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The sounds of Motley Crue this morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes (UNINTELLIGIBLE) future.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee has enrolled in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
MYERS: Kind of.
COSTELLO: Kind of. He's shooting a reality show there. That is Chad's old stomping ground. Chad graduated from UNL. Tommy Lee is not a student, as we said. He's an instructor there, and he's now in the marching band. He's going to march in the game against Baylor.
MYERS: Well, we don't know that yet. But we'll see.
COSTELLO: Well, yes.
MYERS: He has to show up for the practices.
COSTELLO: Well, anyway, he's shooting a reality TV show there for NBC. And we have on the phone with us right now from "The Daily Nebraskan" Melissa Lee. She's joining us live to give us more details about what the rock 'n' roller is up to.
Good morning, Melissa.
MELISSA LEE, "THE DAILY NEBRASKAN": Hi. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm fine. Are students happy Tommy Lee is there?
LEE: I would say their reaction is mixed. Some are pretty excited to have him here obviously, but others don't think that Tommy with his past problems with drugs and especially domestic violence don't think he fits in with the image that they want, you know, the university to have.
MYERS: Melissa, where is he living? Is he on campus? Is he in a frat house? Is he in a dorm? What's going on?
LEE: You know, he's not living on campus. I don't know where exactly, but it is off campus.
COSTELLO: So he's not really...
MYERS: You're not related, right?
LEE: No, we are not. No relation.
MYERS: OK, all right.
COSTELLO: So, he's not really a real student. He just pops in for classes every once in a while?
LEE: Yes. Yes, he's taking, like, five weeks of classes for each class, and he's not officially a real student but just kind of taking these classes for about a month or so.
MYERS: Some professors are calling this a risk. Maybe this whole reality show thing may put Nebraska in a bad light. What do you think?
LEE: Well, I'm optimistic. I mean, you never know how you're going to be portrayed. But I'm hoping that they will, you know, show Nebraska in a good light and the university in a good light. So...
COSTELLO: Well, the weird thing about this, Melissa, is professors are absolutely against this, because it doesn't send a good message about the educational value at the University of Nebraska. The chancellor there says this is a good thing, because enrollment is declining and this will give Nebraska pub (ph).
LEE: Right. Right. Yes, I think so. I mean, I think it's good that they're being pro-active to try to do something to combat the enrollment problem, and if this helps, so be it. I don't know that it will hurt that much, but...
MYERS: Melissa, is there any chance that he could be quarterback this week?
LEE: I don't...
MYERS: He still has four years of eligibility, I guess.
LEE: Who knows? Yes. Who knows?
MYERS: Did he make the band? Is he going to be in the drum line?
LEE: That's what I've heard is that he did, in fact, make the drum line, and he'll be playing at an upcoming football game. I don't know which one. But I've heard he will be playing. MYERS: Could you imagine if he didn't make the cut? Oh, I'm sorry, you're not good enough, Tommy.
LEE: I don't think they could do that, yes.
COSTELLO: And we also understand, Melissa, that when he went to his first class, he actually skipped it.
LEE: Yes, I heard it was a chemistry class and that he skipped it. So, I'm not sure why, but...
COSTELLO: I think he was parking his car.
LEE: Probably.
COSTELLO: Melissa Lee, thank you for joining us on DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.
MYERS: I will look forward to that reality show. I think it's like a six-week thing or something like that.
COSTELLO: It's a five-week thing.
MYERS: A five-week thing.
COSTELLO: And you're going to be watching then Baylor game against Nebraska to see if he's in that drum line, aren't you?
MYERS: Never mind.
COSTELLO: I know.
MYERS: It was 70-10 last week, we lost.
COSTELLO: I know, I know. We'll be right back.
MYERS: We lost to Texas Tech. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MYERS: It's time to give away a DAYBREAK coffee mug now this morning. The winner from yesterday from Hawaii. Some Germans are upset about what display? And that's the new display of the Berlin Wall. It will be up for a little while so people actually can see it, those that didn't get to the first time. How many times does an infant have to try a new formula or flavor before they might like it? And the answer is 10 to 15 times.
Paul Edney who stays up in Hawaii. Paul, thank you.
COSTELLO: Congratulations. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
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