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American Morning

Missing Explosives; Interview With Howard Dean; NASCAR Plane Crashes

Aired October 25, 2004 - 9:00 ET

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

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After a bloody weekend in Iraq, officials now worry insurgents may have gotten their hands on hundreds of tons of missing explosives.
The Clinton factor. The former president stumps for John Kerry, but could he actually lose some of Kerry's support?

And a dark day for NASCAR. One of the most powerful families in that sport devastated by a deadly plane crash.

Those stories on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. 9:00 in New York here. Some of the other headlines we're working on this hour.

John Kerry gets a little bit of star power today on the trail. Eight days and counting, and the former president, Bill Clinton, stumping for Kerry in Pennsylvania. We all know with 21 electoral votes, a key battleground state.

Will Clinton be able to energize the voters that Kerry has had trouble reaching? We'll talk to a former candidate, Howard Dean, as well as Republican adviser Terry Holt about those issues this hour.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, it's bad enough that there are long lines and a flu shot shortage. But some -- now some of the vaccines that are out there are missing, some are stolen. Elizabeth Cohen to going to tell us what you need to do to get one of those stolen shots.

HEMMER: Hopefully that season stays low. So far it has been, so...

O'BRIEN: Yes. So far, so good.

HEMMER: ... we will wait and see.

Jack Cafferty, good morning.

O'BRIEN: Hello.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Some third-world banana republic can't get a flu shot?

HEMMER: What's that, Jack? Yes.

CAFFERTY: I mean, this is America. It's 2004. Why can't you get a flu shot in this country?

O'BRIEN: That's the question.

CAFFERTY: The e-mail "Question of the Day" has to do with an October surprise or lack thereof. We've got a week to go. Is there anything that could happen in the next week that would cause you to change your vote on Tuesday?

Am@cnn.com. Like maybe being able to get a flu shot.

HEMMER: Yes. We'll see how undecided the undecided really is this year.

Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: Jack, thanks.

Headlines now. Daryn Kagan is at the CNN Center for us.

Hey, Daryn. Good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning.

We begin in Israel, where the parliament there is debating a controversial plan this morning to pull out of Gaza. The plan is backed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. It requires some 7,000 Israeli settlers and troops to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and portions of the West Bank. A vote is scheduled for tomorrow.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is trying to revive stalled talks aimed at keeping North Korea from developing its nuclear program. Speaking from China this morning, Powell refuted rumors that the U.S. was considering giving in to North Korea's demand for incentives to give up the nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're going to solve this through the six-party framework. And even though some on the other side have said they would immediately enter into dialogue, I'm not sure that they would find that to be the right thing to do. The North Koreans would be rubbing their hands at the opportunity to be rewarded for bad behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Secretary Powell heads to South Korea later today.

Here in the U.S., the governor of Illinois is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration to import flu shots. Governor Rod Blagojevich says he has made a tentative deal with British wholesalers to purchase at least 30,000 doses of the flu vaccine for nursing home residents in his state. Blagojevich will send a letter today to the FDA asking permission.

As for those of you outside of Illinois, more news on flu shots just ahead.

For now, back to New York.

HEMMER: Daryn, thanks.

Want to get back to one story we've been working on throughout the morning. About 400 tons of weapons-grade military explosives are reported missing from an Iraqi bomb-making plant. U.N. weapons monitors say they are extremely concerned about it. To the Pentagon and Barbara Starr for more on this now.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Bill.

Well, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna now making all of this information public, saying it has received notice from the new Iraqi interim government that 380 tons of explosives is, indeed, missing. And the concern, of course, is that it might be falling into the hands of the insurgents. A spokesperson for the agency in Vienna spoke about this earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA FLEMING, SPOKESWOMAN, IAEA: The multinational force in Iraq was responsible for security. And we have -- we informed them immediately upon receiving this declaration that this massive sum of explosive material was missing. They are responsible for security in Iraq, and our hope was that they would take action to secure and track down these missing explosives before they got into the wrong hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, reportedly, all of this material is missing from a site south of Baghdad called Al Qaqaa, a site that is well known to U.N. weapons inspectors. They had been there in previous years.

Here's the dilemma. No one knows how long this material has been missing, when it went missing, and who's holding it right now, anything about where it is. The great concern is that there is high explosives in this reported stockpile, material called HMX, RDX, material with incredible explosive, deadly power.

But this is all just part, Bill, of a larger problem that the U.S. and the coalition forces are facing in Iraq. The conventional explosives material that went missing after the war, hundreds of thousands of tons at this point.

According to the CIA, there is about 150 weapons storage sites in Iraq that are of great concern, that hold an estimated 600,000 tons of artillery shells, rockets, bombs and other ordnance. Now the Pentagon has long said this is a very difficult problem, that they don't have the capability of monitoring all these sites all the time. They are keeping an eye on them as best they can. But the IAEA even said the satellite imagery that they are seeing doesn't tell them enough about what's really going on -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara, quickly, do we know why we're just learning of this now?

STARR: Well, this is because the interim Iraqi government sent a letter October 10 to the International Atomic Energy Agency, giving the details about what they believe is missing from this site. And, in fact, the national security adviser, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, was informed about a month ago, we are told, about this problem. And the Iraq Survey Group, which are the current inspectors, if you will, in Iraq, are -- it is said that they are going to go to the site and have a look.

But soldiers say it's very difficult. These are very large areas, and very difficult to monitor and control what's going on -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Thanks for that report.

Now to Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Presidential hopeful John Kerry will get a little help from a good friend today. Former President Bill Clinton will attend a rally this afternoon in Philadelphia. His first campaign appearance since heart surgery just a few weeks ago.

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was once the Democrat's front-runner in this race. He's got a new book. It's called "You Have the Power: How to Take Back our Country and Restore Democracy in America." Howard Dean joins us this morning with some perspective on the campaign.

Let's talk a little bit about the star power that's being brought out today and later on in the week when we're talking about President Bush. To what degree do you think President Clinton and really anybody who's holding (ph) by a campaign to sort of energize the voters? To what degree can they -- can they help out?

HOWARD DEAN (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you can help a lot. And President Clinton will be a huge help.

I don't think anybody needs a lot of help getting out to vote. I mean, we were -- the Democratic side is pretty energized after what's happened the last four years. Even just this morning the president has lost 380 tons of munitions. I mean, this has got to stop, this stuff.

But I do think having Bill Clinton out on the stump shows unity of the Democratic Party. It does encourage people to get out to vote because he's -- he really is a star. O'BRIEN: At the same time, he's a star, but he just -- you know, you're a doctor. He just had quadruple bypass.

DEAN: Right. Well...

O'BRIEN: I can imagine you would tell a patient of yours don't even think about it.

DEAN: I would tell him -- no. I would tell him at this point -- it's been seven weeks or something like that -- or four or five weeks, I guess. I would tell him one a day, no late nights, which is probably tough for Bill Clinton.

O'BRIEN: That could be tough. I imagine he's not a great patient. I mean, because this is a guy who loves to hug. And he doesn't go into these kind of things in a small way. I mean, he loves to shake hands, he loves to...

DEAN: We'll see. I think there probably has to be none of that, too. I mean -- but, you know, we'll see what happens.

It's -- you know, people -- this is an operation. This is a big operation. On the other hand, people do recover fairly quickly if they're in pretty decent health, and he was in pretty decent health.

O'BRIEN: He's spending time, we're told, behind the scenes a lot with the Kerry campaign. Is it possible -- I mean, you know campaigns -- to learn from someone like President Bush the areas where -- John Kerry is perceived in the polls to be weak.

DEAN: The strength of Bill Clinton is his enormously analytical mind. And I think it is always helpful.

I used to love to talk to him when I was in the campaign, you know, because he'd tell you all these things and he'd have his way of thinking. Now, when you get advice from people like that, you don't take all of it. You take some of it. But it fits in to what you're generally trying to put together. And if it makes sense you take it.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about your book. You've got a new book.

DEAN: Yes.

O'BRIEN: It's called "You Have the Power." And you say that the -- you -- your campaign was much, much, much, three muches (ph) more about America than just you winning the office.

DEAN: Well, that was true. Of course I was hoping to win the office. But the truth is that it turned out that our campaign was really about empowering ordinary people.

And what the book does is talk about what the Democrats have to do to get back on track. Electing John Kerry is necessary, but it's not sufficient. We've got a lot more to do than just get a Democratic president. The infrastructure of this country has been really harmed by 20 years of Democratic ineptitude and Republican -- Republican success. And we've got to turn that around so we can get back to focusing on things like jobs and health care, which the Republicans never focus on.

O'BRIEN: With that in mind, what are you doing to help the Kerry campaign?

DEAN: I actually spent last week in Ohio. This week I'm spending in Pennsylvania.

I pretty much have been going around energizing folks. I was up in the Northwest for awhile, which looks fine now. It was --- you know, it was pretty shaky for awhile. And Oregon is still a little close. So I'm doing the same kinds of things that Bill Clinton is doing without quite the fanfare.

O'BRIEN: What's your prediction?

DEAN: I think John will win. I think it will be very close. If the election were held today, he would win. But, you know, nobody can tell.

It's turnout. If we get the turnout, we'll win, especially among young people.

O'BRIEN: Governor Dean, nice to see you.

DEAN: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Good luck with your new book.

DEAN: Thanks very much.

O'BRIEN: Terry Holt is a senior adviser to the Republican National Committee chairman, Ed Gillespie. He's also a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign. He joins us this morning from Washington.

Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

TERRY HOLT, SR. ADVISER TO THE RNC CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: We heard the governor talk a little bit about this 380 tons of missing materiel. Let's back up. It's under the control of the CPA, the Coalition Provisional Authority. How is it possible that something of that amount, that large is just gone?

HOLT: Well, I'm not a Pentagon spokesperson, but I listened to your report, and there are hundreds -- more than 150 sites. We need to let the -- the -- the Pentagon officials and the people on the ground get to the bottom of this.

You know, I find it fascinating that this is brand-new news and people like Governor Dean, and probably John Kerry, are going to torture this into some sort of political message to their advantage. I think that's a shame. This is a risky situation for the people in Iraq, for our military service personnel, and I think we ought to let the experts and the military people get to the bottom of it before we turn it into a political football.

O'BRIEN: Do you think it's being spun for political benefit? Some massive amount -- even the IAEA says this is a tremendously large cache of explosives that may potentially have been taken from insurgents.

HOLT: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: You think it's for political spin?

HOLT: If you heard Howard Dean, I mean, he's -- you know, already said the president lost 380 -- come on, let's get down to the facts of this. And I think the facts will bear it out that our people are on the ground and trying very hard to get a handle on that situation.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the strategy in the last eight days.

HOLT: Sure.

O'BRIEN: We're told that the president is working on shoring up his base. The number's very, very tight considering that President Bush has been in office for the last four years. If you look at some of these poll numbers, they say with those approval numbers, no one's ever been elected previously.

Doesn't mean, of course, it can't happen. But that's got to be a big concern for the campaign.

HOLT: Well, in most of the surveys I've seen over the last few weeks, the president's been over 50 percent. That's a very good thing. But this is a very closely-divided electorate. It's going to be a close election.

I think that, you know, demonstrating that John Kerry still needs to work on the Democratic base, he's asked Bill Clinton to get out of his recovery bed to go out on the campaign trail. And I think that demonstrates that there's a lack of intensity on the Democratic side, which is really remarkable.

This president, President Bush, has Reagan-like numbers when it comes to Republican loyalty, Republican intensity. We're ready for Election Day. And we're really excited about the last eight days going forward.

O'BRIEN: Just to clarify, the president's -- the former president certainly has been out of his bed over the last couple of weeks doing television interviews, certainly.

HOLT: Well, but -- yes.

O'BRIEN: But I know where you're going with that.

What about Arnold Schwarzenegger? I mean, how much of a risk is that for President Bush? They disagree on some major issues, the constitutional ban on gay marriage, also stem-cell research. How much of a problem could be for the president appearing with Arnold Schwarzenegger when they don't see eye to eye on everything?

HOLT: I think it's a terrific asset. And in a national election, party leaders come together for the good of the country to get our philosophy and ideology out, to talk about how we're going to make this country safer going forward over the next four years, and how prosperity is a common thing among Republicans. Getting a handle on budgets, lowering taxes, the leaders of our party agree on the big issues.

And, in fact, when it comes to stem cell, remember this is the first president to fund stem-cell research. So I think we've got a lot more that bonds us together, that unites us, and, in fact, that's what's going to make successful in eight days from today.

O'BRIEN: Terry Holt is a senior adviser to the RNC chairman. Nice to see you, Terry. Thanks for being with us this morning.

HOLT: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: Thirteen minutes past the hour. Looking outside, Jacqui Jeras working for Chad today.

What are you seeing, Jacqui? Good morning.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Some ugly weather across the Salt Lake City area right now, Bill, actually.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: That we will. Thank you, Jacqui.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jacqui. Thanks.

Still to come this morning, the candidates are almost tripping over each other as they hit the battleground states. Which swing states are the most in play? We'll take a look.

HEMMER: Also, a plane crash delivers a devastating blow to the NASCAR community. Live to Virginia in a moment. The latest on that story today.

O'BRIEN: And if the flu shot shortage wasn't enough, there are now cases of stolen or missing doses of flu vaccine.

Those stories all ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Federal investigators on the scene this morning of a plane crash in Virginia that claimed the lives of 10 people. Eight of them members of a leading NASCAR team and associated with a leading NASCAR family.

And Bob Franken's live in Martinsville, Virginia, with the latest on this morning.

Bob, hello there.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And I want to show you, Bill, just how difficult the operation here is.

You can see what is the typical terrain here. It's the terrain around the area where the plane crashed. You can see that it's very heavily wooded, very steep hills, very slippery under foot. As a matter of fact, the mist that many people believe contributed to the crash is what is making it so slippery.

It is a very difficult search and rescue operation. Not rescue, but a recovery operation. They have to literally go in with chainsaws and bulldozers to find and clear an area.

As an example, yesterday it took them about an hour to an hour and a half to go one mile on all-terrain vehicles. It's very, very difficult going, as the officials begin an investigation of a plane crash that turned a celebration of victory into deep sadness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Instead of celebrating, Jimmy Johnson's crew was praying on pit row after learning that a plane owned by the Hendrick Motorsports organization crashed yesterday, killing all 10 people on board. Among the passengers, Ricky and John Hendrick, the son and brother of team owner Rick Hendrick.

The plane, a King Air 200, was en route to yesterday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. It went down about seven miles west of the Martinsville Airport after the pilot had flown out of his initial approach, then crashed into the surrounding hilly terrain.

Hendrick Motorsports is one of NASCAR's premiere racing organizations. The high-power stable includes cars driven by Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, Brian Vickers, along with Jimmy Johnson. All competed in Sunday's NASCAR race.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We mourn, we pray, and, you know, be there for each other, and then we just move on.

FRANKEN: After hearing the news, mourners gathered outside the Hendrick company compound in Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: And now their focus is on the area here outside of Martinsville. This is Patrick Springs, actually, by Bull Mountain. And as you can -- as I mentioned before, the recovery effort is going to be a very, very tedious, slow one because of this terrain.

Wherever you go there are trees blocking things. And as I said, it's slippery underfoot.

This was supposed to be the 20th anniversary celebration of the association of Hendrick Motors, Bill, with NASCAR. But of course it's going to end up being an anniversary of the family tragedy -- Bill.

HEMMER: Bob Franken, thanks for that in Virginia.

Earlier today, I talked with Marty Snider. Marty is a pit reporter for TNT and NBC Sports. He talked about the deep loss being felt this morning by Hendrick Motorsports, the owner there, Rick Hendrick.

MARTY SNIDER, PIT REPORTER, TNT & NBC NEWS: Rick Hendrick has made such an impression upon this sport, and his loss is unbelievable. You've got to realize in this crash he lost his brother, his two nieces, his son, his best friend, and Randy Dorton, and his confidant for 20 years, and his right-hand man who runs the organization of Hendrick Motorsports.

So I feel so bad for him. And there's such an outreach towards him right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Such a sad and tough day in the world of NASCAR and for that family. Mary Snider from earlier today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, with just a week left to Election Day, is there anything that could change your vote? A look at that's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Time to check in with Jack and the "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Soledad.

A week to go until the election. Still no October surprise. There is more negative news out of Iraq, possibly spelling trouble for President Bush.

Bill Clinton has climbed out of bed to try to boost Kerry's campaign. Governor Schwarzenegger's been recruited to hit the campaign trail for President Bush later this week.

The question is this: With a week to go, is there anything that could change your vote?

E-mails beginning with Jerre in Staten Island, New York: "I'm a registered Republican who's voting for John Kerry. The Iraq news daily enforces my decision to vote for him. There is nothing that can change my vote."

Maggie in Downers Grove, Illinois -- Downers Grove. There's got to be an explanation for the name of that place. "I still have not decided my vote. In my opinion, neither of these guys is capable of running the country in the best of times, let alone handle the major problems we face today. It's ironic the most important election in my life may end up being the one I don't vote in."

Walter in Westminster, Maryland, checks in with this: "I would vote for either candidate that supported lock box legislation and a prohibition to paying illegal aliens American Social Security benefits. Neither candidate has even discussed these important issues."

And finally, Guy in Atlanta, Georgia: "It's still possible for me to change my vote in the next week if oil drops to $25 a barrel, if 50 million flu vaccines surface, if Zarqawi and Osama are killed, if the 350 tons of explosives are found, if an error is discovered, and the federal budget is instantly balanced, and if I had a job. Is that too much to ask?"

Well, yes, Guy, it probably is, actually.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack. Thanks.

Did you see these pictures of this crash? Have you seen this?

CAFFERTY: No, I haven't.

O'BRIEN: Take a look at this. A hit and run crash in Ohio. Fiery explosion caught on tape.

The car jumped the curb in Canton Township on Friday, slammed into a gas pump, which you just saw there, toppled into another car. The whole thing went up in flames. The couple inside the other car rushed to pull their 5-year-old and 7-year-old daughters to safety.

The driver of the other car then got out and ran away. But she was caught and charged with several crimes, including fleeing the scene.

CAFFERTY: It almost looks like that car was out of control somehow, doesn't it? Coming into the gas station that fast?

O'BRIEN: So fast.

HEMMER: Jumped the curb.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Then she got out of her car and took off.

CAFFERTY: Well, that's not very good.

O'BRIEN: No, it was not.

Still to come this morning the Monday edition of "90-Second Pop."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): A Milli Vanilli moment for pop star Ashlee Simpson. Was her performance on "Saturday Night Live" not live?

And ABC may have pulled the plug on Miss America last week, but never fear, pageant lovers. Season two of "The Swan" debuts tonight.

All ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: A few seconds away from the opening bell live on Wall Street starting off today. Looking back on Friday, too, with futures to the negative at the start here. Oil going up to $55 a barrel on Friday. We'll see the impact that has on the markets today.

We start today at 9757 for the Dow 30, off 108 points in trading on Friday. Nasdaq MarketSite opening today at 1915, off about 38 points at Friday's close. The same site, by the way, where CNN's election night coverage comes from.

O'BRIEN: That's right.

HEMMER: You know, election night's all about graphics, right? And the Nasdaq MarketSite has some of the best in this country. So it should be an exciting night.

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Aired October 25, 2004 - 9:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After a bloody weekend in Iraq, officials now worry insurgents may have gotten their hands on hundreds of tons of missing explosives.
The Clinton factor. The former president stumps for John Kerry, but could he actually lose some of Kerry's support?

And a dark day for NASCAR. One of the most powerful families in that sport devastated by a deadly plane crash.

Those stories on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. 9:00 in New York here. Some of the other headlines we're working on this hour.

John Kerry gets a little bit of star power today on the trail. Eight days and counting, and the former president, Bill Clinton, stumping for Kerry in Pennsylvania. We all know with 21 electoral votes, a key battleground state.

Will Clinton be able to energize the voters that Kerry has had trouble reaching? We'll talk to a former candidate, Howard Dean, as well as Republican adviser Terry Holt about those issues this hour.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, it's bad enough that there are long lines and a flu shot shortage. But some -- now some of the vaccines that are out there are missing, some are stolen. Elizabeth Cohen to going to tell us what you need to do to get one of those stolen shots.

HEMMER: Hopefully that season stays low. So far it has been, so...

O'BRIEN: Yes. So far, so good.

HEMMER: ... we will wait and see.

Jack Cafferty, good morning.

O'BRIEN: Hello.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Some third-world banana republic can't get a flu shot?

HEMMER: What's that, Jack? Yes.

CAFFERTY: I mean, this is America. It's 2004. Why can't you get a flu shot in this country?

O'BRIEN: That's the question.

CAFFERTY: The e-mail "Question of the Day" has to do with an October surprise or lack thereof. We've got a week to go. Is there anything that could happen in the next week that would cause you to change your vote on Tuesday?

Am@cnn.com. Like maybe being able to get a flu shot.

HEMMER: Yes. We'll see how undecided the undecided really is this year.

Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: Jack, thanks.

Headlines now. Daryn Kagan is at the CNN Center for us.

Hey, Daryn. Good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning.

We begin in Israel, where the parliament there is debating a controversial plan this morning to pull out of Gaza. The plan is backed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. It requires some 7,000 Israeli settlers and troops to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and portions of the West Bank. A vote is scheduled for tomorrow.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is trying to revive stalled talks aimed at keeping North Korea from developing its nuclear program. Speaking from China this morning, Powell refuted rumors that the U.S. was considering giving in to North Korea's demand for incentives to give up the nuclear program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're going to solve this through the six-party framework. And even though some on the other side have said they would immediately enter into dialogue, I'm not sure that they would find that to be the right thing to do. The North Koreans would be rubbing their hands at the opportunity to be rewarded for bad behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Secretary Powell heads to South Korea later today.

Here in the U.S., the governor of Illinois is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration to import flu shots. Governor Rod Blagojevich says he has made a tentative deal with British wholesalers to purchase at least 30,000 doses of the flu vaccine for nursing home residents in his state. Blagojevich will send a letter today to the FDA asking permission.

As for those of you outside of Illinois, more news on flu shots just ahead.

For now, back to New York.

HEMMER: Daryn, thanks.

Want to get back to one story we've been working on throughout the morning. About 400 tons of weapons-grade military explosives are reported missing from an Iraqi bomb-making plant. U.N. weapons monitors say they are extremely concerned about it. To the Pentagon and Barbara Starr for more on this now.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Bill.

Well, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna now making all of this information public, saying it has received notice from the new Iraqi interim government that 380 tons of explosives is, indeed, missing. And the concern, of course, is that it might be falling into the hands of the insurgents. A spokesperson for the agency in Vienna spoke about this earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA FLEMING, SPOKESWOMAN, IAEA: The multinational force in Iraq was responsible for security. And we have -- we informed them immediately upon receiving this declaration that this massive sum of explosive material was missing. They are responsible for security in Iraq, and our hope was that they would take action to secure and track down these missing explosives before they got into the wrong hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Now, reportedly, all of this material is missing from a site south of Baghdad called Al Qaqaa, a site that is well known to U.N. weapons inspectors. They had been there in previous years.

Here's the dilemma. No one knows how long this material has been missing, when it went missing, and who's holding it right now, anything about where it is. The great concern is that there is high explosives in this reported stockpile, material called HMX, RDX, material with incredible explosive, deadly power.

But this is all just part, Bill, of a larger problem that the U.S. and the coalition forces are facing in Iraq. The conventional explosives material that went missing after the war, hundreds of thousands of tons at this point.

According to the CIA, there is about 150 weapons storage sites in Iraq that are of great concern, that hold an estimated 600,000 tons of artillery shells, rockets, bombs and other ordnance. Now the Pentagon has long said this is a very difficult problem, that they don't have the capability of monitoring all these sites all the time. They are keeping an eye on them as best they can. But the IAEA even said the satellite imagery that they are seeing doesn't tell them enough about what's really going on -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara, quickly, do we know why we're just learning of this now?

STARR: Well, this is because the interim Iraqi government sent a letter October 10 to the International Atomic Energy Agency, giving the details about what they believe is missing from this site. And, in fact, the national security adviser, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, was informed about a month ago, we are told, about this problem. And the Iraq Survey Group, which are the current inspectors, if you will, in Iraq, are -- it is said that they are going to go to the site and have a look.

But soldiers say it's very difficult. These are very large areas, and very difficult to monitor and control what's going on -- Bill.

HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Thanks for that report.

Now to Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Presidential hopeful John Kerry will get a little help from a good friend today. Former President Bill Clinton will attend a rally this afternoon in Philadelphia. His first campaign appearance since heart surgery just a few weeks ago.

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was once the Democrat's front-runner in this race. He's got a new book. It's called "You Have the Power: How to Take Back our Country and Restore Democracy in America." Howard Dean joins us this morning with some perspective on the campaign.

Let's talk a little bit about the star power that's being brought out today and later on in the week when we're talking about President Bush. To what degree do you think President Clinton and really anybody who's holding (ph) by a campaign to sort of energize the voters? To what degree can they -- can they help out?

HOWARD DEAN (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you can help a lot. And President Clinton will be a huge help.

I don't think anybody needs a lot of help getting out to vote. I mean, we were -- the Democratic side is pretty energized after what's happened the last four years. Even just this morning the president has lost 380 tons of munitions. I mean, this has got to stop, this stuff.

But I do think having Bill Clinton out on the stump shows unity of the Democratic Party. It does encourage people to get out to vote because he's -- he really is a star. O'BRIEN: At the same time, he's a star, but he just -- you know, you're a doctor. He just had quadruple bypass.

DEAN: Right. Well...

O'BRIEN: I can imagine you would tell a patient of yours don't even think about it.

DEAN: I would tell him -- no. I would tell him at this point -- it's been seven weeks or something like that -- or four or five weeks, I guess. I would tell him one a day, no late nights, which is probably tough for Bill Clinton.

O'BRIEN: That could be tough. I imagine he's not a great patient. I mean, because this is a guy who loves to hug. And he doesn't go into these kind of things in a small way. I mean, he loves to shake hands, he loves to...

DEAN: We'll see. I think there probably has to be none of that, too. I mean -- but, you know, we'll see what happens.

It's -- you know, people -- this is an operation. This is a big operation. On the other hand, people do recover fairly quickly if they're in pretty decent health, and he was in pretty decent health.

O'BRIEN: He's spending time, we're told, behind the scenes a lot with the Kerry campaign. Is it possible -- I mean, you know campaigns -- to learn from someone like President Bush the areas where -- John Kerry is perceived in the polls to be weak.

DEAN: The strength of Bill Clinton is his enormously analytical mind. And I think it is always helpful.

I used to love to talk to him when I was in the campaign, you know, because he'd tell you all these things and he'd have his way of thinking. Now, when you get advice from people like that, you don't take all of it. You take some of it. But it fits in to what you're generally trying to put together. And if it makes sense you take it.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about your book. You've got a new book.

DEAN: Yes.

O'BRIEN: It's called "You Have the Power." And you say that the -- you -- your campaign was much, much, much, three muches (ph) more about America than just you winning the office.

DEAN: Well, that was true. Of course I was hoping to win the office. But the truth is that it turned out that our campaign was really about empowering ordinary people.

And what the book does is talk about what the Democrats have to do to get back on track. Electing John Kerry is necessary, but it's not sufficient. We've got a lot more to do than just get a Democratic president. The infrastructure of this country has been really harmed by 20 years of Democratic ineptitude and Republican -- Republican success. And we've got to turn that around so we can get back to focusing on things like jobs and health care, which the Republicans never focus on.

O'BRIEN: With that in mind, what are you doing to help the Kerry campaign?

DEAN: I actually spent last week in Ohio. This week I'm spending in Pennsylvania.

I pretty much have been going around energizing folks. I was up in the Northwest for awhile, which looks fine now. It was --- you know, it was pretty shaky for awhile. And Oregon is still a little close. So I'm doing the same kinds of things that Bill Clinton is doing without quite the fanfare.

O'BRIEN: What's your prediction?

DEAN: I think John will win. I think it will be very close. If the election were held today, he would win. But, you know, nobody can tell.

It's turnout. If we get the turnout, we'll win, especially among young people.

O'BRIEN: Governor Dean, nice to see you.

DEAN: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Good luck with your new book.

DEAN: Thanks very much.

O'BRIEN: Terry Holt is a senior adviser to the Republican National Committee chairman, Ed Gillespie. He's also a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign. He joins us this morning from Washington.

Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

TERRY HOLT, SR. ADVISER TO THE RNC CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: We heard the governor talk a little bit about this 380 tons of missing materiel. Let's back up. It's under the control of the CPA, the Coalition Provisional Authority. How is it possible that something of that amount, that large is just gone?

HOLT: Well, I'm not a Pentagon spokesperson, but I listened to your report, and there are hundreds -- more than 150 sites. We need to let the -- the -- the Pentagon officials and the people on the ground get to the bottom of this.

You know, I find it fascinating that this is brand-new news and people like Governor Dean, and probably John Kerry, are going to torture this into some sort of political message to their advantage. I think that's a shame. This is a risky situation for the people in Iraq, for our military service personnel, and I think we ought to let the experts and the military people get to the bottom of it before we turn it into a political football.

O'BRIEN: Do you think it's being spun for political benefit? Some massive amount -- even the IAEA says this is a tremendously large cache of explosives that may potentially have been taken from insurgents.

HOLT: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: You think it's for political spin?

HOLT: If you heard Howard Dean, I mean, he's -- you know, already said the president lost 380 -- come on, let's get down to the facts of this. And I think the facts will bear it out that our people are on the ground and trying very hard to get a handle on that situation.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the strategy in the last eight days.

HOLT: Sure.

O'BRIEN: We're told that the president is working on shoring up his base. The number's very, very tight considering that President Bush has been in office for the last four years. If you look at some of these poll numbers, they say with those approval numbers, no one's ever been elected previously.

Doesn't mean, of course, it can't happen. But that's got to be a big concern for the campaign.

HOLT: Well, in most of the surveys I've seen over the last few weeks, the president's been over 50 percent. That's a very good thing. But this is a very closely-divided electorate. It's going to be a close election.

I think that, you know, demonstrating that John Kerry still needs to work on the Democratic base, he's asked Bill Clinton to get out of his recovery bed to go out on the campaign trail. And I think that demonstrates that there's a lack of intensity on the Democratic side, which is really remarkable.

This president, President Bush, has Reagan-like numbers when it comes to Republican loyalty, Republican intensity. We're ready for Election Day. And we're really excited about the last eight days going forward.

O'BRIEN: Just to clarify, the president's -- the former president certainly has been out of his bed over the last couple of weeks doing television interviews, certainly.

HOLT: Well, but -- yes.

O'BRIEN: But I know where you're going with that.

What about Arnold Schwarzenegger? I mean, how much of a risk is that for President Bush? They disagree on some major issues, the constitutional ban on gay marriage, also stem-cell research. How much of a problem could be for the president appearing with Arnold Schwarzenegger when they don't see eye to eye on everything?

HOLT: I think it's a terrific asset. And in a national election, party leaders come together for the good of the country to get our philosophy and ideology out, to talk about how we're going to make this country safer going forward over the next four years, and how prosperity is a common thing among Republicans. Getting a handle on budgets, lowering taxes, the leaders of our party agree on the big issues.

And, in fact, when it comes to stem cell, remember this is the first president to fund stem-cell research. So I think we've got a lot more that bonds us together, that unites us, and, in fact, that's what's going to make successful in eight days from today.

O'BRIEN: Terry Holt is a senior adviser to the RNC chairman. Nice to see you, Terry. Thanks for being with us this morning.

HOLT: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: Thirteen minutes past the hour. Looking outside, Jacqui Jeras working for Chad today.

What are you seeing, Jacqui? Good morning.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Some ugly weather across the Salt Lake City area right now, Bill, actually.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: That we will. Thank you, Jacqui.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jacqui. Thanks.

Still to come this morning, the candidates are almost tripping over each other as they hit the battleground states. Which swing states are the most in play? We'll take a look.

HEMMER: Also, a plane crash delivers a devastating blow to the NASCAR community. Live to Virginia in a moment. The latest on that story today.

O'BRIEN: And if the flu shot shortage wasn't enough, there are now cases of stolen or missing doses of flu vaccine.

Those stories all ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Federal investigators on the scene this morning of a plane crash in Virginia that claimed the lives of 10 people. Eight of them members of a leading NASCAR team and associated with a leading NASCAR family.

And Bob Franken's live in Martinsville, Virginia, with the latest on this morning.

Bob, hello there.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And I want to show you, Bill, just how difficult the operation here is.

You can see what is the typical terrain here. It's the terrain around the area where the plane crashed. You can see that it's very heavily wooded, very steep hills, very slippery under foot. As a matter of fact, the mist that many people believe contributed to the crash is what is making it so slippery.

It is a very difficult search and rescue operation. Not rescue, but a recovery operation. They have to literally go in with chainsaws and bulldozers to find and clear an area.

As an example, yesterday it took them about an hour to an hour and a half to go one mile on all-terrain vehicles. It's very, very difficult going, as the officials begin an investigation of a plane crash that turned a celebration of victory into deep sadness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Instead of celebrating, Jimmy Johnson's crew was praying on pit row after learning that a plane owned by the Hendrick Motorsports organization crashed yesterday, killing all 10 people on board. Among the passengers, Ricky and John Hendrick, the son and brother of team owner Rick Hendrick.

The plane, a King Air 200, was en route to yesterday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. It went down about seven miles west of the Martinsville Airport after the pilot had flown out of his initial approach, then crashed into the surrounding hilly terrain.

Hendrick Motorsports is one of NASCAR's premiere racing organizations. The high-power stable includes cars driven by Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, Brian Vickers, along with Jimmy Johnson. All competed in Sunday's NASCAR race.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We mourn, we pray, and, you know, be there for each other, and then we just move on.

FRANKEN: After hearing the news, mourners gathered outside the Hendrick company compound in Charlotte, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: And now their focus is on the area here outside of Martinsville. This is Patrick Springs, actually, by Bull Mountain. And as you can -- as I mentioned before, the recovery effort is going to be a very, very tedious, slow one because of this terrain.

Wherever you go there are trees blocking things. And as I said, it's slippery underfoot.

This was supposed to be the 20th anniversary celebration of the association of Hendrick Motors, Bill, with NASCAR. But of course it's going to end up being an anniversary of the family tragedy -- Bill.

HEMMER: Bob Franken, thanks for that in Virginia.

Earlier today, I talked with Marty Snider. Marty is a pit reporter for TNT and NBC Sports. He talked about the deep loss being felt this morning by Hendrick Motorsports, the owner there, Rick Hendrick.

MARTY SNIDER, PIT REPORTER, TNT & NBC NEWS: Rick Hendrick has made such an impression upon this sport, and his loss is unbelievable. You've got to realize in this crash he lost his brother, his two nieces, his son, his best friend, and Randy Dorton, and his confidant for 20 years, and his right-hand man who runs the organization of Hendrick Motorsports.

So I feel so bad for him. And there's such an outreach towards him right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Such a sad and tough day in the world of NASCAR and for that family. Mary Snider from earlier today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, with just a week left to Election Day, is there anything that could change your vote? A look at that's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Time to check in with Jack and the "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Soledad.

A week to go until the election. Still no October surprise. There is more negative news out of Iraq, possibly spelling trouble for President Bush.

Bill Clinton has climbed out of bed to try to boost Kerry's campaign. Governor Schwarzenegger's been recruited to hit the campaign trail for President Bush later this week.

The question is this: With a week to go, is there anything that could change your vote?

E-mails beginning with Jerre in Staten Island, New York: "I'm a registered Republican who's voting for John Kerry. The Iraq news daily enforces my decision to vote for him. There is nothing that can change my vote."

Maggie in Downers Grove, Illinois -- Downers Grove. There's got to be an explanation for the name of that place. "I still have not decided my vote. In my opinion, neither of these guys is capable of running the country in the best of times, let alone handle the major problems we face today. It's ironic the most important election in my life may end up being the one I don't vote in."

Walter in Westminster, Maryland, checks in with this: "I would vote for either candidate that supported lock box legislation and a prohibition to paying illegal aliens American Social Security benefits. Neither candidate has even discussed these important issues."

And finally, Guy in Atlanta, Georgia: "It's still possible for me to change my vote in the next week if oil drops to $25 a barrel, if 50 million flu vaccines surface, if Zarqawi and Osama are killed, if the 350 tons of explosives are found, if an error is discovered, and the federal budget is instantly balanced, and if I had a job. Is that too much to ask?"

Well, yes, Guy, it probably is, actually.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack. Thanks.

Did you see these pictures of this crash? Have you seen this?

CAFFERTY: No, I haven't.

O'BRIEN: Take a look at this. A hit and run crash in Ohio. Fiery explosion caught on tape.

The car jumped the curb in Canton Township on Friday, slammed into a gas pump, which you just saw there, toppled into another car. The whole thing went up in flames. The couple inside the other car rushed to pull their 5-year-old and 7-year-old daughters to safety.

The driver of the other car then got out and ran away. But she was caught and charged with several crimes, including fleeing the scene.

CAFFERTY: It almost looks like that car was out of control somehow, doesn't it? Coming into the gas station that fast?

O'BRIEN: So fast.

HEMMER: Jumped the curb.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Then she got out of her car and took off.

CAFFERTY: Well, that's not very good.

O'BRIEN: No, it was not.

Still to come this morning the Monday edition of "90-Second Pop."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): A Milli Vanilli moment for pop star Ashlee Simpson. Was her performance on "Saturday Night Live" not live?

And ABC may have pulled the plug on Miss America last week, but never fear, pageant lovers. Season two of "The Swan" debuts tonight.

All ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: A few seconds away from the opening bell live on Wall Street starting off today. Looking back on Friday, too, with futures to the negative at the start here. Oil going up to $55 a barrel on Friday. We'll see the impact that has on the markets today.

We start today at 9757 for the Dow 30, off 108 points in trading on Friday. Nasdaq MarketSite opening today at 1915, off about 38 points at Friday's close. The same site, by the way, where CNN's election night coverage comes from.

O'BRIEN: That's right.

HEMMER: You know, election night's all about graphics, right? And the Nasdaq MarketSite has some of the best in this country. So it should be an exciting night.

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