Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Two Candidates Engaged in War of Words Over Missing Explosives; '90-Second Pop'
Aired October 29, 2004 - 09:30 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I want to get to Heidi Collins now and the headlines.
Heidi, good morning to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you as well. Good morning to you, everybody. Now in the news this morning, new attacks this morning on U.S. troops in Iraq. Sources say a car bomb went off just as a military convoy was rolling by in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. And within just the last 20 minutes, we've gotten word that yet another explosive was set off in the city. At least five U.S. soldiers are wounded. We'll have more details on that just as soon as they become available.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat receiving urgent care at a military hospital in Paris. Arafat was carried in to the facility on a stretcher just about an hour ago. It's not clear, though, what is ailing the 75-year-old leader. One of his personal doctors says he is suffering from a blood platelet deficiency. It is not known how long Arafat will stay in Paris.
To New York now, friends and family will come together this afternoon to remember Christopher Reeve. A closed memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Eastern at the Juilliard School in New York City. About 900 guests are expected. The actor and activist died on October 10th at the age of 52.
And finally, it could be an extra spooky Halloween this year. Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday at 2:00 a.m., which means an extra hour of darkness. Clocks fall back one hour, giving everybody an extra hour Sunday morning. That's to sleep. For sure we take it any chance we get.
HEMMER: Yes, we like that.
Heidi, thanks.
The two candidates have engaged in a war of words over these missing explosives in Iraq, and our senior political analyst Bill Schneider here to give us the blow by blow on this Friday morning.
Welcome back to New York and good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: First here's how the exchanging went lately, though, between President Bush and John Kerry on the stump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry will say anything to get elected. The senator's willingness to trade principle for political convenience makes it clear that John Kerry is the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was President Bush. Now John Kerry on that same issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kennedy knew how to take responsibility for the mistake he made, and Mr. President, it is long since time for you to start taking responsibility for the mistakes that you've made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: So this is our first topic in our segment today. Is it a timing issue? Or why is this particular issue now at the forefront of this debate?
SCHNEIDER: Kerry won't let it go because he has Bush on the defensive here. There's an old rule in politics, if you're explaining, you're probably losing. Well, Bush has been doing a lot of explaining about what might have happened to those explosives. And the facts have been murky. But yesterday, they got a little bit clearer because of that Minneapolis TV crew of the tape that you showed which indicated pretty clearly that the explosives were there nine days after Saddam Hussein fell.
So instead of George Bush being able to argue that we found the weapons of mass destruction, Kerry is the one who's now saying, you know what, they are not where they're supposed to be, you were supposed to be guarding them, and you didn't.
HEMMER: The other topic is celebrity endorsements, and we've seen a lot of them in this campaign. Here's Bruce Springsteen from yesterday in Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, MUSICIAN: I'm here today to stand alongside Senator Kerry and to tell you that the country we carry in our hearts is waiting. And together we can move America towards the deepest ideals. And besides, we've got a sax player in the house. We need a guitar player in the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was from Madison, Wisconsin. Now today and over the weekend you get Arnold Schwarzenegger stumping for Bush in the state of Ohio. You say that both of these endorsements essentially are going after the same group of people, the same group of voters. How?
SCHNEIDER: These are voters who were tuned out of politics, and believe it or not, unbelievably, there are a lot of people out there who don't pay a lot of attention to politics. Who can reach them? A rock star like Bruce Springsteen. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now a politician, but like Springsteen, his appeal goes way beyond politics. These are casual voters. If you can bring them to the polls, because they don't care that much about politics, if you can bring them to the polls, particularly in a close election like this, that could be the key to victory.
HEMMER: Third topic here, we talked about it with Suzanne Malveaux about 35 minutes ago, there was a Bush campaign ad that came out, it turns out it was doctored. The president had appeared in front of a group of U.S. military men and women at a podium, and if you advance it one step further, the president's taken out and they've taken a number of different pictures and filled them in. Is this a big deal at this point or not?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it enables Kerry to raise the issue. If they shade the truth about the small things like a campaign ad, what else are they shading the truth about? And it's interesting, because they obviously figured they could get away with it, and in a normal year they could. But this year is different. Why? Because we have these things called weblogs. And a liberal weblog, dailycause.com, sifted through all the campaign ads, looked at that photo and discovered that it had been doctored. Nobody expected this to happen. We call this segment blow by blow.
But look what's happened, the biggest blows at the end of the campaign have come from sources outside the campaign, from a Minneapolis TV crew, and from a liberal weblog. And they're making a big impact.
HEMMER: Do you have a sense on Tuesday that if these lines are so long, Bill, that these polling stations will have to literally close their doors with people standing on the outside still waiting to cast their ballot? We saw a little bit of it in 2000. But if you look at the turnout we're seeing in these early voting states, this turnout is going to be enormous on Tuesday.
SCHNEIDER: I think it is illegal to turn away a voter who shows up at the polling place while they're still open.
HEMMER: What do you do then?
SCHNEIDER: You just keep it open until the people who showed up before closing time -- in other words, if the polls close at 8:00 and someone shows up before 8:00 p.m., you have to allow that person to vote, even if it takes until midnight.
HEMMER: Thank you, Bill.
We'll see you on Tuesday, hey? SCHNEIDER: Yes.
HEMMER: Tuesday night, our special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern Time, live at the Nasdaq marketsite in Times Square. It's going to be a huge night. Hope you can be part of it with us on Tuesday.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: The produce from your local market may say "organic," but buyer beware, not all organic products are created equal. The trick, it turns out, is in the labeling. So how do you know what is and what is not organic? Urvashi Rangan is the director of "Consumer Reports" Ecolabeling Project, and she's here to sort it out for us.
Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.
URVASHI RANGAN, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Thank you.
O'BRIEN: What exactly does organic mean?
RANGAN: It's a great question. A lot of people are seeing the organic labels today in the stores. And what they should know first off is that there's a national organic program that's run by the USDA that monitors what "organic" means and make sure that it's verified on most foods.
O'BRIEN: So I buy something that says organic, that means I'm getting?
RANGAN: That means you're getting a product that meets a certain set of standards that has been verified by a company that's been approved by the USDA.
O'BRIEN: But does it mean no pesticides? Does it mean -- give me specifics.
RANGAN: Specifically, on produce it means that no synthetic fertilizers were used, that most synthetic pesticides were not used. And for dairy and meat products, it means no animal byproducts were used in the feeding for those animals. They were fed no antibiotics. They were fed no heavy metals. Those are the types of things that organic offers as far as advantages.
O'BRIEN: So if something is labeled organic, that means that the USDA has put its stamp of approval on it? Is that the case always?
RANGAN: That is the case for most food. In fact, the law that went through requires the USDA to regulate the meaning of organic on all foods. So with a few exceptions on most food, where you see the term organic, it means that it was certified by a company that was approved by the USDA.
O'BRIEN: Organics are so much more expensive, usually, than nonorganics. Is it worth, do you think, in your mind, the much more money for the benefit? RANGAN: That's a very good question. And I think organic in the context of seeing other labels like "natural," or "chemical free," it does, in fact, add much more value. Organic and natural simply don't mean the same thing. Organic has 600 pages of standards behind it. It has to be verified by an organization. So, in fact, the value that you're getting from a product that is labeled organic can be quite high.
O'BRIEN: What do you think people should be organically?
RANGAN: Organically, people should look for produce, things that are straight off the farm. They should look for fruits and vegetables. Baby food which are fruits and vegetables, concentrated down. Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and meat, like beef and chicken.
O'BRIEN: All those you think are worth the price?
RANGAN: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Urvashi Rangan, nice to see you. Thank you for clarifying this. It's really very confusing. Appreciate it.
RANGAN: Thank you. It is. Thank you very much.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, 20 minutes now before the hour. In a moment, think Delta was able to avoid bankruptcy? The company says not so fast at this point. Andy's back with that, and "90-Second Pop" comes your way. Jamie Foxx takes on a legend in Ray, but is the Oscar talk nothing but hype? We'll check it out in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: I have to say, I love Jamie Foxx. Love, love, love. We're going to talk about him in a moment.
Now it's time for America's favorite pop culture segment, "90- Second Pop." Here to play this morning, Toure is CNN's pop culture correspondent. Sarah Bernard is a contributing editor for "New York" magazine. B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Welcome, welcome, welcome. Before we got Jamie Foxx, the man I love, let's first talk about ring tones and "Billboard" magazine, which is now ranking them, weird as that is. First, bring us up-to- speed on what a ring tone is.
TOURE, CNN POPULAR CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, if have you a 15-year-old, you know what a ring tone is.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: She's got a while to go.
TOURE: Yes. You can download little songs.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE: Yes, and then, you know, it rings your song. So, that's a little Destiny's Child thing I downloaded in about 15 seconds, you know, and...
O'BRIEN: Why would "Billboard" want to chart these?
TOURE: Because the Internet is the future of the record business. Oh, my god! After years of getting slaughtered by Napster and people downloading for free, now they're saying, how can we use the net? So use ring tones. This cost 2.50, and iTunes it just costs 99 cents to get the whole song. But we download 2.50, you know, Outkast...
O'BRIEN: You paid $2.50?
TOURE: No, no, CNN did. But I...
O'BRIEN: Oh, OK then.
TOURE: Outkast just got an award for the most digital downloads. So the...
BERNARD: But this is, like, going to save the record industry basically is what it is.
TOURE: Yes.
BERNARD: Because what's going to happen is the people who have the rights to the songs get money. But when they want better quality, because that sounds a little fuzzy, you're going to have to order true tones, which is like the CD recording of the Beyonce song. And that's going to cause -- I mean, the record companies are going to make a fortune from that.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": And a lot of people don't know that this is already a huge business. Americans downloaded $300 million worth of ring tones just like that last year.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, you know, let's move on and talk about movies, Jamie Foxx, because I want to get back to him, and...
SIGESMUND: OK.
BERNARD: I think I might love him more than you.
O'BRIEN: I don't think so.
BERNARD: I'm going to have you fight you for that.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Fine, because I love him. How do you think he does in this movie? He's playing Ray Charles.
SIGESMUND: You know, yes, well, "Ray" is already getting excellent reviews, but Jamie Foxx is its biggest asset for sure. And he has officially become a front-runner in the Oscar race for best actor.
O'BRIEN: Why does he sing? You know, because sometimes they just dub in the tracks of Ray Charles. And, you know, he doesn't really sound like Ray Charles, although he has a fabulous voice.
SIGESMUND: Well, they have, you know, recreated the songs to show Ray Charles' great artistry. And also, Jamie Foxx is a piano player. He's a trained piano player. So it's all really authentic. He absolutely melts into this part. And it traces -- most people don't know, it's not a try bio pic that goes all the way up to his death in June.
O'BRIEN: And we melt into him.
SIGESMUND: Oh!
BERNARD: He's also getting a record contract after this. I mean, they really realized that he can sing. He's kind of a musician. And he's going to have his own album coming out.
O'BRIEN: Move to love.
TOURE: This is one of those great moments when an actor's whole life changes, right? I mean, this movie will change Jamie Foxx forever.
O'BRIEN: Toure, and Sarah and B.J., thank you, as always.
Bill, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. In a moment, Hollywood goes to high school. A Tinseltown bigshot goes the extra effort to help out a promising filmmaker. We'll have that story in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right. Welcome back.
One airline could still be in the hot seat, while another considers a seating change.
Explaining all that, back with Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
HEMMER: First the markets?
SERWER: Also some news about Domino's. Let's talk about the markets first of all, up 29 points. That's because the price of oil has stabilized, under $51. Big news this morning about the economy growing in the third quarter. The number is 3.7 percent. A little bit less than expected, but still not so bad, and not enough to make political hay out of, if you ask me.
Delta's CEO Gerald Grinstein says that even though pilots may give back a billion dollars in wage concessions, that doesn't mean the company still might not file for Chapter 11. We talked about these amazing paycuts -- these pilots are probably going to have to take 30 percent pay cuts, but the Delta pilots were the highest paid in the industry.
Meanwhile, United Airlines announced a $274 million quarterly loss. It's just amazing. That may put them in default on some of their loans. At some point, some of these airlines are going to be liquidated. I keep telling you that.
Southwest Airlines, famous for its no-assigned seats policy, may be assigning seats; just because they're just trying to do the most efficient thing. They're very famous for turning their planes around very quickly.
Gateway is up this morning, announcing its first profit in many quarters. And also, Halloween is the second biggest night of the year for Domino's, after the Super Bowl. Also, they're going to anticipate they're going to be delivering a lot of pizzas on November 2nd. Also it's going to be a very big night for all the pizza delivery people.
O'BRIEN: But Halloween? That sounds strange.
SERWER: Halloween is big because people are just eating candy, they don't want to cook. You've got kids you're taking out, and just get a pizza.
O'BRIEN: That's easy.
You're talking about Halloween, too.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Segues right in the whole...
O'BRIEN: Hang on, there's a segue here. Thank you, Andy.
Jack, speaking of Halloween.
CAFFERTY: You think we don't produce this thing. Well, we do.
Should Halloween parties be banned in school, is the question. And a lot of schools are doing it, not letting the kids have their parties.
Josh writes, "While I agree with you on the senselessness of canceling due to concerns regarding classroom distractions or silly hazard concerns, I think you've missed the mark here slightly. Economic disparities do place some children and parents in the awkward position of having to buy costumes, when the money, which is not vast, could be better spent elsewhere." That's valid.
Charlie in Illinois, "It's so sad how repressive and censoring we are with children today. No pledge, no prayer, no parties, no punishment. How will we ever learn to make good decisions on their own when we make all the wrong ones for them while they're still young."
And Edward writes in Ottawa, Canada, "All this negligent talk about your ugliness is nothing more than jealousy. For Halloween, I dressed up as you. Within five minutes, I had an offer to pose nude, got five dates for the weekend and got punched in the mouth by a guy who looked like Pete Rose."
SERWER: That's pretty good.
HEMMER: They love you.
CAFFERTY: Yes, not bad.
HEMMER: What's coming up this weekend.
CAFFERTY: We do "IN THE MONEY." I almost forgot. Final business program. Are you better off today than you were four years ago? That was the question asked by former President Reagan in 1980. We're going to take a long look at this, just where we all stand, are we better off before Tuesday's election. And Mr. Zogby of the Zogby Polls will be our guest, one of the wiser guys in the polling business. Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00.
Soledad's into it.
SERWER: She's rocking to the in the money theme.
O'BRIEN: I'm loving your theme song.
SERWER: That is a tune.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: We're going to get to our "Extra Effort" segment now on this Friday morning. Scenarios USA, a national nonprofit organization that hosts writing contests for teenagers, this year a 16-year-old high school student from Brooklyn found just the right story to deliver a message to girls across the country.
Here's Deb Feyerick on that story this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The movie is about sex, and teenagers, and how confusing it can be growing up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You barely even know him. That's a big no, no (INAUDIBLE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever. OK, I really didn't want to, but I don't make him feel like he wasted his time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: The screen play that deals with unwanted pregnancy was cowritten by 16-year-old Chantel Woolridge.
CHANTEL WOOLRIDGE, 16-YEAR-OLD SCREENWRITER: I used experiences from other people to create the image and the character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where does love fit in?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: It began as a final project at Chantel's health class at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What it was, was having kids bring their reality into the classroom.
FEYERICK: After beating out 300 other high school essays, it will end as a short film, one being produced by Scenarios USA, a nonprofit company that connects students with bigtime filmmakers. Hollywood writer David Koepp directs the very collaborative effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have some thoughts, but I want to hear yours first.
WOOLRIDGE: I don't like it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
FEYERICK (on camera): You wrote "Spider-Man," "Jurassic Park," "Mission Impossible." What is it about these characters you found particularly compelling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the way Chantel had written them, because they seemed like people that really leapt off the page.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The story takes place in the subway, three friends dealing with boys, pregnancy, date rape, loneliness.
(on camera): Two of the characters, it's a really sad ending for them.
WOOLRIDGE: I just want it to be about mistakes. They do make mistakes, and you're going to have consequences, but you have to live with your consequences.
FEYERICK: The film, shot in two days, cost $25,000. Pretty much everyone donated their time.
DAVID KOEPP, DIRECTOR & WRITER: In Hollywood, we can be a pretty self-involved bunch, but this was just such a good idea and clearly something that might be helpful to people that everybody just said yes right away, uncomplainingly, for no money.
FEYERICK: Yes to a film that could help millions of teens understand they're not alone.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Good story. Thank you, Deborah.
"All Falls Down" makes its premiere here in New York, in fact, in the month of December. Looking forward to that -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up just in time for Halloween, listen to this, "CNN LIVE TODAY" has the top five tips on household horrors. It seems there could be some scary secrets lurking in your home, like bed bugs and black widow spiders.
We're going to find out how to get rid of them. That's coming in our next hour with Rick Sanchez and Daryn Kagan. I'm not making this stuff up. It's on "CNN LIVE TODAY."
We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Aaron Brown has got a preview now of what's coming up tonight on "NEWSNIGHT."
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Soledad.
Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," if you live in one of the battleground states, you know what it's like to be inundated with political ad after political ad after political ad. The rest of us will find out tonight on "NEWSNIGHT." We'll show you what it's like. That story plus all the day's top news, morning papers, a tabloid or two, it being Friday. And everything else that makes NEWSNIGHT NEWSNIGHT, CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, Aaron, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 29, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I want to get to Heidi Collins now and the headlines.
Heidi, good morning to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you as well. Good morning to you, everybody. Now in the news this morning, new attacks this morning on U.S. troops in Iraq. Sources say a car bomb went off just as a military convoy was rolling by in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. And within just the last 20 minutes, we've gotten word that yet another explosive was set off in the city. At least five U.S. soldiers are wounded. We'll have more details on that just as soon as they become available.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat receiving urgent care at a military hospital in Paris. Arafat was carried in to the facility on a stretcher just about an hour ago. It's not clear, though, what is ailing the 75-year-old leader. One of his personal doctors says he is suffering from a blood platelet deficiency. It is not known how long Arafat will stay in Paris.
To New York now, friends and family will come together this afternoon to remember Christopher Reeve. A closed memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Eastern at the Juilliard School in New York City. About 900 guests are expected. The actor and activist died on October 10th at the age of 52.
And finally, it could be an extra spooky Halloween this year. Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday at 2:00 a.m., which means an extra hour of darkness. Clocks fall back one hour, giving everybody an extra hour Sunday morning. That's to sleep. For sure we take it any chance we get.
HEMMER: Yes, we like that.
Heidi, thanks.
The two candidates have engaged in a war of words over these missing explosives in Iraq, and our senior political analyst Bill Schneider here to give us the blow by blow on this Friday morning.
Welcome back to New York and good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: First here's how the exchanging went lately, though, between President Bush and John Kerry on the stump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry will say anything to get elected. The senator's willingness to trade principle for political convenience makes it clear that John Kerry is the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was President Bush. Now John Kerry on that same issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kennedy knew how to take responsibility for the mistake he made, and Mr. President, it is long since time for you to start taking responsibility for the mistakes that you've made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: So this is our first topic in our segment today. Is it a timing issue? Or why is this particular issue now at the forefront of this debate?
SCHNEIDER: Kerry won't let it go because he has Bush on the defensive here. There's an old rule in politics, if you're explaining, you're probably losing. Well, Bush has been doing a lot of explaining about what might have happened to those explosives. And the facts have been murky. But yesterday, they got a little bit clearer because of that Minneapolis TV crew of the tape that you showed which indicated pretty clearly that the explosives were there nine days after Saddam Hussein fell.
So instead of George Bush being able to argue that we found the weapons of mass destruction, Kerry is the one who's now saying, you know what, they are not where they're supposed to be, you were supposed to be guarding them, and you didn't.
HEMMER: The other topic is celebrity endorsements, and we've seen a lot of them in this campaign. Here's Bruce Springsteen from yesterday in Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, MUSICIAN: I'm here today to stand alongside Senator Kerry and to tell you that the country we carry in our hearts is waiting. And together we can move America towards the deepest ideals. And besides, we've got a sax player in the house. We need a guitar player in the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was from Madison, Wisconsin. Now today and over the weekend you get Arnold Schwarzenegger stumping for Bush in the state of Ohio. You say that both of these endorsements essentially are going after the same group of people, the same group of voters. How?
SCHNEIDER: These are voters who were tuned out of politics, and believe it or not, unbelievably, there are a lot of people out there who don't pay a lot of attention to politics. Who can reach them? A rock star like Bruce Springsteen. Arnold Schwarzenegger is now a politician, but like Springsteen, his appeal goes way beyond politics. These are casual voters. If you can bring them to the polls, because they don't care that much about politics, if you can bring them to the polls, particularly in a close election like this, that could be the key to victory.
HEMMER: Third topic here, we talked about it with Suzanne Malveaux about 35 minutes ago, there was a Bush campaign ad that came out, it turns out it was doctored. The president had appeared in front of a group of U.S. military men and women at a podium, and if you advance it one step further, the president's taken out and they've taken a number of different pictures and filled them in. Is this a big deal at this point or not?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it enables Kerry to raise the issue. If they shade the truth about the small things like a campaign ad, what else are they shading the truth about? And it's interesting, because they obviously figured they could get away with it, and in a normal year they could. But this year is different. Why? Because we have these things called weblogs. And a liberal weblog, dailycause.com, sifted through all the campaign ads, looked at that photo and discovered that it had been doctored. Nobody expected this to happen. We call this segment blow by blow.
But look what's happened, the biggest blows at the end of the campaign have come from sources outside the campaign, from a Minneapolis TV crew, and from a liberal weblog. And they're making a big impact.
HEMMER: Do you have a sense on Tuesday that if these lines are so long, Bill, that these polling stations will have to literally close their doors with people standing on the outside still waiting to cast their ballot? We saw a little bit of it in 2000. But if you look at the turnout we're seeing in these early voting states, this turnout is going to be enormous on Tuesday.
SCHNEIDER: I think it is illegal to turn away a voter who shows up at the polling place while they're still open.
HEMMER: What do you do then?
SCHNEIDER: You just keep it open until the people who showed up before closing time -- in other words, if the polls close at 8:00 and someone shows up before 8:00 p.m., you have to allow that person to vote, even if it takes until midnight.
HEMMER: Thank you, Bill.
We'll see you on Tuesday, hey? SCHNEIDER: Yes.
HEMMER: Tuesday night, our special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern Time, live at the Nasdaq marketsite in Times Square. It's going to be a huge night. Hope you can be part of it with us on Tuesday.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: The produce from your local market may say "organic," but buyer beware, not all organic products are created equal. The trick, it turns out, is in the labeling. So how do you know what is and what is not organic? Urvashi Rangan is the director of "Consumer Reports" Ecolabeling Project, and she's here to sort it out for us.
Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.
URVASHI RANGAN, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Thank you.
O'BRIEN: What exactly does organic mean?
RANGAN: It's a great question. A lot of people are seeing the organic labels today in the stores. And what they should know first off is that there's a national organic program that's run by the USDA that monitors what "organic" means and make sure that it's verified on most foods.
O'BRIEN: So I buy something that says organic, that means I'm getting?
RANGAN: That means you're getting a product that meets a certain set of standards that has been verified by a company that's been approved by the USDA.
O'BRIEN: But does it mean no pesticides? Does it mean -- give me specifics.
RANGAN: Specifically, on produce it means that no synthetic fertilizers were used, that most synthetic pesticides were not used. And for dairy and meat products, it means no animal byproducts were used in the feeding for those animals. They were fed no antibiotics. They were fed no heavy metals. Those are the types of things that organic offers as far as advantages.
O'BRIEN: So if something is labeled organic, that means that the USDA has put its stamp of approval on it? Is that the case always?
RANGAN: That is the case for most food. In fact, the law that went through requires the USDA to regulate the meaning of organic on all foods. So with a few exceptions on most food, where you see the term organic, it means that it was certified by a company that was approved by the USDA.
O'BRIEN: Organics are so much more expensive, usually, than nonorganics. Is it worth, do you think, in your mind, the much more money for the benefit? RANGAN: That's a very good question. And I think organic in the context of seeing other labels like "natural," or "chemical free," it does, in fact, add much more value. Organic and natural simply don't mean the same thing. Organic has 600 pages of standards behind it. It has to be verified by an organization. So, in fact, the value that you're getting from a product that is labeled organic can be quite high.
O'BRIEN: What do you think people should be organically?
RANGAN: Organically, people should look for produce, things that are straight off the farm. They should look for fruits and vegetables. Baby food which are fruits and vegetables, concentrated down. Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and meat, like beef and chicken.
O'BRIEN: All those you think are worth the price?
RANGAN: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: Urvashi Rangan, nice to see you. Thank you for clarifying this. It's really very confusing. Appreciate it.
RANGAN: Thank you. It is. Thank you very much.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, 20 minutes now before the hour. In a moment, think Delta was able to avoid bankruptcy? The company says not so fast at this point. Andy's back with that, and "90-Second Pop" comes your way. Jamie Foxx takes on a legend in Ray, but is the Oscar talk nothing but hype? We'll check it out in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: I have to say, I love Jamie Foxx. Love, love, love. We're going to talk about him in a moment.
Now it's time for America's favorite pop culture segment, "90- Second Pop." Here to play this morning, Toure is CNN's pop culture correspondent. Sarah Bernard is a contributing editor for "New York" magazine. B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Welcome, welcome, welcome. Before we got Jamie Foxx, the man I love, let's first talk about ring tones and "Billboard" magazine, which is now ranking them, weird as that is. First, bring us up-to- speed on what a ring tone is.
TOURE, CNN POPULAR CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, if have you a 15-year-old, you know what a ring tone is.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: She's got a while to go.
TOURE: Yes. You can download little songs.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE: Yes, and then, you know, it rings your song. So, that's a little Destiny's Child thing I downloaded in about 15 seconds, you know, and...
O'BRIEN: Why would "Billboard" want to chart these?
TOURE: Because the Internet is the future of the record business. Oh, my god! After years of getting slaughtered by Napster and people downloading for free, now they're saying, how can we use the net? So use ring tones. This cost 2.50, and iTunes it just costs 99 cents to get the whole song. But we download 2.50, you know, Outkast...
O'BRIEN: You paid $2.50?
TOURE: No, no, CNN did. But I...
O'BRIEN: Oh, OK then.
TOURE: Outkast just got an award for the most digital downloads. So the...
BERNARD: But this is, like, going to save the record industry basically is what it is.
TOURE: Yes.
BERNARD: Because what's going to happen is the people who have the rights to the songs get money. But when they want better quality, because that sounds a little fuzzy, you're going to have to order true tones, which is like the CD recording of the Beyonce song. And that's going to cause -- I mean, the record companies are going to make a fortune from that.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": And a lot of people don't know that this is already a huge business. Americans downloaded $300 million worth of ring tones just like that last year.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, you know, let's move on and talk about movies, Jamie Foxx, because I want to get back to him, and...
SIGESMUND: OK.
BERNARD: I think I might love him more than you.
O'BRIEN: I don't think so.
BERNARD: I'm going to have you fight you for that.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Fine, because I love him. How do you think he does in this movie? He's playing Ray Charles.
SIGESMUND: You know, yes, well, "Ray" is already getting excellent reviews, but Jamie Foxx is its biggest asset for sure. And he has officially become a front-runner in the Oscar race for best actor.
O'BRIEN: Why does he sing? You know, because sometimes they just dub in the tracks of Ray Charles. And, you know, he doesn't really sound like Ray Charles, although he has a fabulous voice.
SIGESMUND: Well, they have, you know, recreated the songs to show Ray Charles' great artistry. And also, Jamie Foxx is a piano player. He's a trained piano player. So it's all really authentic. He absolutely melts into this part. And it traces -- most people don't know, it's not a try bio pic that goes all the way up to his death in June.
O'BRIEN: And we melt into him.
SIGESMUND: Oh!
BERNARD: He's also getting a record contract after this. I mean, they really realized that he can sing. He's kind of a musician. And he's going to have his own album coming out.
O'BRIEN: Move to love.
TOURE: This is one of those great moments when an actor's whole life changes, right? I mean, this movie will change Jamie Foxx forever.
O'BRIEN: Toure, and Sarah and B.J., thank you, as always.
Bill, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. In a moment, Hollywood goes to high school. A Tinseltown bigshot goes the extra effort to help out a promising filmmaker. We'll have that story in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All right. Welcome back.
One airline could still be in the hot seat, while another considers a seating change.
Explaining all that, back with Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
HEMMER: First the markets?
SERWER: Also some news about Domino's. Let's talk about the markets first of all, up 29 points. That's because the price of oil has stabilized, under $51. Big news this morning about the economy growing in the third quarter. The number is 3.7 percent. A little bit less than expected, but still not so bad, and not enough to make political hay out of, if you ask me.
Delta's CEO Gerald Grinstein says that even though pilots may give back a billion dollars in wage concessions, that doesn't mean the company still might not file for Chapter 11. We talked about these amazing paycuts -- these pilots are probably going to have to take 30 percent pay cuts, but the Delta pilots were the highest paid in the industry.
Meanwhile, United Airlines announced a $274 million quarterly loss. It's just amazing. That may put them in default on some of their loans. At some point, some of these airlines are going to be liquidated. I keep telling you that.
Southwest Airlines, famous for its no-assigned seats policy, may be assigning seats; just because they're just trying to do the most efficient thing. They're very famous for turning their planes around very quickly.
Gateway is up this morning, announcing its first profit in many quarters. And also, Halloween is the second biggest night of the year for Domino's, after the Super Bowl. Also, they're going to anticipate they're going to be delivering a lot of pizzas on November 2nd. Also it's going to be a very big night for all the pizza delivery people.
O'BRIEN: But Halloween? That sounds strange.
SERWER: Halloween is big because people are just eating candy, they don't want to cook. You've got kids you're taking out, and just get a pizza.
O'BRIEN: That's easy.
You're talking about Halloween, too.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Segues right in the whole...
O'BRIEN: Hang on, there's a segue here. Thank you, Andy.
Jack, speaking of Halloween.
CAFFERTY: You think we don't produce this thing. Well, we do.
Should Halloween parties be banned in school, is the question. And a lot of schools are doing it, not letting the kids have their parties.
Josh writes, "While I agree with you on the senselessness of canceling due to concerns regarding classroom distractions or silly hazard concerns, I think you've missed the mark here slightly. Economic disparities do place some children and parents in the awkward position of having to buy costumes, when the money, which is not vast, could be better spent elsewhere." That's valid.
Charlie in Illinois, "It's so sad how repressive and censoring we are with children today. No pledge, no prayer, no parties, no punishment. How will we ever learn to make good decisions on their own when we make all the wrong ones for them while they're still young."
And Edward writes in Ottawa, Canada, "All this negligent talk about your ugliness is nothing more than jealousy. For Halloween, I dressed up as you. Within five minutes, I had an offer to pose nude, got five dates for the weekend and got punched in the mouth by a guy who looked like Pete Rose."
SERWER: That's pretty good.
HEMMER: They love you.
CAFFERTY: Yes, not bad.
HEMMER: What's coming up this weekend.
CAFFERTY: We do "IN THE MONEY." I almost forgot. Final business program. Are you better off today than you were four years ago? That was the question asked by former President Reagan in 1980. We're going to take a long look at this, just where we all stand, are we better off before Tuesday's election. And Mr. Zogby of the Zogby Polls will be our guest, one of the wiser guys in the polling business. Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00.
Soledad's into it.
SERWER: She's rocking to the in the money theme.
O'BRIEN: I'm loving your theme song.
SERWER: That is a tune.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: We're going to get to our "Extra Effort" segment now on this Friday morning. Scenarios USA, a national nonprofit organization that hosts writing contests for teenagers, this year a 16-year-old high school student from Brooklyn found just the right story to deliver a message to girls across the country.
Here's Deb Feyerick on that story this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The movie is about sex, and teenagers, and how confusing it can be growing up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You barely even know him. That's a big no, no (INAUDIBLE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whatever. OK, I really didn't want to, but I don't make him feel like he wasted his time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: The screen play that deals with unwanted pregnancy was cowritten by 16-year-old Chantel Woolridge.
CHANTEL WOOLRIDGE, 16-YEAR-OLD SCREENWRITER: I used experiences from other people to create the image and the character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where does love fit in?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: It began as a final project at Chantel's health class at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What it was, was having kids bring their reality into the classroom.
FEYERICK: After beating out 300 other high school essays, it will end as a short film, one being produced by Scenarios USA, a nonprofit company that connects students with bigtime filmmakers. Hollywood writer David Koepp directs the very collaborative effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have some thoughts, but I want to hear yours first.
WOOLRIDGE: I don't like it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
FEYERICK (on camera): You wrote "Spider-Man," "Jurassic Park," "Mission Impossible." What is it about these characters you found particularly compelling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the way Chantel had written them, because they seemed like people that really leapt off the page.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The story takes place in the subway, three friends dealing with boys, pregnancy, date rape, loneliness.
(on camera): Two of the characters, it's a really sad ending for them.
WOOLRIDGE: I just want it to be about mistakes. They do make mistakes, and you're going to have consequences, but you have to live with your consequences.
FEYERICK: The film, shot in two days, cost $25,000. Pretty much everyone donated their time.
DAVID KOEPP, DIRECTOR & WRITER: In Hollywood, we can be a pretty self-involved bunch, but this was just such a good idea and clearly something that might be helpful to people that everybody just said yes right away, uncomplainingly, for no money.
FEYERICK: Yes to a film that could help millions of teens understand they're not alone.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Good story. Thank you, Deborah.
"All Falls Down" makes its premiere here in New York, in fact, in the month of December. Looking forward to that -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up just in time for Halloween, listen to this, "CNN LIVE TODAY" has the top five tips on household horrors. It seems there could be some scary secrets lurking in your home, like bed bugs and black widow spiders.
We're going to find out how to get rid of them. That's coming in our next hour with Rick Sanchez and Daryn Kagan. I'm not making this stuff up. It's on "CNN LIVE TODAY."
We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Aaron Brown has got a preview now of what's coming up tonight on "NEWSNIGHT."
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Soledad.
Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," if you live in one of the battleground states, you know what it's like to be inundated with political ad after political ad after political ad. The rest of us will find out tonight on "NEWSNIGHT." We'll show you what it's like. That story plus all the day's top news, morning papers, a tabloid or two, it being Friday. And everything else that makes NEWSNIGHT NEWSNIGHT, CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, Aaron, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
