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Missing Soldier In Iraq; Civilian Targets; Attack Ads; Excess Amidst Poverty; Top Tips
Aired November 02, 2006 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Thursday, November 2nd and you are in the NEWSROOM.
The U.S. ratchets up its search for a missing American soldier in Iraq. Earlier this morning, the U.S. military identified the Iraqi- American who vanished a week and a half ago and they confirmed suspicions that he was kidnapped while visiting his Iraqi wife. Let's get the latest from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.
Well, the U.S. military, for the first time, really publicly offering some details about this incident. Publicly identifying this U.S. army soldier as Ahmed Qusai al-Taai, 41 years old, moved to the United States as a teenager, is an Iraqi-American. He went missing back on October 23rd. They are now confirming that he apparently left his base in Baghdad and went out in the city to visit his Iraqi wife. According to the details provided at the briefing this morning, it is alleged that he was kidnapped. He was at a relative's home. Three cars pulled up to this house and he was taken away.
General Caldwell, who conducted the briefing this morning, offered some details about the efforts to find him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: Iraqi security forces and coalition troops are working around the clock to return him to safety and to return him back to his family and also to catch the perpetrators of this crime. Search operations are based on actionable intelligence and there has been a particular focus in areas east of the Tigress River. Elements of five brigade combat teams, more than 2,000 coalition forces and more than 1,000 Iraqi security forces are directly involved in this search operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Tony, the general went on to say that they have conducted 37 missions with specific intelligence to try and find the soldier. They have received over 200 tips. But the hunt does go on. General Caldwell offering one, perhaps, mysterious remark, saying that there is a, "ongoing dialogue" with some parties in Iraq -- he would not say who -- to try and find the soldier. Tony.
HARRIS: Barbara, just a couple quick questions.
Was this an authorized or unauthorized visit by the soldier?
STARR: Clearly not authorized. To the best of our knowledge, to the best of the information we have been able to gather, because he apparently left the base pretty much on his own and, of course, U.S. military troops do not do that. When they go out into the city, when they go outside a secure area, there are multiple troops and multiple vehicles, specifically because of the danger.
HARRIS: Yes. And, Barbara, one other quick question. Why did the U.S. take down some of these checkpoints in Sadr City? My understanding was is that part of the reason they were set up was to try to help in monitoring flow in and out of that area to help find this soldier.
STARR: Right. That had been the case for many days. But Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had received an awful lot of complaints. People were not able to move around freely. It was causing, obviously, some very bad feelings in that part of Baghdad. And let's make no mistake, that is an area where Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi army militia are very strong and very active and they had pressured for those checkpoints to come down to some extent. So the U.S. reached an agreement with the government that some of those checkpoints would come down. They're doing, they say, the best they can to still try and monitor the situation and look for him.
HARRIS: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, thank you.
STARR: Sure.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's shift the spotlight now from the troops in Iraq to the armies of civilian workers. They may not wear uniforms, but they certainly wear bull's-eyes as targets of the insurgents. CNN's Aneesh Raman takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): For contractors in Iraq, any day could turn into this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God damn! IED on the left side. Two IEDs. Gunfire.
RAMAN: The chaotic scenes of an insurgent ambush. This video from last year shows an American truck driver being shot at. The man filming survived. Three of his colleagues did not.
It is, for private companies, the human cost of rebuilding Iraq. A cost one of the biggest Bechtel knows all too well. In the past three years, Bechtel had two government contracts worth $2.3 billion, completing the company, says, 97 of the 99 projects it was tasked with. But Bechtel, like many other contractors here, has seen a good number of those projects, ranging from electricity to water plants, sabotaged by insurgents, crippled by lack of security and has seen 52 of its employees, mainly Iraqi subcontractors, killed.
LT. GEN. CARL STROCK, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: We are facing a battle as we build these projects, and so they are not as efficient as you might find a construction project in Memphis, Tennessee. People are actually shooting at you, they're intimidating the workers we have working for us.
RAMAN: In 2003, the U.S. Congress budgeted $18.4 billion to reconstruct Iraq. The lieutenant general says most of the projects budgeted 10 percent for security. And while in some parts they are using less than that, elsewhere security is costing 40 percent. Factor in spiraling sectarian violence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just killed him.
RAMAN: And rebuilding Iraq is, these days, more difficult than ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Aneesh Raman joining us now live from Baghdad.
And, Aneesh, I know that Bechtel was involved in many of these civilian contracts. One of the projects that they worked on was the state of the art children's hospital. Have they been able to complete that?
RAMAN: Yes, at the moment, no. It's come under increasing fire as audits have taken place. Last year Bechtel, commissioned by U.S. AID to build a state of the art children hospital in the southern city of Basra. It was a pet project of the first lady. The initial cost that was suggested, $50 million. It was supposed to get done by the end of last year. By summer of this year, it was suspended because of security concerns and because the cost had been raise to $98 million.
So Bechtel this week ending the second of its two contracts. That has to still be figured out. It's on hold essentially now. And even among those 97 projects they say they finished, there's a lot of regression in some of them, attacks by insurgents, crippling of the workforce. So huge issues that they're contending with in the parts where violence has gripped this country.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Aneesh, any idea of whether or not they will try to contract that particular project out to someone else by way of sort of trying to fulfill their duty to get that project done?
RAMAN: Well, it's still up in the air. At some level it will be up to the U.S. AID that was backing that project. It's one of many that is being looked at. And when we talk of that $18.4 billion allocated by the U.S. Congress, that had to be spent or allocated to companies by September of this year.
So as we go forward, any money that then gets added on has to be drummed up from foreign investment, from U.S. or other countries that invest here. And the U.S. oversight that existed to a large degree before doesn't exist as much now. The money that comes is under the oversight of Iraqi ministries and many of them are still getting their feet wet and getting their ministries, you know, getting themselves in order, let alone massive reconstruction projects.
Heidi
COLLINS: All right. Aneesh Raman live from Baghdad today.
Aneesh, thank you.
HARRIS: Attack ads getting a lot of air play this campaign season and you may play a role. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Allen, distracted by scandals.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're everywhere. Cluttering TV screens from coast to coast. People may hate them, but it's only getting worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bob Corker lives in a fatty (ph) room mansion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Claire McCaskill, a career of deception.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brown even voted against the death penalty for terrorists who killed passengers on trains and subways.
COOPER: In 1998, $650 million was spent on campaign ads. In 2002, that number jumped to $996 million. This year's tally, $1.8 billion and climbing. And look at how the congressional campaign committees are spending their money. Ninety-one percent of Republican commercials are negative, so are 81 percent of Democratic commercials.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lies, distortions and half truths.
COOPER: The dirty little secret is that attack ads work and we help.
KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON, ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION: The most powerful attacks are those in which the audience helps create the message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight, nine.
COOPER: Take the most famous political ad of all time, run in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson against his challenger Barry Goldwater (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, three, two, one, zero. COOPER: That ad tapped into public concern that Goldwater would be trigger happy with nuclear weapons.
JAMIESON: One of the most powerful effects of ads isn't persuasion, it's reinforcement. An effective ad takes something you already believe and deepens that belief.
COOPER: George W. Bush ran this ad against John Kerry two years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry voted for the Iraq War, opposed it, supported it, and now opposes it again.
COOPER: It reinforced a growing perception then that the Massachusetts senator was a flip-flopper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry, whichever way the wind blows.
COOPER: Some ads play into a powerful emotion -- fear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people want to kill us.
COOPER: Other ads hit the fear factor more suddenly, using pictures and music.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dole attacks Clinton. Hold it. President Clinton cuts taxes for millions of working families.
COOPER: The fact is, people remember attack ads more than upbeat ones because they hit you in the gut and the media covers them like news events.
Remember Lyndon Johnson's daisy ad? Well, guess what, it only ran once but reporters saw it and wrote about it a lot.
JAMISON: Ads that wouldn't have had any real impact on their own get their impact out of news.
COOPER: It is a vicious cycle of nastiness.
SEN. MIKE DEWINE, (R) OHIO: I'm Mike DeWine.
REP. HAROLD FORD JR., (D) TENNESSEE: I'm Harold Ford Jr.
PETE RICKETTS, (R) CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Pete Ricketts and I approved this message.
COOPER: And there is no end in sight.
Anderson Cooper, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: For the latest, breaking political news, check for updates throughout the day on the CNN Political Ticker at cnn.com. COLLINS: And be sure to tune in every night until the election for a special extended edition of "The Situation Room." Join Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn at 7:00 p.m. Eastern all week.
Hey, right now we want to take you straight to Philadelphia. We have been able to confirm here through the Philadelphia Fire Department that we've been talking to at CNN, a three-alarm fire where you see all of those people working on it, trying to put it out. There's an elementary school nearby this building which has been evacuated. So nobody has been hurt. Nobody trapped. Apparently there were some reports of that a little bit earlier in the area. Not true according to the Philadelphia Fire Department. So we are watching this. Originally this call came in about 7:45. So they have been working on it for a while. We will continue to watch how that plays out today.
Back to politics in the meantime. If Democrats ruled Congress, a Republican horror movie that could true? We'll look at some possible scenarios ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Also, you can't win if you don't vote. One man's quest to get voters to the polling stations $1 million at a time.
COLLINS: And a Republican running for his political life and running away from the president. That story ahead.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Straight back to Philadelphia now. This is a three- alarm fire that all of those fire crews are working so hard to control. It looks like a lot of smoke now, which is clearly a good sign. A lot water being poured on it. But, again, a three-alarm fire there. The building has been evacuated, along with a nearby elementary school that's been evacuated just to be safe. But at this point, no injuries on the scene. We'll continue to watch it for you.
You know, watching somebody else's wedding video can be sort of boring, but a 10-minute clip posted online is causing an uproar in the destitute nation of Myanmar. It shows an outrageously lavish wedding thrown by the country's leader for his daughter. The gifts alone were reportedly valued at almost three times the country's entire health budget. CNN's Dan Rivers has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): This is a video Myanmar's military elite doesn't want you to see. Obtained exclusively for CNN, it shows Than Shwe, the man who rules the country with iron resolve, celebrating his daughter's wedding. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by a series of brutal generals since 1962.
But intimate footage like this of the powerful inner circle of Than Shwe is rare. The largest of the wedding is staggering. Than Shwe's daughter is adorned with hundreds of diamonds. And afterwards received incredible gifts of jewelry, lavish luxury in a country which according to the U.N. spends less per person on health care than any other nation on earth.
LARRY JAGAN, MYANMAR EXPERT: The daughter, obviously with those diamonds, millions and millions of dollars, unbelievable. The presents that she was getting, the emeralds, again, we're looking at millions of dollars. And this is in a country where two out of five children under the age of five are severely malnourished.
RIVERS: CNN asked Myanmar officials in Yangon and the U.N. for their response, but the requests were ignored.
This is the town of Tachilek. I slipped across the border from Thailand to ask people about daily life here. Most are too scared to talk. But one brave man makes this plea to the west.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need your help because we are not free. We have no free speech.
RIVERS: What's sickening is the contrast between the military regime and ordinary people here on the streets. They live in a repressed, totalitarian state where the army can do anything it likes.
Further inside Myanmar, hidden from the world's gaze, things are even worse. This video was shot by the Preshia (ph) Group to free Burma rangers. They say it shows government groups orchestrating the forced labor of hundreds of current tribes people. Some have horrific stories.
This old woman says her son and son-in-law were killed by the regime. "My life is finished," she says.
While the people suffer, the generals are building a shining new capital, Napidor (ph), in the middle of the jungle. Foreign reporters aren't allowed here, but this secretly filmed footage shows the new city taking shape. These modern, new apartments are not for ordinary people, though, but for those that rule with uncompromising brutality.
The democratically elect leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for almost 11 of the last 17 years. Her party won the 1990 election, but it was nullified by the military. The passive resistance of the regimes earned her a Nobel Peace Prize.
The Hunta (ph) says it's planning a return to democracy, citing its constitutional convention that's been meeting sporadically for 13 years. The release of Aung San Suu Kyi, they say, depends on her behavior.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, SPOKESMAN FOR KYAW HSAN, INFORMATION MINISTER: She will be continue to be restricted or not depends on her act and her views and on . . .
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On herself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For behavior in her ex (ph). RIVERS: Her house is off limits to reporters. She's cut off from the outside world. Her home, in effect, a leafy, suburban prison. Detained by an elite which, if this video is anything to go by, seems to be amassing enormous wealth at the expense of its long- suffering people.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Tachilek, Myanmar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: New trouble brewing in Lebanon. Why the U.S. is warning regional powers to keep their hands off the Lebanese government and what Hezbollah wants to do with it.
And the politics of attack ads and who's behind some of the most negative spots. CNN investigates.
HARRIS: Oh, we're going to spend some time with Gerri Willis this morning.
Gerri, received that property tax bill. Shocking. Help, please.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely.
Hey, Tony, good to see you.
Who says their property taxes are too low? Nobody. We'll tell you what you can do to ease your burden. That's next on "Top Tips."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: One more check of the Dow. There we are, 33 -- whoa, went below the 12,000 mark.
HARRIS: No, no, no, no.
COLLINS: It's early, though. Such the eternal optimist from here.
HARRIS: There you go.
COLLINS: So we're going to continue to watch that for you and find out maybe if there's any reason why that might be happening so early out of the gate.
HARRIS: So, death and taxes, the two certainties of life. But that doesn't mean you're powerless. In today's "Top Tips," CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis shows you how you can trim your property taxes. She joins us from New York.
Gerri, good morning.
WILLIS: Hey, good morning, Tony. Good to see you.
HARRIS: Help. Help us, please. WILLIS: Well, look, you've got to use your power, Tony. If your taxes are too high, you should know at least 15 states have passed property tax reform because citizens took matters into their own hands. Now you may be able to circulate petitions to put tax limits to a public vote. Go to the initiative and referendum institute, see what the laws are in your state. That website, iandrinstitute.org.
Now most states will let you organize political action committees so you can get your issues heard. For the lowdown on how to start a group, we're really taking everything into our own hands here, go to the National Tax Payers Union website at ntu.org.
HARRIS: Yes, that sounds like an awful lot of work there, Gerri. Who's really successful here in doing this the way you suggest?
WILLIS: Well, you know, it's not easy. It would take a lot of work. But you should know this. In Tennessee on Tuesday, voters are considering a proposal that would allow them to approve each and every property tax increase. And in Maine, citizen initiatives on the ballot this year will make it harder to raise taxes if passed. So people are successful at this, Tony.
HARRIS: But what if politics -- you just don't like the process? What do you do then?
WILLIS: Well, if you can't invest a ton of time, there are steps you can take as an individual homeowner. To cut your tax bill, you have to prove that your home is worth less than city hall thinks it is, OK? So tip number two here, find the warts. Get your records at the local assessor's office and comb through that report for any errors. Maybe the assessment listed more bedrooms than you have or maybe you knocked down the garage or removed the pool. Then document those mistakes with photographs, inspection reports and present this information to the assessor.
HARRIS: Why are you advising us to keep up with the Jones?
WILLIS: Well, look, the other way you can fight your taxes is to prove your house was assessed at a higher rate than the comparable homes in your area. So, go to the town assessor's office, get the figures on at least five to 10 homes that are the same size and age as yours. Now these figures are a matter of public record, so don't be embarrass to ask. Take heart, your efforts are likely to pay off.
Did you know, Tony, 70 percent of homeowners who fight back walk away with a lower tax bill.
HARRIS: I did not know that. I'm glad to know that.
WILLIS: Yes. So a good chance of having success.
HARRIS: So, Gerri, what's coming up this weekend on the big "Open House" show?
WILLIS: Well, on the big "Open House" show, 9:30 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN, we went to Minneapolis. We took a road trip for our special election edition of "Open House." And we have got some great information on property taxes, eminent domain. Everything you need to know as a homeowner. We're in Minneapolis. We're talking to voters there about what they care about and we heard all about it. Tony, it is so much fun.
HARRIS: Very cool. Hey, have a great day. See you tomorrow.
WILLIS: Thank you. Yes, I'll be here. Will you be here?
HARRIS: Absolutely.
WILLIS: Great.
HARRIS: See you then, Gerri.
WILLIS: OK.
COLLINS: Well, you can't win if you don't vote. One man's quest to get voters to the polling stations $1 million at a time. That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The missing soldier in Iraq. The U.S. military fills in some blanks, but the largest question remains unanswered. A closer look, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to show you these pictures one more time here just in to CNN. We've been following this for you out of Philadelphia. A three-alarm fire that was called in. We have heard from the Philadelphia Fire Department that told us the elementary school nearby this building that was on fire has been evacuated. No one has been hurt. And it looks to be really boiling down there, if you will. So quite a few fire crews out there to get this thing under control. We'll continue to watch it for you.
HARRIS: Well, a search and rescue mission intensifies in Iraq as the U.S. military updates the hunt for its missing soldier. Earlier today we learned the name of the Iraqi-American translator; he is 41- year-old Ahmed Qusai al-Taai. And he was apparently abducted while visiting his Iraqi wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTI-NAT'L. FORCE-IRAQ: Iraqi security forces and coalition troops are working around the clock to return him to safety, and to return him back to his family; and also to catch the perpetrators of this crime.
Search operations are based on actionable intelligence and there has been a particular focus in areas east of the Tigress River. Elements of five brigade combat teams, more than 2,000 coalition forces, more than 1,000 Iraqi security forces are directly involved in this search operation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: A retiring army general blames the Abu Ghraib prison scandal for ending his career. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez served a year as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. During that time, he issued memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Sanchez tells "The Monitor" newspaper in McAllen, Texas Abu Ghraib is the sole reason he was forced to retire. He says he was passed over for the job as head of the U.S. central or southern command after photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse set off an international controversy. Sanchez retired from the Army yesterday. No comment from the Army.
COLLINS: Security in Iraq, difficult to say the least. But is it slipping closer and closer to chaos? An internal military briefing note suggests that. The administration, though, says it is being taken out of context. CNN's Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre now with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: With 105 U.S. deaths in Iraq last month, October was the deadliest for U.S. forces in two years. But at the Pentagon, the defender in chief of Iraq policy argues the war-torn country is still headed in the right direction
DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It is not a smooth road. It's a bumpy road. We know that. We've said it repeatedly.
MCINTYRE: However, an internal briefing slide from two weeks ago, obtained and published by "The New York Times", has a different take. It shows Iraq at least on October 18th as inching closer to chaos and away from peace. The White House says the chart reflects a single bad day.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That was a snapshot taken at the height of the Ramadan violence. If you got the same report last week, you would have found out that national sectarian incidents from the 21st to the 27th dropped 23 percent.
Jessica?
QUESTION: Lessening the chaos, is the same as winning?
SNOW: No, because what you have just done, is you have attached your interpretation to a single chart. It doesn't say devolving into chaos. And furthermore, I've just told you since then, you have a pretty dramatic reversal.
MCINTYRE: Still, critics who have argued for months that Iraq is slipping into a full scale civil war say the chart, which includes a note at the bottom that violence is at an all time high and spreading geographically, offers an unvarnished view of what military commanders really think. COL. DOUG MACGREGOR, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Our forces are now islands of impotence, in a sea of violence and chaos, over which we exert, frankly, very little strategic influence.
MCINTYRE: Without commenting directly on the leaked briefing slide, the U.S. Central Command gave a statement to CNN, saying the top commander, General John Abizaid, has been discussing the reality of the situation in Iraq with his commanders for months. And noting that Abizaid publicly warned, in August, that Iraq could slide into civil war if the rising violence isn't stopped. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Democratic dream, a Republican nightmare. Waking up next Wednesday with the Democrats controlling the House, as our Andrea Koppel reports, there would be some changes made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): They're among the most liberal politicians in America, Nancy Pelosi, Alcee Hastings, John Conyers, Harry Waxman and Charlie Rangel. And if Democrats win back the House next week, they are set to rocket to the top positions in Congress.
Republicans have seized on the prospect of liberal lawmakers running the House as a way to fire up their base on the campaign trail. The president singled out New York's Charlie Rangel, though not by name.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it is interesting to note that the person who wants to be the head of the Ways and Means Committee, for the Democrats, said that he can't think of one tax cut that he would extend. That's code word for get ready. If the Democrats take the House, your taxes are going up.
KOPELL: Embattled Indiana Republican John Hostettler's campaign is using this radio ad to scare voters away from his Democratic opponent.
(BEGIN POLITICAL AD)
ANNOUNCER: Speaker Pelosi will reauthorize the Clinton gun ban, gave amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, with Detroit liberal John Conyers, and raise taxes with New York liberal Charlie Rangel.
(END POLITICAL AD)
KOPPEL: In a recent interview with CNN, Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are for tax cuts, but only for the middle class.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) MINORITY LEADER: We are going to do things that are positive rather than a tax cut to wealthiest people in our country, which has taken us deeper in debt at the expense of the middle class. KOPPEL: Republicans also point to other Democrats who will be in charge, like Florida's Alcee Hastings, a former federal judge, impeached by the House in 1989 in an alleged bribery scheme, who could be the next chairman of the Intelligence Committee. Hastings says he did nothing wrong.
And Michigan's John Conyers, who has called for President Bush to be impeached. Until recently, on his congressional website, demanded an investigation into what he called administration abuses of power.
And if the Democrats take power, the 21-term Michigan lawmaker would likely become the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
(On camera): But even if these lawmakers would be their party's public face, their clout would likely be limited, due to a significant number of more moderate rank-and-file Democrats, who often find themselves at odds with their more liberal leadership. Andrea Koppel, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Another story we are following out of Phoenix, Arizona, right now. Our affiliate KPHO, over the scene there in Phoenix, as police continue to look for a person. This is a workplace shooting incident. Police are looking for a person who shot two men this morning at the Pitney-Bowes Business Complex.
Can't pick it out from this particular shot. The victims were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Police, as we just mentioned, are looking for the shooter. They're advising everyone to consider this person armed and extremely dangerous.
We are continuing to gather more information on this. But two people shot this morning. The victim fled on foot is the latest information we are getting. We will continue to follow this and get some additional information for you.
COLLINS: Back now to politics. A million reasons to vote. If this man has his way, Arizona voters will have a shot at big bucks. But critics say the voting process is no game. CNN's Chris Lawrence reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): In the game show version, contestants had to answer multiple questions to win the money. Mark Osterloh only has one.
MARK OSTERLOH, VOTER REWARD INITIATIVE: Are you a registered voter?
LAWRENCE: Osterloh wants to take some of the Arizona's lottery's unclaimed prize money and in every general election, award a million bucks to one lucky voter. (On camera): I know the goal is to get more people to vote, but is this the way to do it?
OSTERLOH: Do you have a better way?
LAWRENCE (voice over): Arizona already offers early voting by mail, but the state still ranks near the bottom of eligible voter turnout. If the Voter Reward Act passes and turnout increases, Osterloh says dozens of states could follow suit.
OSTERLOH: That could have a dramatic impact on who will have control of Congress in the United States and who the next president of the United States is.
LAWRENCE: Critics say it reduces voting to nothing more than a glorified scratch and win game.
BARNEY BRENNER, OPPOSES INITIATIVE: You have people literally die to achieve and defend the right to vote in this country. And if that's not enough incentive for people to show up and be heard in the political process, it doesn't really seem appropriate to try to bribe them.
LAWRENCE: Barney Brenner says Arizona needs voters who study political platforms, not show up for a power ball prize.
OSTERLOH: You are talking about an informed voter, right?
LAWRENCE (on camera): Right.
OSTERLOH: OK. Well, to be an informed voter, first you have to be a voter.
LAWRENCE: Some would say, first, you have to be informed.
OSTERLOH: Well, let me say this. If you are not going to vote in an election, why would you study the issues and candidates?
LAWRENCE: Even if it passes, the act is sure to be challenged in court. In federal law prohibits exchanging money for votes.
JACK CHIN, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LAW SCHOOL: Even if it's a general payment made to a lot of people, to get out the vote, still prohibited by the statute.
LAWRENCE: Osterloh thinks it won't apply if the state offers every voter an equal chance at the million. He says, one will hit the jackpot, but the entire electorate wins. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Tucson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: For the latest breaking political news, check for updates throughout the day, on the CNN political ticker at cnn.com. Be sure to tune in every night until the election for a special expanded edition of "The Situation Room." Join Wolf Blitzer and Paula Zahn 7:00 p.m. Eastern, all week. HARRIS: Once again, we are following a developing story out of Phoenix, Arizona. Let's go back to those live pictures as we have them.
We have some police activity on the ground there in Phoenix. Two men were shot at the Pitney-Bowes Business Complex there. A workplace shooting event that we're telling you about this morning. Police are saying a Pitney-Bowes security guard entered the complex and shot two people, sniper-style, before fleeing on foot.
More information after the break. You are in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: Going to take you back to Phoenix, Arizona, now, and pictures provided to us by our affiliate there, KPHO.
This is a workplace shooting. Two men were shot this morning at the Pitney-Bowes Business Complex there in Phoenix. Police say a former Pitney-Bowes security guard entered the complex and shot two people sniper-style -- sniper-style, before fleeing on foot.
The victims were taken to an area hospital with what are described as serious injuries. And police are obviously looking for the shooter, who they describe as being armed and extremely dangerous. We will continue to follow this story for you.
COLLINS: The unofficial start of the holiday shopping season just three weeks away. Cheryl Casone joins us from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us how the big retailers are doing leading up to it.
Good morning, Cheryl. I cannot believe it's only three weeks away.
CHERYL CASONE, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM: Well, have you started your shopping yet, Heidi?
COLLINS: No, I never start until like the 24th.
(LAUGHTER)
CASONE: I love a good procrastinator. Absolutely. Good. Me, too.
Yes, you know, a mixed picture for retailers in October, after consumers -- they seemed to be spending in September, but a big disappointment here, Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer. They posted sales growth in October up just half a percent. They warned that November sales would be virtually flat. According to Thompson Financial, overall sales rose last month an 3.4 percent, a big drop from last year's growth rate.
Expectations were for strong sales because of lower gas prices and cooler temperatures. Of course, did you not go out and buy that winter coat a little bit early this year? But retail sales depend a lot on how financially safe people feel and a recent report from the Conference Board shows that consumer confidence did fall last month.
Heidi, folks are just -- they're worried about the job market, as well. There's a lot of pressure still out there. They're kind of holding onto their wallets, or like us, just waiting until the last minute to spend their money.
COLLINS: Something like that. So, what does that really mean, though, for the holiday shopping season? Overall, are they going to make profits or do you see a lot of people in the malls?
CASONE: Well, analysts are actually still predicting strong sales for November and December. Many stores are planning big discounts, big promotions. Some are going to be opening at midnight on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. That is the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. And there may be some good deals on computers, laptops, ahead of Microsoft's release of its new Vista operating system. That's coming in January.
But today, retailers are taking a beating. Here on Wall Street, shares of Target losing 1.5 percent; GAP stores falling 6 percent, Wal-Mart dropping nearly 2 percent. All weighing right now on the Blue Chip average, so. So much for that 12,000. We're back below it right now.
The Dow industrials losing right now 41 points. The Dow is riding a four-session losing streak. Right now, the Nasdaq composite is also falling about quarter of a percent. That's the latest from Wall Street.
You know that shopping season still could be pretty interesting, at least some good deals out there for all of us, Heidi and Tony.
COLLINS: I hope so. We'll be waiting. All right. Cheryl, thank you.
HARRIS: Some breaking news out of Roanoke, Virginia, right now. Listen to this. The Henry County sheriff there, Frank Cassell, and 12 of his employees have been indicted on federal charges in an alleged drug-related racketeering conspiracy. The charges in the indictment include racketeering, of course, firearms charges, narcotics distribution, obstruction of justice and perjury.
How did this work? Well, the indictment alleges that drugs seized by the sheriff's office were sold to citizens for distribution. And Cassell was charged with impeding the investigation by federal agents. Obviously a story we will get more details on throughout the course of the day and will continue to follow it and report those details to you.
COLLINS: The politics of attack ads and who's behind some of the most negative spots. CNN investigates.
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HARRIS: Well, a lot of breaking news happening, seemingly all at the same time. Let's see if we can get you caught up on all of it.
Let's first take you first to Phoenix, Arizona. We have a workplace shooting there to tell you about. Two men were shot this morning at the Pitney-Bowes Business Complex there in Phoenix. Police say a former security guard for that complex, for that company, entered the complex and shot two people sniper-style, before fleeing on foot.
The victims were taken to a hospital with serious injuries. No further details on those injuries. Police are looking for the shooter who they say should be considered armed and dangerous.
COLLINS: Now we want to take you straight to Columbia, South Carolina, where police there are investigating the deaths of three people. These bodies were found in a drainage ditch. You see that blue tarp there. The area has been roped off. They often do this to make sure that the scene stays clean, if you will, by means of investigation. They will be looking for whatever clues they can possibly find.
They have not been identified yet, according to the police chief in the area. Once again, the bodies have not been identified yet, so they are currently working to identify these folks right now.
But three bodies found in a drainage ditch. This was called in around 5:00 a.m. this morning. So they have been working hard to sort of advance that story as soon as possible.
We are going to go ahead and listen to a local affiliate there, WIS, Lucas Fadden, I believe, is the name. Let's hear what he has to report.
(BEGIN AFFILIATE FEED, IN PROGRESS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well right now, Scott, information is scarce. Authorities are in the early stages of their investigation. Here's what we do know. There has been a homicide involving multiple bodies. Those bodies are in a drain, you are looking at it right now. And crews are trying to get those bodies out of that drain.
Right now, police do not know how many bodies are in the drain, the condition of the bodies, or whether the folks -- those people were killed here or not. Police say they got a call from someone at 5:00 this morning, simply saying something is going on here, you need to investigate.
For right now, we are live at Colony Apartments. We will continue to follow this story, and we will bring you the very latest.
(END AFFILIATE FEED)
COLLINS: Once again, that was from our affiliate WIS. You can see it was filed just a little while ago. We have since learned, since Lucas McFadden's report, there are three bodies in that drainage ditch. Again, we will continue to follow this and bring you any details. HARRIS: Then, Heidi, there's this out of Roanoke, Virginia, this morning. The Henry County sheriff there, Frank Cassell, and 12 of his employees, have been indicted on federal charges in an alleged drug- related racketeering conspiracy.
And here's how the scheme worked. The indictment alleges that drugs were seized by the sheriff's office, those drugs were then sold to citizens for distribution. And that Cassell was charged for impeding the investigation by federal agents. We will continue to follow developments in that story.
COLLINS: Yes, it started back in 1998.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Has been going on for quite a while there, apparently.
HARRIS: Yes, a lengthy investigation. A number of other folks arrested as well, a U.S. Postal Service employee, probation officer, five citizens also charged in what amounts to a 34-count indictment.
COLLINS: Wow. That's a big one. We will watch that one for you, obviously.
Meantime, Chad Myers standing by now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Call it forensic politics, it's surprising what the campaigns know about you. Investigating your political DNA ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: You're with CNN. You're informed. Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming into the NEWSROOM on this Thursday, November 2. Here's what's on the rundown. A major crime announcement, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez speaking just minutes from now about an intense criminal roundup.
HARRIS: Securing Iraq. How do you do it when the security forces are full of the bad guys?
COLLINS: And a Republican running for his political life, while running away from the president. That and more this hour, in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: But first let's take you to Phoenix, Arizona, now, where we are following a workplace shooting event there. Two men were shot this morning at the Pitney-Bowes Business Complex there in Phoenix.
You see some of the new video coming in to CNN right now, from Phoenix. Police say a former Pitney-Bowes security guard entered the complex and shot two people -- listen to this, sniper-style -- before fleeing on foot. Let's hear from one of the responding officers from the Phoenix police department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DET. STACIE DERGE, PHOENIX POLICE: One of the victims was shot multiple times. The other was shot at least once. And I don't know, again, as far as their condition or exactly what the injuries are.
QUESTION: Do you know where they were transported to?
DERGE: I do, but if you have heard that we would ask that you don't release that. Because we don't want to take a chance that the suspect would go to the hospital. So it is a local hospital and at this point we would ask that you don't release that if you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK, and there you have the public information officer from the Phoenix police department giving us the latest information on this. As you can see, a number of officers responding to the scene now.
Once again, this is the Pitney-Bowes Complex, Business Complex, there in Phoenix. The victims taken to a local hospital with very serious injuries. Police are describing, obviously, the shooter as being armed and extremely dangerous.
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