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Another Wave of Attacks in Iraqi Capital; President Bush and Senator John Kerry Face Off
Aired November 01, 2006 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
For the next three hours, watch events live on this Wednesday, November 1st.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Sorry always seems to be the hardest word. The flap over John Kerry's Iraq comments is not going away. The politics and the latest from Iraq straight ahead.
HARRIS: Ouch. Another smack down. It is rough out there on the campaign trail. We're live with the hottest races in the country. Ouch.
COLLINS: And parents, listen up -- new findings about the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
You are in THE NEWSROOM.
A new month, another wave of attacks in the Iraqi capital. Bombs and mortars have ripped through Baghdad today and dozens are dead and wounded. Add to that several bodies found dumped across the city.
Let's get the latest now from Baghdad and CNN's Aneesh Raman -- Aneesh, you know, yesterday, we saw Prime Minister Al-Maliki remove those curfews yesterday.
What are we seeing today in Sadr City specifically?
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've seen, Heidi, that order, in essence, take effect. The U.S. military confirming to CNN that all the temporary checkpoints that had been set up around Sadr City, which is where the U.S. military, for the past week, had concentrated efforts to try and find the abducted U.S. soldier that was taken on October 23rd, all of those checkpoints have been dismantled.
The permanent checkpoints around the city have also been opened up. What that means is for the past week they were checking every car. They're now allowing them to pass through.
This is, of course, welcome news to the over two million residents of Sadr City who on Monday, you'll recall, essentially staged a walk out. They emptied the streets. They closed the shops in defiance of what they said was the strangling of their daily life.
Muqtada al-Sadr, who is a hero in that area -- that is a bastion of his support -- who is also, we should mention, head of a strong Shia militia here, the Mahdi Militia -- had come out yesterday saying that if this, in his words, siege continued, other things would happen.
That was followed by the prime minister's startling announcement that by 5:00 p.m. yesterday all of these checkpoints had to be removed.
Now, it was a big of an issue in terms of who was commanding this. The U.S. military says they don't take command from civilians. It came down from their chain of command. We also heard from U.S. officials that they met with the prime minister before that announcement.
But all signs seem to indicate that Muqtada al-Sadr really was the driving force behind this. That is why today there were celebrations of victory in Sadr City. People proclaiming that they had triumphed over U.S. forces. It really has become a microcosm of the various power dynamics, both between Al-Maliki, who suffered criticism from Washington, felt that he was under threat, standing firm, making this order, and in doing so, showing his allegiance to Sadr, a man who, in essence, put the prime minister in power.
Meantime, the larger issue that Iraq confronts, as they do on a near daily basis, the violence did go on today throughout the capital. At least 10 people were killed, some 21 others wounded. The deadliest attack took place in eastern Baghdad. Just as a police patrol was passing by, a parked car detonated. That attack killed one police officer and four civilians -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And, quickly, Aneesh, before we let you go, this whole issue of the checkpoints began because of the missing U.S. soldier.
Do we have any sort of update on that?
RAMAN: Well, the military is saying simply that "aggressive operations are taking place" in a pretty large swathe of the capital area and outside of that, that they have actionable intelligence they are acting on as to the whereabouts of this missing soldier. We do expect, we should mention, a press conference tomorrow where we'll get an update from the military -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, so we'll be watching that.
Thank you so much.
Aneesh Raman live from Baghdad. HARRIS: Less than a week before the 2006 mid-term elections and it sounds a lot like the 2004 campaign. President Bush and Senator John Kerry facing off. At issue, Iraq and Kerry's controversial comments.
We get more from CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: voice-over): It was the fight the White House had been itching for -- a rematch between the president and his 2004 opponent, Senator John Kerry.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military on somehow uneducated is insulting. And it is shameful.
MALVEAUX: The president's attack on Kerry at this George fundraiser was the latest jab in a verbal brawl that began 24 hours earlier. The White House's poster boy for Democrats' weakness in the war on terror threw the first punch.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, you know, education, if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you -- you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.
MALVEAUX: Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, made those remarks to college students at a campaign stop in California Monday afternoon. The next morning, the White House's spokesman had talking points in hand, eager to pounce.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who have given their lives in this.
MALVEAUX: The rhetoric got even hotter when Republican Senate John McCain, a fellow Vietnam vet, weighed in.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The statement, in itself, is incredibly offensive.
MALVEAUX: The controversy exploded when it hit conservative blogs and talk show radio.
The White House and Republican candidates, having been pummeled for weeks for the failures in Iraq during much of the campaign season, saw an opening.
But a Kerry aide tells CNN the senator's prepared remarks were mangled, that he meant to say if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy, you end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq.
Kerry twice tried to explain himself, first in a written statement, addressing who he called Republican hacks and right-wing nut jobs, saying, "I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium or doughy talk show host Rush Limbaugh." Then, with a hastily called press conference.
KERRY: My statement yesterday -- and the White House knows this full well -- was a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops.
Let me make it crystal clear, as crystal clear as I know how. I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy.
MALVEAUX: After Kerry's comments, the White House stoked the controversy by releasing excerpts of how the president would respond 90 minutes later in his Georgia speech.
BUSH: The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave. And the senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
MALVEAUX: It was telling that Kerry was pretty much alone in defending himself throughout the day, Democrats quietly saying that they really wish Kerry had kept quiet on this one.
But late evening, Senator Chuck Schumer released a statement criticizing Bush for criticizing Kerry.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: Suzanne Malveaux, part of the best political team on television. For all of the latest political news, be sure to tune in tonight for a special expanded edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM." Join Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn at 7:00 p.m. Eastern all week.
And John Kerry will be Wolf's guest in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in our expanded two hour edition at 7:00 Eastern.
COLLINS: The gloves are off in the Virginia Senate race. And Republican incumbent George Allen's lead in the polls has evaporated.
CNN's Dana Bash reports now from the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Allen was preparing a 2008 run for the White House, thought his reelection to the Senate was in the bag. He doesn't anymore.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: Reach out to people. Reach out and let them know where we stand on issues that matter. BASH: Just a few months ago, the Virginia Republican held a double digit lead. That has vanished. Now he's at 46 percent; Democrat Jim Webb, 50 percent -- a statistical dead heat, according to CNN's new poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.
ALLEN: This fellow here, over here, with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is...
BASH: Most trace Allen's plummet in the polls to this August moment, what sounded like a racial slur aimed at a Webb aide. But Allen also suffers from more typical Republican troubles -- an unpopular war and disgust with Washington. He's trying to squeak out a victory by following a classic GOP playbook...
ALLEN: Marriage should be between one man and one woman.
BASH: ... rallying conservative voters with social issues like banning gay marriage, on the ballot in Virginia.
But Allen's opponent, Jim Webb, isn't your average liberal. Until recently, he was a Republican. In fact, he was Navy secretary under Ronald Reagan. Opposition to the war drove him to run-as a Democrat.
JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA SENATE CANDIDATE: George Allen is wrong on foreign policy. He's one of the reasons that we are in this disaster in Iraq.
BASH: In this intensely anti-incumbent environment, Webb's outsider persona and military credentials have serious appeal here. So Allen is trying to make Webb unpalatable to so-called value voters and women. Last week, Allen's campaign highlighted what it called disturbing, sexually graphic passages from several military novels Webb has written.
Now the senator talks about it non-stop.
ALLEN: My opponent says he's proud of being an author, a novelist. Those passages that were brought up, not just I -- just not me, but others have found them to be demeaning to women.
BASH: Webb responds by reading reviews of his own books.
WEBB: I have led a literary career and I'm very proud of it.
BASH: It's a campaign certainty -- the tighter the race, the closer election day, the nastier it all gets. And each guy blames the other for taking it into the gutter.
WEBB: In the last couple of weeks of your campaign, if the best you can do is to try to dissect your opponent's novels, you really don't have much to bring to the table, folks.
BASH (on camera): Virginia has a pretty deep North/South divide. This is northern Virginia, much more liberal than the rest of the state, and it has a growing population. That's why Democrats say if Jim Webb can do exceptionally well here, he can take the U.S. Senate seat.
Dana Bash, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: That race in Virginia becoming physical at one stop. A protester tried to approach Senator George Allen at a Charlottesville hotel.
CNN affiliate WVIR was there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM WVIR)
MIKE STARK, BLOGGER: Why are you putting your hands on me?
I'm asking my senator...
(CROSSTALK)
STARK: ... I'm the constituent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes?
STARK: He's my senator. I'm asking him a question...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on purpose on me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to need to leave now.
Get out the door.
Are you part of...
STARK: No, I'm not. No, I'm not at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's move on.
STARK: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey...
STARK: If (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, now you get...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're out of here.
Now you're getting personal. Now you're getting personal.
STARK: I didn't touch anybody, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to move on out of here now.
STARK: If the hotel asks me to leave, I'd leave. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you getting personal?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he?
STARK: What do you know? What do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know he's a good man.
STARK: I know you're a punk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: In a statement, Allen's campaign said the protester aggressively went after the senator. The protester is a law student at the University of Virginia. He tells the Associated Press he will press charges. Rough and tumble.
COLLINS: Wow!
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: You always (UNINTELLIGIBLE) though, because you just don't know who you're dealing with a lot of times because he had a backpack on. So you just...
HARRIS: Yes, you don't know.
COLLINS: ... you never know, you know?
HARRIS: You be careful, sure.
COLLINS: You've got to be careful.
All right, Chad Myers now in the Weather Center to give us an update on everything happening across the country -- what are looking at today, Chad?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: We're just getting started in THE NEWSROOM.
Coming up, Ohio already dealing with potential voting problems.
What will it mean come election day?
A closer look, straight ahead.
COLLINS: Halloween horror in Reno, Nevada. An historic hotel goes up in flames. Terrified residents yelling for help.
HARRIS: And safety concerns at Newark Liberty Airport after a pair of airplane mishaps.
Those stories and more ahead.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM, everybody.
In the aftermath of that deadly wildfire in Southern California, a man described as a person of interest is now in custody. He was arrested on unrelated charges yesterday, just one day after the huge fire was fully contained. It scorched more than 40,000 acres. Dozens of homes and other buildings were destroyed.
Authorities say the cause was arson. The man in custody faces arson charges in connection with a June wildfire. As authorities investigate this latest fire, they are mourning the death of a fifth firefighter. Pablo Cerda died yesterday.
HARRIS: And no word yet on the cause of a deadly fire at a historic hotel in Reno, Nevada. The blaze killed at least one person and injured more than 30 others. The hotel, built in 1922, is in the city's downtown casino district. Officials say when firefighters arrived, people were hanging out of windows and yelling for help. Several escaped through second floor windows. Dozens of people live in that building.
COLLINS: Ohio was a key state in the 2004 presidential election. The state is in the spotlight again this election year.
At issue, concerns about confusion at the polls.
CNN's Kelli Arena explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's only a week to go before the election and here in Ohio, people are confused -- not about the candidates, but the actual voting process.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
ARENA: Election officials appeared on a Cleveland TV show, where they fielded voter questions, and the switchboard lit up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stuff about whether they need to have a driver's license, whether the driver's license has to have their current address on it.
ARENA: Ohio has a new law that says voters have to bring I.D. to the polls. The critics say it's too complex and it's being applied differently from county to county.
NORMAN ROBBINS, GREATER CLEVELAND VOTER COALITION: It will be people who move a lot, so their registration has to be updated. There will be problems with the updating.
Who moves a lot?
Census data tells us youth, low-income people and minorities. ARENA: The young, the poor, minorities, they all tend to vote Democratic, and that makes the new law politically controversial. Inevitably, lawyers are involved challenging the I.D. law in court. A ruling could come as early as today, but with just six days left before the polls open, time is running out.
CANDICE HOKE, CENTER FOR ELECTION INTEGRITY: Poll workers have to have possibly retraining, new materials. We don't know what the standards are for election day right now. But certainly the law that we have is confused. So something has to happen.
ARENA: And that from the woman appointed by Cuyahoga County, Ohio's most populous, to monitor the elections.
What about those electronic voting machines we've heard so much about?
Well all of Ohio's counties now have them. And poll workers in some places couldn't get them to work during the primaries in May.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I seen you done this...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the last election.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My numbers are screwy.
ARENA: There's a lot more training this time around.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, like I said, there's many different ways.
ARENA: Poll workers are more confident.
BARBARA SIMMONS, POLL WORKER: We'll get through it. We'll make it.
ARENA: Michael Vu, who runs Cuyahoga County's Board of Elections, insists that he's optimistic.
MICHAEL VU, DIRECTOR, CUYAHOGA COUNTY ELECTION BOARD: We have a plan in place to making sure that things go -- run-smoothly.
ARENA: Whatever happens, a lot of people will be watching -- state officials, independent observers, even citizens' groups.
SHARON LETTMAN, PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: We're not going to leave it up just to the government to do their part. We're citizen advocates and we're advocating for democracy.
ARENA (on camera): And, of course, both political parties have lawyers ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Cleveland, Ohio.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: For all the latest political news, be sure to tune in tonight for a special expanded edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM." Join Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn at 7:00 p.m. Eastern all week.
New concerns about old-fashioned voter fraud -- dead people registered to vote.
Will it have an impact in tight races?
we'll take a closer look at that ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And we are Minding Your Business this morning.
Andy Serwer here with a preview -- Andy, good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Tony.
I'm going to tell you about a retailer that wants to turn a Latin superstar into the next Martha Stewart.
I'll tell you about that coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Kohl's is trying to tap into the Hispanic market.
Who isn't these days?
Andy Serwer Minding Your Business -- Andy, good morning.
SERWER: good morning, Tony.
And you're right. I mean, we hear about the power of the Hispanic market in the United States. It continues to grow in disposable income.
And how are mainstream American companies learning to connect with this audience?
Increasingly that is being done. And now Kohl's has tapped Christina, who is a talk show host and a superstar in the Hispanic market...
HARRIS: Yes.
SERWER: ... to come out with a line of bedding and towel. And it will be in 220 stores this month and then mostly in areas in the United States with high Latin populations. And then all across the country later next year.
And, you know, as I suggested, this is sort of like trying to create a Latina Martha Stewart.
No? HARRIS: That's smart. No, it sounds -- it sounds very smart. I mean it's a hugely popular show. No doubt about it. But, you know, we're always talking about demographics around here.
So what kind of an audience is she actually getting?
SERWER: Well, it's almost as big as your show, Tony. A hundred million people worldwide watch her show, which is staggering. It's a little bit bigger than you. OK.
COLLINS: Yes.
(INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's a projection, is what it is.
COLLINS: Come on, Serwer.
HARRIS: It's a projection.
SERWER: Yes. And she's 58 years old. This is her 17th season, one of the most popular shows on Univision, and, you know, broadcast all over the world. So she is a biggie.
HARRIS: Hey, let's turn this corner here.
Match.com is out with, we understand, a new service to help make online dating a bit easier.
SERWER: Yes, and, you know, I'm not so familiar with online dating, because I've been married for quite a while now. But apparently this is the way young people get together.
No.
Of course, online dating is, you know, a huge business and it's hugely popular and it really, really works. I mean you ask people who hooked up this way. But, you know, it's still kind of depersonalized.
Now, Match.com has a new wrinkle here to make it a little more personal. What they will allow you to do is speak to a potential date by telephone. And you can do this securely and confidentially.
Basically what happens is you connect through Match.com's telephone system. And if you have caller I.D. the number would just say Match.com. So then you could talk to the person. The person might look good, you know, on their Web page and their specs, but then when you talk to them it's like gee, this person is kind of a dope or, you know, he's much too intelligent sounding for me or this person sounds just right, even.
HARRIS: Yes.
SERWER: So it's kind of a new thing. It'll be interesting to see how it works out. HARRIS: So, Andy, congratulations on the new gig.
SERWER: Oh, thank you very much, Tony.
Yes.
HARRIS: "Fortune" magazine.
Tell folks about it just a bit, because it's great for you.
SERWER: I will.
Thank you.
Yes. I was just named managing editor of "Fortune" magazine, which is basically the editor in charge of the magazine.
HARRIS: How about that?
SERWER: Thank you very much.
HARRIS: So you're running the magazine?
SERWER: Yes, that's correct.
And...
COLLINS: Excellent.
SERWER: Thank you.
It's very, very exciting. It's a big challenge and it's -- I'm really thrilled.
So, thank you guys for bringing it up.
HARRIS: But you stay in the family, correct?
SERWER: I'm going to continue to do some CNN stuff and work with you all. I love being here and we'll just have to see how it all shakes out.
HARRIS: Outstanding. Outstanding.
SERWER: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: It's a great '06 for you.
SERWER: That's really nice of you.
HARRIS: Yes, yes. Absolutely.
COLLINS: Good on Henry for that one there, Andy.
SERWER: Yes, our friend Henry.
COLLINS: They share the same agent.
SERWER: We'll have to talk to him about it.
HARRIS: Oh, she is -- all right, Andy, thank you.
COLLINS: All right.
SERWER: Thank you, both.
Bye-bye.
HARRIS: Congratulations.
COLLINS: A really scary Halloween -- gunfire erupts during a massive party in San Francisco. The latest on the search for suspects and a motive.
That's coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
And busted -- authorities round up suspects in a massive illegal immigration smuggling ring. We'll have that story right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: Dozens dead and wounded as a new month seems to usher in old problems in Iraq. Bombs and mortars have exploded across Baghdad today. At least 10 people are dead and 21 wounded. Also today, police have found at least 10 unidentified bodies scattered around the capital. Meanwhile, here's a glimpse of the celebrations that erupted yesterday in the Baghdad slum Sadr City. Supporters of a radical cleric waved guns and honked their car horns after Iraq's prime minister ordered U.S. and Iraqi troops to open several checkpoints. The security crackdown was implemented last week after the abduction of a U.S. soldier. Working to root out insurgents, U.S. and Iraqi forces making a new push into Baghdad's most dangerous areas.
CNN's John Roberts joined them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The streets of Baghdad ran bloody. A car bombing, this time as a wedding party was passing by. The carnage, 15 dead, including four children. Tragically, scenes like this have become part of the daily traffic report in Baghdad. A place where it seems there is no end to the death and no shortage of ways to die. The U.S. military has launched a new push into Baghdad's troubled neighborhoods working hand in hand with newly minted Iraqi troops to root out illegal weapons and the insurgents and militia members who would use them.
SGT. BRANDON GRAY, U.S. MILITARY: They're definitely the key and the biggest thing is the people -- they trust them. They trust the Iraqi army. I have been in numerous houses and I always ask them, are you ready for the Iraqi army to take control and yes, they are. They all trust them.
ROBERTS: The work is exhausting, searching hundreds of homes, going door to door, breaking down some. Never knowing if their next step could be their last.
(on-camera): A sergeant from this battalion was killed on Monday during a very similar clearing operation. He was leading the search of the house. There were children at home at the time when suddenly a man appeared with an AK-47 and opened fire. The sergeant went down. The man was killed by the rest of the patrol. The sergeant was only a few weeks away from going home.
(voice-over): Why was he shot -- his colleagues just don't know. But they carry on the mission. Another deadly reminder of Baghdad's dangers etched in their minds.
CAPT. TIM SAWYER, U.S. MILITARY: Makes them think. Makes them maintain their discipline and standards.
ROBERTS: Working these streets is tough enough. But what makes these soldiers furious is when they come up against Baghdad's tangled web of politics. It happened again when Iraq's prime minister ordered checkpoints around the Mehdi militia stronghold of Sadr City taken down. The U.S. Army had the area blocked off searching for a kidnapped soldier. Residents in the Mehdi militia opened the celebration of the checkpoints as a victory over the U.S. military. Despite their efforts to rein in the violence, American forces seem powerless to stop it. A car bombing here. A victim of militia death squads there. Another day on Baghdad streets and the body count continues to climb.
John Roberts, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Get a fresh perspective on the day's top stories from Anderson Cooper. Join "AC 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Newark's Liberty Airport. You hear about this last night?
COLLINS: I did.
HARRIS: The scene of a pair of airplane mishaps. This Lufthansa flight was leaving the terminal last night bound for Germany. It clipped wings with a Continental plane being towed away for service. No injuries there but all 291 passengers had to find another ride.
Meanwhile, the FAA is investigating a mistake in the landing that happened Saturday night. A Continental flight from Orlando landed on the taxiway instead of the runway. Luckily are the taxiway was empty at the time.
COLLINS: Talk about a tossup. A congressional race in Wisconsin is a statistical tie less than a week before the election. The race is also seen as a vote for or against President Bush.
Details from CNN's Jonathan Freed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wisconsin's Eighth Congressional District has a diverse landscape for manufacturing to farming in the northeast part of the state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you, sir?
FREED: It's a tight race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Need all of your help.
FREED: A tossup, and an open seat now in GOP hands. That has political watchers saying the vote here will also be a referendum on the Bush presidency. The Republican candidate -- John Gard.
UNIDENITFIED MALE: You are the guy we need to Washington.
FREED: A 19-year veteran of state politics and Wisconsin house speaker running for federal office for the first time. The Democrat, Steve Kagen, a local allergy doctor who has put more than $2 million of his own money into the race. The seat is targeted by both the Republican and Democratic national committees because it could help tip the balance of power in Congress.
(on-camera): How would you describe the tone of this race so far?
JOHN GARD, REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: You know, it's been highly spirited. But, you know, politics is not a spectator sport. It's a -- you want to evoke a certain amount of passion.
FREED: Indeed, this usually political reserve district is being bombarded with attack ads from both sides. Kagen going after Gard's record.
ANNOUNCER: He voted to raise his own pay and raise your taxes. Now he denies it.
FREED: The GOP trying to label the Democrat doctor millionaire.
ANNOUNCER: Here's millionaire Steve Kagen's tax plan. Higher taxes for married couples. Higher taxes on people with children.
FREED (on-camera): How do you feel they've been trying to define you and how have you been dealing with that?
STEVE KAGEN, DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Well, I would say it this way, that he is definitely an insider. He's a career and professional politician.
FREED: Regardless of how they try to define each other, Green Bay political scientist Michael Craft says the candidates have already clearly defined themselves on issues like immigration reform and the Iraq war.
MICHAEL KRAFT, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PROFESSOR: The conservative Republican is very strongly pro-Bush. The liberal Democrat is not. And in that sense, you can read into the election results that the winner is -- reflects public sentiment toward Bush or against Bush.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Jonathan Freed joining us live now from Green Bay. Jonathan, you know it's always interesting to look at some of the local polling that's done during races like this. I know (INAUDIBLE) the university just did a new one over the last couple of days. What are they showing in those polls?
FREED: Well, Heidi, we're talking about a poll that happened here from St. Norburg College. It's a dead heat coming down to 43-43, with 10 percent undecided. They surveyed about 400 voters last week and this has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent. So, clearly when it's a dead heat, it is definitely within the margin of error. So, this race could not get any closer.
COLLINS: And that undecided, usually the percentage is a little larger so then you end up going after those who are undecided. But it's only 10 percent. What about voter turnout, is it going to be big in that part of the country?
FREED: Well, traditionally here in Wisconsin, voter turnout in a midterm election is higher than it is in many other parts of the country. And the political observers here are saying that that's going to add to the excitement. This race being as close as it is, that higher turnout is just going to ratchet things up come Election Day. Heidi?
COLLINS: The only problem there, Wisconsin, Packers fans, not Vikings.
FREED: What are you, that is outrageous.
COLLINS: Alright, Jonathan Freed, thank you very much. We'll be watching this closely.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, CNN primetime next Tuesday night beginning at 7:00, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn and Lou Dobbs lead the best political team on television as your votes are counted. We'll have the races and the results Tuesday night beginning at 7:00 Eastern. Then CNN's election night coverage continues with a special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE" at midnight Eastern. Hear from winners and losers across the country plus expert analysis from the best political team on television.
HARRIS: New concerns about old-fashioned voter fraud. Dead people registered to vote. Will it have an impact in tight races? A closer look ahead.
COLLINS: A stupid stunt or a display of First Amendment rights? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry for anyone that's been upset by this. I certainly didn't mean that. It is Halloween. There should be a sense of free speech.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: But plenty of people who thought they saw a gun-toting Osama bin Laden were upset, including the police. We've got the full story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Gunfire breaks out as a massive Halloween party break up. Police in San Francisco say at least 10 people were shot. Thousands of revelers had gathered for the annual street party in the city's Castro District. Police were trying to enforce a new 11:00 p.m. curfew when the shooting started. One victim is listed in critical condition this morning. So far, no arrests and no word on a motive.
HARRIS: This year, tight races can turn on almost anything. That's why there is so much concern over electronic voting fraud. But in New York, they are also concerned with a more low-tech type of voter fraud.
CNN's Mary Snow takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a suspicion that's haunted elections past, but could the names of dead people potentially be used in present elections? That's a question posed by the "Poughkeepsie Journal of New York." It did its own analysis of the state's new database of 11 million-plus registered voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found that in New York State, in its voter registration database, there were as many as 77,000 people who were deceased but were still registered to vote.
SNOW: Reporter John Farrow says, make no mistake, the analysis is not an exact science, and he did not find any fraud, but says his investigation points to the possibility of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our report quantifies, if you will, or gives an estimate for the first time of a potential for fraud involving deceased registered voters in this brand new database.
SNOW: That database is only three months old. A spokesman for the Board of Elections was unable to appear on camera for an interview, but told us he was concerned by the paper's results. He added that the board will complete its own analysis by May of 2007.
Doug Chapin of the nonpartisian group electionline.org, says he's not all that surprised by the findings. DOUG CHAPIN, DIR., ELECTIONLINE.ORG: It's worth looking carefully at, but I don't think all 77,000 of those people are going to rise from the dead and descend on the polls on Election Day.
SNOW: Chapin says suspicions about dead people voting are nothing new, and it swirled in Chicago following the election of John F. Kennedy. Chapin says, more often than not, it's more fiction than fact.
CHAPIN: When you hear stories about perhaps in the 1960 election whether or not there were some dead voters who turned out to vote on Election Day, rarely proven, often repeated.
SNOW: And it's being repeated again in an election year, where so many tight races, where everything is coming under scrutiny. To illustrate the point that every vote counts, analysts look to the 2004 governor's race in Washington State that had two recounts. Democrat Christine Gregoire was ultimately named the winner with a 133-vote victory.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Busted -- authorities round up suspects in a massive illegal immigration smuggling ring. That story straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A health scare that hit much of the eastern United States appears to be over. That according to federal health officials investigating a salmonella outbreak. More than 170 people were sickened in some 19 states. Health officials still are not sure where the bacteria came from. Salmonella causes flu-like symptoms that can last two or three days.
HARRIS: Have you seen anything on this? A massive illegal immigrant smuggling ring now busted. Police call it one of the most violent and ruthless operations they have ever seen.
CNN's Casey Wian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About 60 miles north of the Mexican border is Bowie, Arizona. Until this week, the tiny town was the center of a giant illegal alien smuggling ring.
ALONZO PENA, ICE SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE: It's one of the most ruthless and longstanding smuggling organizations operated in eastern Arizona.
WIAN: Nine federal, state and local law enforcement agencies raided dozens of area buildings, using a Black Hawk helicopter and 175 agents on the ground. They nabbed 44 suspected members of the Juarez alien smuggling ring named after the family authorities say ran the violent operation for three generations, terrorizing the local community.
SHERIFF LARRY DEVER, COCHISE COUNTY, ARIZONA: We have numerous reports of beatings, physical assaults, shootings, as well as homicides that we have not been able to solve because of the fear.
WIAN: Authorities say the 728-count indictment is unique because it charges alleged smuggling ring operatives from top to bottom, including leaders, enforcers, guides, drivers and money handlers. Eleven fugitives remain at large, including at least five Mexican nationals. But most alleged ring members are U.S. citizens.
JOHN LEWIS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE: The organization also recruited and paid young women who were legal residents or legal residents to smuggle the infants of illegal aliens through the ports of entry while their mothers and/or fathers were smuggled on foot through the desert.
WIAN: Authorities say smugglers often held children for ransom until debts were paid, and they say the smuggling ring made money from nearly every U.S. state. Most of the illegal aliens came from Mexico, others from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. But the FBI says alien smuggling groups like the Juarez ring present many issues, including clandestine terrorist travel.
WIAN (on camera): Suspects face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of alien smuggling.
Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The world's most wanted terrorist hanging out on a highway in Maine? No, not really, but it sure look that way to drivers who saw this man yesterday. They called police who nabbed him. Turned out to be Tom Conley, a well-known local lawyer dressed as Osama bin Laden. Police say he was packing a sign supporting TABR -- that's taxpayer bill of rights, along with plastic dynamite and more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BERRY, SOUTH PORTALND, MAINE POLICE: They found a person holding what appeared to be an AK-47. The officers ordered him to drop the weapon and lie on the ground. He still walked toward the officers, dropping what appeared to be hand grenades on to the roadway. He finally complied with the request of the officers and laid the weapon down, laid down on the ground himself, and he was subsequently arrested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The police chief said the whole stunt just crossed the line. But Connolly says it's all about free speech, and that he'll plead not guilty when he goes to court in December. HARRIS: Looking for middle ground in Missouri.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats went so far to the left, then we started -- or I started to vote much more Republican and so on. And now it's just to me the pendulum has kind of swung past me going the other way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: CNN's Candy Crowley has the story from the Show Me State in the NEWSROOM.
And, you knwo it's not all business in the White House press briefings, especially on Halloween.
COLLINS: Those things are gross if that's the candy I'm thinking about.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, it is.
That story when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Bob barker, sit on down? That's kind of tough to say, isn't it?
COLLINS: yes.
HARRIS: Well, it's the truth here. The venerable TV host says he'll retire from "The Price is Right" after 35 years. It is the longest running game show in the U.S. But Barker has been on the tube even longer, Heidi. The 82-year-old host launched his national tv career in 1956 with the show, do you remember, do you remember?
COLLINS: "Truth or Consequences."
HARRIS: That's it.
Barker says, in June, he'll break from his current schedule taping five shows a week. CBS, however, says the show will go on.
COLLINS: So who says the White House press corps has no sense of humor?
Well, CNN's Jeanne Moos was keeping an eye on a Halloween prank that took center stage at Tony Snow's Tuesday briefing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Better dust off the White House podium in time for the briefing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two-minute warning for the briefing. Two- minute warning for the briefing.
MOOS: Apparently the guy dusting missed a few rather large specks. Moments later, spokesman Tony Snow was in the middle of an answer about North Korea when something caught his eye.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: But it would not have been possible for the additional unity and...
I just saw these.
MOOS: All eyes on the podium, and we do mean, all eyes.
SNOW: I'm sorry, I just saw these. Here I am talking about war and peace and I'm looking at these things.
MOOS: It was that wacky White House Press Corps' idea of a Halloween joke. At least no one was harmed in the commission of this prank, unlike the eye-plucking scene from "Kill Bill II".
But who planted the mystery White House eyeballs? Was it the mascaraed NBC correspondent, or the CNN correspondent? Or Helen Thomas to blame? Sure looked like her eyeballs were bothering her.
A clue perhaps? There was a matching eyeballs attached to one of the cameras in the back. It turns out someone was handing out eyeballs. Edible eyeballs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they really?
MOOS: Finger-lickin' eyeballs, bought in bulk from Costco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not bad.
MOOS: But CNN's Ed Henry didn't plant the mystery eyeballs. The real culprit, a TV crew member, was caught on tape retrieving them from the podium after the briefing. We've concealed his identity to protect the guilty. After all, the press is supposed to keep an eye on the White House, an eye or two.
SNOW: OK, I'll eat this eyeball.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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