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Chief Justice Undergoes Cancer Surgery; 380 Tons of Explosives Missing in Iraq; Kerry, Clinton Appear Together in Philadelphia
Aired October 25, 2004 - 13:00 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Cancer strikes chief justice William Rehnquist. He's in the hospital for treatment. We're live on the developing story.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures now from Philadelphia. Thousands of people awaiting former President Clinton's first campaign appearance since heart surgery. We'll bring that to you as it happens.
PHILLIPS: Reported missing in Iraq. Hundreds of tons of powerful explosives. Who has them now? And are they being used against American forces?
HARRIS: And caught on tape. Watch this as a man filling up his car gets way more than he bargained for at the gas pump. Wow.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
This hour's top stories, throat surgery for the chief justice of the United States. As you know, if you've been watching CNN, William Rehnquist is said to be recovering from a tracheotomy that he underwent on Saturday after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The second oldest man ever to lead the highest court in the land is expected to leave the hospital this week and return to the bench next week.
We get the latest now from CNN's Kelli Arena. She's in Washington -- Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this news was very tightly held. One Supreme Court source tells CNN that at least one justice didn't even know about it until the news broke here on CNN.
The Supreme Court did put out an official statement saying that the chief justice underwent a tracheotomy on Saturday. That is a result of a recent diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
The court says that Rehnquist is expected to be released from the hospital this week, and they say he'll be back on the bench November 1 when the court reconvenes. Now, Rehnquist just turned 80 years old. He's had back problems for years. He had surgery on his leg after a fall two years ago. But beyond that, Kyra, he's been fairly healthy.
Rehnquist has been on the bench since 1972. And he's been chief justice for the past 18 years. He presided over the impeachment of then President Bill Clinton, over the controversial Bush v. Gore decision just four years ago.
The fact that his illness was announced just one week before the election is expected to put the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy front and center. Eight of the justices on the Supreme Court is at least 65 years old. And there's been speculation for years about a possible retirement, Kyra. So this very much a part of the political conversation right now.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about how it could affect the court. Let's say -- they say he will be back on the bench next week. But there could be some complications or maybe he needs a little more resting time. How does that affect decisions that are expected to come down, that could come down, ongoing cases?
ARENA: Well, Rehnquist has said in the past that if he was not healthy enough, that he would not serve on the Supreme Court. So, of course, the most likely probability here is that if he is not up to the task, as the court says he is, that the next president of the United States will be making a new appointment.
That could be someone from outside the court. It could be one of the sitting justices right now. Lots of speculation, but very important. This is -- this is an issue that, obviously comes up in political debates but was not something that was front and center.
With one week to go, Kyra, this definitely changes the political climate somewhat. It is -- it is considered a very important opportunity for a president to make an appointment because, as you know, this is it. The Supreme Court has the final say on the major issues of today.
PHILLIPS: Kelli Arena, live from Washington. Thanks so much -- Tony.
HARRIS: And now to Iraq, where hundreds of tons of highly powerful explosives, HMX, RDX, PTEN are MIA. They're not considered WMD, but they can be components of nuclear weapons.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says the stash vanished from a vast facility that U.S. troops were supposed to be guarding. It also says Iraqi leaders notified the Bush administration of the apparent theft a month ago.
Keeping tabs on the probe and the repercussions is CNN's Karl Penhaul in Baghdad.
Hello, Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Tony.
Three hundred and 80 tons of RDX and HMX, some of the -- some of the most powerful conventional military explosives that exist. This is what's missing. This stuff normally used in the making of munitions and missile warheads, but can even be used to make nuclear and atomic bombs.
Now, the International Agency for Atomic Energy doesn't seem to know if some of these explosives may have gotten into the wrong hands.
We talked today to the Iraqi defense ministry, and they say, well, this isn't, in fact, news. They knew for some time that this highly explosive material had disappeared.
Now, since 1991, the United Nations weapons inspectors had been monitoring these explosives at this site called Al Qaqaa. It's about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
Then, in 1998 when the weapons inspectors left, there was a period there when nobody was watching this, but when weapons inspectors returned in December of 2002, most of those explosives were still there.
So what went wrong? Well, when war broke out and the coalition troops advanced, they apparently failed to secure this site. And then that material went missing.
Nobody seems to know who exactly has those materials, but what I can tell you is that that area is now a hotbed of the Iraqi insurgency. They used this area as a launch pad to attack the coalition forces.
Impossible to say at this stage whether any of the car bombs that we've seen, any of the roadside bombs we've seen here in Iraq are made up of RMX and RDX and HMX, because they we don't get the military analysis back. They don't put that out to the press.
But, you know, put two and two together. This is certainly a very sensitive subject, Tony.
HARRIS: Karl Penhaul reporting live for us from Baghdad. Karl, thank you.
And later this hour, we will talk more about the slaughter of those new Iraqi soldiers with CNN military analyst Don Shepperd. We'll also get back to the missing explosives with CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: The Kerry camp is ballistic over those missing Iraqi explosives. At the moment right now, though, it's rolling out what it hopes will be its own secret weapon, live pictures as the still convalescing, always controversial, imminently colorful Bill Clinton gets ready to step to the podium.
Eight days before Americans go to the polls, 49 days after Clinton's quadruple bypass, the once and maybe future presidents are arm in arm in the city of brotherly live.
CNN's Frank Buckley is just an arm's length away.
Hi, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Kyra.
We're waiting for Bill Clinton to appear on the stage here in Philadelphia. But if there is any doubt at all about Bill Clinton's star power, let me show you the view from another camera looking down Martin Luther King Boulevard here in JFK. Just wave after wave of humanity here in downtown Philadelphia today here to see John Kerry and Bill Clinton appearing together.
A great deal of excitement here. Far more media than would normally be present for a John Kerry campaign event. And that's really the point of the Kerry campaign. They're hoping that Bill Clinton will help to energize the Democratic base and also to make an appeal to other voters, to remind them of the 1990s, the prosperity, the job creation, the budget surpluses that were happening during the Clinton years.
Now, Bill Clinton and John Kerry have appeared before together at a Democratic unity event. But this is their first joint rally together.
President Clinton, as you know, recovering from quadruple bypass surgery. There were questions about whether or not he'd be able to get on the campaign trail for John Kerry. He addressed those in an interview this morning with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I talked to my doctors about it, and they made some very helpful suggestions. They said, you know, I should get to wherever I'm going early in case I'm tired so I can kind of regenerate.
DIANE SAWYER, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Did Senator Clinton want you to go out? Was she worried this was too soon?
CLINTON: No, but she doesn't want me to do too much, and I don't either. But I want to do this. Senator Kerry asked me to do it, and I want to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: And, of course, this is not about Bill Clinton. This is about John Kerry. John Kerry is the one who is running for president.
He woke up this morning in New Hampshire and seized on an item in the news today that you've been talking about, U.S. government officials saying that some 380 tons of explosives have gone missing in Iraq from a stockpile. Kerry used that item to criticize President Bush. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now we know that our country and our troops are less safe because this president failed to do the basics. This is one of the great blunders of Iraq, one of the great blunders of this administration. And the incredible incompetence of this president and this administration has put our troops at risk and put this country at greater risk than we ought to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Now, the Bush campaign pointing out, in their words, that the entire country of Iraq was a weapons stockpile and noting that some 406,000 tons of explosives have either been secured or destroyed. One spokesman saying that John Kerry has no vision for fighting and winning the war on terror.
Meanwhile, we're waiting for John Kerry to appear here in Philadelphia alongside Bill Clinton appearing at a rally here. And in fact, right now, Bill Clinton is being introduced with John Kerry.
(MUSIC)
BUCKLEY: We're told...
PHILLIPS: Right now you're looking at live pictures out of Philadelphia. It's actually so loud that we can't even hear our own Frank Buckley, and he can't hear us. But as you know, as he's been reporting throughout the day, this is a pretty big -- pretty big moment for John Kerry, as he -- as it draws closer to election day.
Bill Clinton, you'll remember last week when word came out that the Kerry campaign found out Bill Clinton's going to come out and support John Kerry. It was a pretty big moment for them. They were pretty excited.
As you know, Bill Clinton, no matter what this man has been involved with, you know, we've called him charismatic and controversial. And of course, every time he steps to the stage this is what happens. Hundreds and hundreds of people always show up. Everyone definitely seems to call him the Democratic rock star.
Now, joining forces with John Kerry on stage, getting ready to support Kerry and the Democrats, of course, as the election draws closer. The candidates stumping hard today in a lot of showdown states. John Kerry bringing out the biggest gun yet here, former President Bill Clinton campaigning with him in Pennsylvania today. And then, I'm told, moving on to Florida.
As they continue to work the crowd, shake hands, we're going to take this -- we're going to listen a little bit as he gets ready to step up to the podium.
(MUSIC) PHILLIPS: Former President Bill Clinton now and John Kerry getting ready to step up to the podium. We'll take this, of course, as soon as they start talking. These two are masters at working the crowd.
But we should also point out that as the Kerry campaign pulls out a bit of a political ace here, that the Bush campaign is also flashing its own high card. Former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, will be joining Mr. Bush today in Greeley, Colorado, for a speech on the war on terror.
Giuliani has few, if any, fears, as you know, when it comes to terror related credentials after the dramatic events of 9/11. So that will be the big card for the Bush administration.
Meanwhile, let's listen now to former President Clinton as he supports John Kerry for president.
MAYOR JOHN STREET, PHILADELPHIA: Ladies and gentlemen, the last duly elected president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton.
(MUSIC)
CLINTON: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
If this isn't good for my heart, I don't know what is.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Thank you, Governor.
Congressman Brady, Fattah, Congressman Hoeffel.
Joe Hoeffel, our next United States senator.
(APPLAUSE)
All our candidates for Congress here, Allison Schwartz, Lois Murphy, Joe Driscoll, thank you and all the other officials who are here.
You know, I'm very grateful to be here today.
(APPLAUSE)
And I thank all the people of Philadelphia and throughout the country for their e-mails and letters and prayers and support.
From time to time I have been called the comeback kid. In eight days, John Kerry's going to make America the comeback country.
(APPLAUSE)
I know well that no one's presence can change a single vote, but I hope my reasons can affect a few votes.
I love this city and this state. You've been very good to me, to my family.
(APPLAUSE)
And you've got a clear choice between two strong men with great convictions and different philosophies, different policies with very different consequences for this city, this state, our nation and the world.
On the economy, we have just lived through four years of the first job losses in 70 years, record bankruptcies, middle-class incomes declining and poverty going up.
In Pennsylvania alone, you've lost 70,000 jobs as compared with the 219,000 you gained by this time when that last fellow was president -- me.
(APPLAUSE)
In Pennsylvania alone, 249,000 people have been added to the rolls of poverty, falling out of the middle class, as compared with 395,000 people who moved from poverty into the middle class the last time we had a Democratic administration; 333,000 Pennsylvanians have lost their health insurance; unemployment's gone up 26 percent. It dropped 35 percent in the first four years the last time we had a Democratic administration.
Their plan is more of the same. They gave two huge tax cuts to upper-income people like me and to special interests. They run these big deficits, and they go every month and borrow the money to cover our debts from the Chinese and the Japanese government and they're saddling it on our children. They're making our children pay for it today and tomorrow.
Over 2 million children not funded in the Leave No Child Behind Act, over a half a million children kicked out of their after-school programs, 140,000 unemployed workers kicked out of their job training programs, 100,000 working families losing their child care. Leaving the burden of the deficit for my tax cut on the children of this country, that's their plan.
John Kerry's got a better plan.
(APPLAUSE)
He wants to repeal the tax cuts for those of us who have been fortunate enough to make a lot of money. He wants to finally give us a chance to make a contribution to America's economic recovery and to the fight against terrorism. It's time. Most of us, without regard to party, want our chance to contribute to our country's welfare and our future. And we don't want our children and our grandchildren paying for the costs of our tax cuts.
(APPLAUSE)
He wants to invest in education and health care and homeland security. He wants to give us a new jobs policy by creating a clean energy future independent of foreign oil funded by Americans working in high-wage, high-technology jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
He's got a health care plan that will save the average health insurance policyholder $1,000 over the next couple of years, add over 90 percent of our people to health coverage and cover all of our kids and cut the cost of prescription drugs.
Their plan is more power and money to the drug companies, the health insurance companies, the HMOs.
We tried it their way. It's high cost and low coverage.
Let's have lower cost and higher coverage with John Kerry's plan for America.
(APPLAUSE)
When your governor was the mayor of this city, and before when he was prosecutor, we worked together to bring down the crime rate. We did it with more cops on the street and assault weapons off the street. That's the Kerry policy.
Their policy is to take 88,000 cops off the street and put the assault weapons back on. John Kerry's has a better idea.
(APPLAUSE)
And on security, where they have claimed to have the edge, President Kerry will give us a larger army, get more help and better management in Iraq, put more emphasis on homeland security -- where they're opposed -- doubling the inspections of our containers at our ports and airports, put more emphasis on getting weapons of mass destruction and more emphasis on al Qaeda, where there are still six times as many American troops in Iraq as there are in Afghanistan.
I think John Kerry's got a good plan for America.
(APPLAUSE)
We have different philosophies. John Kerry and the rest of us who are supporting him want a country and a world of shared responsibilities and shared opportunities and a stronger community, where we cooperate with others whenever we can and act alone only when we have to. Our friends on the other side want a world where they concentrate wealth and power on the far right, do what they want to when they can and cooperate with others only when they have to.
I am very proud of John Kerry and the campaign he has run. He never gives up.
(APPLAUSE)
He never gives up.
I remember in the primary campaign, very early, they were saying, "Oh, Kerry's dead. He's dashed expectations. He can't win." He just kept being John Kerry. And he won in Iowa. He won in New Hampshire. And he won the nomination for president.
(APPLAUSE)
I remember, early in this campaign, they said, "Oh, Kerry's beat. He's too far behind. He's dead as a door nail." And then he gave us three magnificent performances in those debates, and he's leading in this race.
(APPLAUSE)
I am proud that John Kerry has treated the voters of America with genuine respect. He's given them his specific plans on jobs, on health care, on energy, on security.
In the closing days of this election -- and you know I've been home watching it, so I see all this stuff...
(LAUGHTER)
... the other side, they're trying to scare the undecided voters about Senator Kerry.
And they're trying to scare the decided voters away from the polls. We know about that, don't we? It worked so well in Florida, they seem to be trying it elsewhere.
In the closing days of this campaign, John Kerry's gone on being John Kerry, talking about his hopes for America, his plans for America, his commitment to our security and our prosperity.
Now, one of Clinton's laws of politics is this: If one candidate's trying to scare you and the other one's trying to get you to think, if one candidate's appealing to your fears and the other one's appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.
That's the best.
(APPLAUSE)
My fellow Americans, we can do better. And in eight days we're going to do better with President John Kerry. Bring him on.
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: Thank you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
You guys look so beautiful all the way back there.
Thank you very, very much.
(APPLAUSE)
You look spectacular. It is so great to be here today.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
If you do the work for the next eight days, you'll give me a chance to show how much I love you. Is that a deal?
(APPLAUSE)
I want to thank Governor Rendell. I want to thank Mayor Street. I want to thank all of the congressmen and all of the civic leaders who are here to join us today.
And most of all, I want to thank Pennsylvania and Philadelphia for a great welcome here today. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Isn't it great to have Bill Clinton back on the trail?
(APPLAUSE)
I'll tell you, he led this nation to the strongest economy we've ever had. He expanded health care for millions of children in America. He helped bring our security and the security of the world to the level it ought to be. And he did this by always putting people first and fighting for the middle class.
(APPLAUSE)
I'll tell you, when I talked to the president before he went into the hospital and while he was in the hospital, he said to me -- you can just feel it. You could feel it in him. He couldn't stand the idea of not being out here on the trail with all of us.
(LAUGHTER)
And he said, "I'm going to do any darnedest to get back there before the end of this campaign." Promise made, promise kept.
Thank you, Mr. President.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, it takes a lot to keep President Clinton from the campaign trail, as we all know.
But heart surgery is a big deal and when you have a triple bypass, to be back here in seven weeks, this president is the comeback kid.
And America loves you for it. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
I asked the president before we came out here, I said, "Mr. President, can you tell me anything that you have in common with George W. Bush?"
And he thought for a moment. And he said, "In eight days and 12 hours, we will both be former presidents."
(APPLAUSE)
So let me ask you, Pennsylvania, are you ready to move America in a new direction?
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: Are you ready to put common sense back into the decisions about our lives?
(APPLAUSE)
Are you ready for a president again who is a champion of the middle class?
(APPLAUSE)
Are you ready for new leadership from the streets to the top of these buildings?
(APPLAUSE)
Well, help is on the way.
PHILLIPS: We've heard that line plenty of times out of the mouth of John Kerry. Eight days and counting, and he pulls out the biggest gun yet. Former President Bill Clinton joining him at this rally live in Philadelphia. Hundreds and hundreds of people lining the street.
We take in a portion of this. We also earlier -- in the morning we took a portion of President George Bush with the former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani. They were together, campaigning in Greeley, Colorado. Rudy Giuliani, of course, being that big gun for the president. Now John Kerry and Bill Clinton making an appearance in Philadelphia.
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Aired October 25, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Cancer strikes chief justice William Rehnquist. He's in the hospital for treatment. We're live on the developing story.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures now from Philadelphia. Thousands of people awaiting former President Clinton's first campaign appearance since heart surgery. We'll bring that to you as it happens.
PHILLIPS: Reported missing in Iraq. Hundreds of tons of powerful explosives. Who has them now? And are they being used against American forces?
HARRIS: And caught on tape. Watch this as a man filling up his car gets way more than he bargained for at the gas pump. Wow.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris in for Miles O'Brien.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
This hour's top stories, throat surgery for the chief justice of the United States. As you know, if you've been watching CNN, William Rehnquist is said to be recovering from a tracheotomy that he underwent on Saturday after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
The second oldest man ever to lead the highest court in the land is expected to leave the hospital this week and return to the bench next week.
We get the latest now from CNN's Kelli Arena. She's in Washington -- Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this news was very tightly held. One Supreme Court source tells CNN that at least one justice didn't even know about it until the news broke here on CNN.
The Supreme Court did put out an official statement saying that the chief justice underwent a tracheotomy on Saturday. That is a result of a recent diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
The court says that Rehnquist is expected to be released from the hospital this week, and they say he'll be back on the bench November 1 when the court reconvenes. Now, Rehnquist just turned 80 years old. He's had back problems for years. He had surgery on his leg after a fall two years ago. But beyond that, Kyra, he's been fairly healthy.
Rehnquist has been on the bench since 1972. And he's been chief justice for the past 18 years. He presided over the impeachment of then President Bill Clinton, over the controversial Bush v. Gore decision just four years ago.
The fact that his illness was announced just one week before the election is expected to put the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy front and center. Eight of the justices on the Supreme Court is at least 65 years old. And there's been speculation for years about a possible retirement, Kyra. So this very much a part of the political conversation right now.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about how it could affect the court. Let's say -- they say he will be back on the bench next week. But there could be some complications or maybe he needs a little more resting time. How does that affect decisions that are expected to come down, that could come down, ongoing cases?
ARENA: Well, Rehnquist has said in the past that if he was not healthy enough, that he would not serve on the Supreme Court. So, of course, the most likely probability here is that if he is not up to the task, as the court says he is, that the next president of the United States will be making a new appointment.
That could be someone from outside the court. It could be one of the sitting justices right now. Lots of speculation, but very important. This is -- this is an issue that, obviously comes up in political debates but was not something that was front and center.
With one week to go, Kyra, this definitely changes the political climate somewhat. It is -- it is considered a very important opportunity for a president to make an appointment because, as you know, this is it. The Supreme Court has the final say on the major issues of today.
PHILLIPS: Kelli Arena, live from Washington. Thanks so much -- Tony.
HARRIS: And now to Iraq, where hundreds of tons of highly powerful explosives, HMX, RDX, PTEN are MIA. They're not considered WMD, but they can be components of nuclear weapons.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says the stash vanished from a vast facility that U.S. troops were supposed to be guarding. It also says Iraqi leaders notified the Bush administration of the apparent theft a month ago.
Keeping tabs on the probe and the repercussions is CNN's Karl Penhaul in Baghdad.
Hello, Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Tony.
Three hundred and 80 tons of RDX and HMX, some of the -- some of the most powerful conventional military explosives that exist. This is what's missing. This stuff normally used in the making of munitions and missile warheads, but can even be used to make nuclear and atomic bombs.
Now, the International Agency for Atomic Energy doesn't seem to know if some of these explosives may have gotten into the wrong hands.
We talked today to the Iraqi defense ministry, and they say, well, this isn't, in fact, news. They knew for some time that this highly explosive material had disappeared.
Now, since 1991, the United Nations weapons inspectors had been monitoring these explosives at this site called Al Qaqaa. It's about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
Then, in 1998 when the weapons inspectors left, there was a period there when nobody was watching this, but when weapons inspectors returned in December of 2002, most of those explosives were still there.
So what went wrong? Well, when war broke out and the coalition troops advanced, they apparently failed to secure this site. And then that material went missing.
Nobody seems to know who exactly has those materials, but what I can tell you is that that area is now a hotbed of the Iraqi insurgency. They used this area as a launch pad to attack the coalition forces.
Impossible to say at this stage whether any of the car bombs that we've seen, any of the roadside bombs we've seen here in Iraq are made up of RMX and RDX and HMX, because they we don't get the military analysis back. They don't put that out to the press.
But, you know, put two and two together. This is certainly a very sensitive subject, Tony.
HARRIS: Karl Penhaul reporting live for us from Baghdad. Karl, thank you.
And later this hour, we will talk more about the slaughter of those new Iraqi soldiers with CNN military analyst Don Shepperd. We'll also get back to the missing explosives with CNN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: The Kerry camp is ballistic over those missing Iraqi explosives. At the moment right now, though, it's rolling out what it hopes will be its own secret weapon, live pictures as the still convalescing, always controversial, imminently colorful Bill Clinton gets ready to step to the podium.
Eight days before Americans go to the polls, 49 days after Clinton's quadruple bypass, the once and maybe future presidents are arm in arm in the city of brotherly live.
CNN's Frank Buckley is just an arm's length away.
Hi, Frank.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Kyra.
We're waiting for Bill Clinton to appear on the stage here in Philadelphia. But if there is any doubt at all about Bill Clinton's star power, let me show you the view from another camera looking down Martin Luther King Boulevard here in JFK. Just wave after wave of humanity here in downtown Philadelphia today here to see John Kerry and Bill Clinton appearing together.
A great deal of excitement here. Far more media than would normally be present for a John Kerry campaign event. And that's really the point of the Kerry campaign. They're hoping that Bill Clinton will help to energize the Democratic base and also to make an appeal to other voters, to remind them of the 1990s, the prosperity, the job creation, the budget surpluses that were happening during the Clinton years.
Now, Bill Clinton and John Kerry have appeared before together at a Democratic unity event. But this is their first joint rally together.
President Clinton, as you know, recovering from quadruple bypass surgery. There were questions about whether or not he'd be able to get on the campaign trail for John Kerry. He addressed those in an interview this morning with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I talked to my doctors about it, and they made some very helpful suggestions. They said, you know, I should get to wherever I'm going early in case I'm tired so I can kind of regenerate.
DIANE SAWYER, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Did Senator Clinton want you to go out? Was she worried this was too soon?
CLINTON: No, but she doesn't want me to do too much, and I don't either. But I want to do this. Senator Kerry asked me to do it, and I want to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: And, of course, this is not about Bill Clinton. This is about John Kerry. John Kerry is the one who is running for president.
He woke up this morning in New Hampshire and seized on an item in the news today that you've been talking about, U.S. government officials saying that some 380 tons of explosives have gone missing in Iraq from a stockpile. Kerry used that item to criticize President Bush. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now we know that our country and our troops are less safe because this president failed to do the basics. This is one of the great blunders of Iraq, one of the great blunders of this administration. And the incredible incompetence of this president and this administration has put our troops at risk and put this country at greater risk than we ought to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Now, the Bush campaign pointing out, in their words, that the entire country of Iraq was a weapons stockpile and noting that some 406,000 tons of explosives have either been secured or destroyed. One spokesman saying that John Kerry has no vision for fighting and winning the war on terror.
Meanwhile, we're waiting for John Kerry to appear here in Philadelphia alongside Bill Clinton appearing at a rally here. And in fact, right now, Bill Clinton is being introduced with John Kerry.
(MUSIC)
BUCKLEY: We're told...
PHILLIPS: Right now you're looking at live pictures out of Philadelphia. It's actually so loud that we can't even hear our own Frank Buckley, and he can't hear us. But as you know, as he's been reporting throughout the day, this is a pretty big -- pretty big moment for John Kerry, as he -- as it draws closer to election day.
Bill Clinton, you'll remember last week when word came out that the Kerry campaign found out Bill Clinton's going to come out and support John Kerry. It was a pretty big moment for them. They were pretty excited.
As you know, Bill Clinton, no matter what this man has been involved with, you know, we've called him charismatic and controversial. And of course, every time he steps to the stage this is what happens. Hundreds and hundreds of people always show up. Everyone definitely seems to call him the Democratic rock star.
Now, joining forces with John Kerry on stage, getting ready to support Kerry and the Democrats, of course, as the election draws closer. The candidates stumping hard today in a lot of showdown states. John Kerry bringing out the biggest gun yet here, former President Bill Clinton campaigning with him in Pennsylvania today. And then, I'm told, moving on to Florida.
As they continue to work the crowd, shake hands, we're going to take this -- we're going to listen a little bit as he gets ready to step up to the podium.
(MUSIC) PHILLIPS: Former President Bill Clinton now and John Kerry getting ready to step up to the podium. We'll take this, of course, as soon as they start talking. These two are masters at working the crowd.
But we should also point out that as the Kerry campaign pulls out a bit of a political ace here, that the Bush campaign is also flashing its own high card. Former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, will be joining Mr. Bush today in Greeley, Colorado, for a speech on the war on terror.
Giuliani has few, if any, fears, as you know, when it comes to terror related credentials after the dramatic events of 9/11. So that will be the big card for the Bush administration.
Meanwhile, let's listen now to former President Clinton as he supports John Kerry for president.
MAYOR JOHN STREET, PHILADELPHIA: Ladies and gentlemen, the last duly elected president of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton.
(MUSIC)
CLINTON: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
If this isn't good for my heart, I don't know what is.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Thank you, Governor.
Congressman Brady, Fattah, Congressman Hoeffel.
Joe Hoeffel, our next United States senator.
(APPLAUSE)
All our candidates for Congress here, Allison Schwartz, Lois Murphy, Joe Driscoll, thank you and all the other officials who are here.
You know, I'm very grateful to be here today.
(APPLAUSE)
And I thank all the people of Philadelphia and throughout the country for their e-mails and letters and prayers and support.
From time to time I have been called the comeback kid. In eight days, John Kerry's going to make America the comeback country.
(APPLAUSE)
I know well that no one's presence can change a single vote, but I hope my reasons can affect a few votes.
I love this city and this state. You've been very good to me, to my family.
(APPLAUSE)
And you've got a clear choice between two strong men with great convictions and different philosophies, different policies with very different consequences for this city, this state, our nation and the world.
On the economy, we have just lived through four years of the first job losses in 70 years, record bankruptcies, middle-class incomes declining and poverty going up.
In Pennsylvania alone, you've lost 70,000 jobs as compared with the 219,000 you gained by this time when that last fellow was president -- me.
(APPLAUSE)
In Pennsylvania alone, 249,000 people have been added to the rolls of poverty, falling out of the middle class, as compared with 395,000 people who moved from poverty into the middle class the last time we had a Democratic administration; 333,000 Pennsylvanians have lost their health insurance; unemployment's gone up 26 percent. It dropped 35 percent in the first four years the last time we had a Democratic administration.
Their plan is more of the same. They gave two huge tax cuts to upper-income people like me and to special interests. They run these big deficits, and they go every month and borrow the money to cover our debts from the Chinese and the Japanese government and they're saddling it on our children. They're making our children pay for it today and tomorrow.
Over 2 million children not funded in the Leave No Child Behind Act, over a half a million children kicked out of their after-school programs, 140,000 unemployed workers kicked out of their job training programs, 100,000 working families losing their child care. Leaving the burden of the deficit for my tax cut on the children of this country, that's their plan.
John Kerry's got a better plan.
(APPLAUSE)
He wants to repeal the tax cuts for those of us who have been fortunate enough to make a lot of money. He wants to finally give us a chance to make a contribution to America's economic recovery and to the fight against terrorism. It's time. Most of us, without regard to party, want our chance to contribute to our country's welfare and our future. And we don't want our children and our grandchildren paying for the costs of our tax cuts.
(APPLAUSE)
He wants to invest in education and health care and homeland security. He wants to give us a new jobs policy by creating a clean energy future independent of foreign oil funded by Americans working in high-wage, high-technology jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
He's got a health care plan that will save the average health insurance policyholder $1,000 over the next couple of years, add over 90 percent of our people to health coverage and cover all of our kids and cut the cost of prescription drugs.
Their plan is more power and money to the drug companies, the health insurance companies, the HMOs.
We tried it their way. It's high cost and low coverage.
Let's have lower cost and higher coverage with John Kerry's plan for America.
(APPLAUSE)
When your governor was the mayor of this city, and before when he was prosecutor, we worked together to bring down the crime rate. We did it with more cops on the street and assault weapons off the street. That's the Kerry policy.
Their policy is to take 88,000 cops off the street and put the assault weapons back on. John Kerry's has a better idea.
(APPLAUSE)
And on security, where they have claimed to have the edge, President Kerry will give us a larger army, get more help and better management in Iraq, put more emphasis on homeland security -- where they're opposed -- doubling the inspections of our containers at our ports and airports, put more emphasis on getting weapons of mass destruction and more emphasis on al Qaeda, where there are still six times as many American troops in Iraq as there are in Afghanistan.
I think John Kerry's got a good plan for America.
(APPLAUSE)
We have different philosophies. John Kerry and the rest of us who are supporting him want a country and a world of shared responsibilities and shared opportunities and a stronger community, where we cooperate with others whenever we can and act alone only when we have to. Our friends on the other side want a world where they concentrate wealth and power on the far right, do what they want to when they can and cooperate with others only when they have to.
I am very proud of John Kerry and the campaign he has run. He never gives up.
(APPLAUSE)
He never gives up.
I remember in the primary campaign, very early, they were saying, "Oh, Kerry's dead. He's dashed expectations. He can't win." He just kept being John Kerry. And he won in Iowa. He won in New Hampshire. And he won the nomination for president.
(APPLAUSE)
I remember, early in this campaign, they said, "Oh, Kerry's beat. He's too far behind. He's dead as a door nail." And then he gave us three magnificent performances in those debates, and he's leading in this race.
(APPLAUSE)
I am proud that John Kerry has treated the voters of America with genuine respect. He's given them his specific plans on jobs, on health care, on energy, on security.
In the closing days of this election -- and you know I've been home watching it, so I see all this stuff...
(LAUGHTER)
... the other side, they're trying to scare the undecided voters about Senator Kerry.
And they're trying to scare the decided voters away from the polls. We know about that, don't we? It worked so well in Florida, they seem to be trying it elsewhere.
In the closing days of this campaign, John Kerry's gone on being John Kerry, talking about his hopes for America, his plans for America, his commitment to our security and our prosperity.
Now, one of Clinton's laws of politics is this: If one candidate's trying to scare you and the other one's trying to get you to think, if one candidate's appealing to your fears and the other one's appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.
That's the best.
(APPLAUSE)
My fellow Americans, we can do better. And in eight days we're going to do better with President John Kerry. Bring him on.
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: Thank you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
You guys look so beautiful all the way back there.
Thank you very, very much.
(APPLAUSE)
You look spectacular. It is so great to be here today.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
If you do the work for the next eight days, you'll give me a chance to show how much I love you. Is that a deal?
(APPLAUSE)
I want to thank Governor Rendell. I want to thank Mayor Street. I want to thank all of the congressmen and all of the civic leaders who are here to join us today.
And most of all, I want to thank Pennsylvania and Philadelphia for a great welcome here today. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Isn't it great to have Bill Clinton back on the trail?
(APPLAUSE)
I'll tell you, he led this nation to the strongest economy we've ever had. He expanded health care for millions of children in America. He helped bring our security and the security of the world to the level it ought to be. And he did this by always putting people first and fighting for the middle class.
(APPLAUSE)
I'll tell you, when I talked to the president before he went into the hospital and while he was in the hospital, he said to me -- you can just feel it. You could feel it in him. He couldn't stand the idea of not being out here on the trail with all of us.
(LAUGHTER)
And he said, "I'm going to do any darnedest to get back there before the end of this campaign." Promise made, promise kept.
Thank you, Mr. President.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, it takes a lot to keep President Clinton from the campaign trail, as we all know.
But heart surgery is a big deal and when you have a triple bypass, to be back here in seven weeks, this president is the comeback kid.
And America loves you for it. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
I asked the president before we came out here, I said, "Mr. President, can you tell me anything that you have in common with George W. Bush?"
And he thought for a moment. And he said, "In eight days and 12 hours, we will both be former presidents."
(APPLAUSE)
So let me ask you, Pennsylvania, are you ready to move America in a new direction?
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: Are you ready to put common sense back into the decisions about our lives?
(APPLAUSE)
Are you ready for a president again who is a champion of the middle class?
(APPLAUSE)
Are you ready for new leadership from the streets to the top of these buildings?
(APPLAUSE)
Well, help is on the way.
PHILLIPS: We've heard that line plenty of times out of the mouth of John Kerry. Eight days and counting, and he pulls out the biggest gun yet. Former President Bill Clinton joining him at this rally live in Philadelphia. Hundreds and hundreds of people lining the street.
We take in a portion of this. We also earlier -- in the morning we took a portion of President George Bush with the former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani. They were together, campaigning in Greeley, Colorado. Rudy Giuliani, of course, being that big gun for the president. Now John Kerry and Bill Clinton making an appearance in Philadelphia.
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