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Saddam Hussein's Death Sentence Emerges on Campaign Trail; Missouri's Hot Race; Getting out the Vote
Aired November 06, 2006 - 11:00 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're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming into the NEWSROOM this Monday, November 6th. Here's what's on the rundown now.
Election eve, and you need all your fingers to count the nail biters. With control of Congress at stake, we talk live with a pair of veteran campaign strategists.
HARRIS: President Bush trying to head off a Democratic takeover at the Capitol. He blitzes for Republican votes today.
COLLINS: And a massive fire at a Florida theme park. The gators take cover at Gatorland.
We cover the story this hour in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The final stretch. Finally, candidates are scrambling in these last hours before America votes. At stake, control of Congress. President Bush is blitzing three states today.
We'll check on his travel throughout this hour of the NEWSROOM, and we will go to Ohio and Missouri. Two of the most bitter contests in the country are playing out there.
COLLINS: But first, the power of the numbers. Tomorrow it will be measured at the polls. Today, we get a preview in a CNN poll.
Well, according to a survey from Opinion Research Corporation, Democrats are holding on to a double-digit lead over Republicans in this year's congressional elections. Nationally, registered voters favored Democrats 54 percent to 39. That gap even larger among likely voters, 58 percent to 38.
Keep in mind the old refrain, politics is local. A national sampling does not necessarily reflect opinion in any particular congressional district.
So the waning Republican support comes as President Bush's popularity takes another dip. The president's approval rating has fallen to 35 percent. Sixty-one percent of those polled saying they disapprove of the way he is handling his job. He is midway through his second term, but make no mistake, President Bush a major factor in this midterm election. And he's pulling a former dictator into the spotlight as well.
CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Saddam Hussein's trial is a milestone in the Iraqi people's effort to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Iraqi leader's death sentence provides a much needed symbol of Iraqi progress.
BUSH: It's a major achievement for Iraq's young democracy and its constitutional government.
MALVEAUX: Saddam's likely execution provides Mr. Bush with yet another line on the campaign trail to cast Republicans as strong on national security and to defend his Iraq war.
BUSH: America congratulates the Iraqi people and we give our thanks to the men and women of America's armed forces who have...
(APPLAUSE)
MALVEAUX: But it is uncertain whether Saddam's demise will impact the midterm elections.
REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R), MICHIGAN: This is now one more step in building a safe and a more secure Iraq.
MALVEAUX: While Republican candidates praised the verdict, Democrats, determined to focus on the Bush administration's failures, downplayed the death sentence.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: So, yes, he got what he deserved, but we have a long way to go.
MALVEAUX: Administration officials bristled at the suggestion the verdict was conveniently timed for maximum political advantage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Suzanne Malveaux joining us live.
Suzanne, there's been quite a bit of talk about where the president has chosen to campaign and who he has stood next to in those campaigning efforts.
Tell us the very latest on that.
MALVEAUX: Well, Heidi, really, some people look at President Bush as being radioactive. An example is today. If you look at his schedule, he is traveling to Pensacola, Florida. As you know, his brother, Jeb Bush, the governor there, is stepping down, and he's holding this big rally. We expect about 10,000 people or so. But the one person who is missing is Republican candidate Charles Crist, who President Bush is campaigning for.
Now, we understand from senior administration officials Crist's campaign told the White House Saturday evening that they thought it would be better if Crist went across -- across the state of Florida to other places, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, places where he could really get the moderates and the Independents, and that these are places where President Bush is not popular.
So the best thing that President Bush could do is campaign in Pensacola, where it's a very red district. That is one aspect.
The other thing that's very interesting about this, Heidi, is the fact that Crist is going to be campaigning with Republican senator John McCain, the moderate, a possible 2008 presidential hopeful, and one who is seen as the future of the party -- Heidi.
COLLINS: That is fascinating.
All right. Suzanne Malveaux, we'll watch that one as well. Thank you.
HARRIS: One of the hottest showdowns is playing out right now in the Show-Me State of Missouri.
CNN's Jonathan Freed is in St. Louis.
Jonathan, millions and millions of dollars pumped into this race. And as we stand today, most of the polls seem to indicate it is a dead heat. Hard to understand.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is and it isn't. It's very interesting.
In the last couple of years here, both of the candidates for the U.S. Senate -- we're talking about Jim Talent, the incumbent Republican, and Claire McCaskill, who is the state auditor right now -- both of them have been in very close statewide races, including races for governor in two different years. So the dynamics of the state are very interesting, and how these two personalities have been plugging into it in very close races is also very interesting. So, not everybody on the ground here, Tony, surprised that's it's as close as it is.
One of the big changes that's happened, in 2002, when Senator Talent was first elected, it was a special election. That's why he's only up -- running for his first full term now after only four years. The president's approval ratings were very high, it was before the beginning of the war.
The dynamics, of course, as we have just been reporting, have changed significantly in the last few years. And Claire McCaskill is trying to tap into that, Tony, and she has been trying to make this a referendum on the Bush presidency. So far, though, it's a dead heat heading into this tomorrow.
HARRIS: Is this race the best opportunity for Democrats to pick up one seat in the Senate?
FREED: This is being looked at as a very real opportunity for the Democrats to pick up a seat. Some different polls are coming out. Some of them are showing the Democrat a little bit ahead, but it's only by a few points, which some would say would be well within the margin of error.
So people here are literally biting their nails. We were observing that yesterday. People hunched over phones at the various campaign offices.
There's optimism there. The Democrats are being cautiously optimistic. These are the ground troops that we spent some time with yesterday, talking to them.
They're not coming out and saying, oh, absolutely, she's going to win. They are cautiously optimistic about it. And that's where they seem to be pegging things.
HARRIS: CNN's Jonathan Freed for us in St. Louis, Missouri.
Jonathan, appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: Getting out the vote. The times are a changing, and so are some of the rules.
CNN's Dana Bash explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm calling to ask you to join me in re- electing George Allen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... George Allen to the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... to re-elect George Allen.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Voices of a voter turnout operation Republicans hope keeps them in power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We're ready to go? Let's get started.
BASH: GOP foot soldiers are marching battlegrounds across the country, implementing their 72-hour get-out-the-vote plan.
MICHAEL DUHAIME, RNC: The 72-hour program really takes about 72 weeks to put together, so there's no doubt it can make a difference in these close elections.
BASH: Since 2000, Republicans have been building a voter vault, files of GOP voters. Adding to that by microtargeting, using consumer data, what magazines or cars someone buys, to identify new voters.
DUHAIME: We feel with our targeting we're able to go in and find very specific voters in there as individuals and turn them out. And maybe instead of getting 10 or 12 percent, we get 14 or 16 percent.
BASH: That could make the difference where it's neck and neck, like this Indiana district.
BRIAN DIFFELL, GOP VOLUNTEER: We target these households based on folks we think may be friendly toward the reception we get at those houses.
BASH: GOP volunteers knock on doors in Democratic neighborhoods Republicans wrote off in the past. What's different this year is Democrats are doing the same thing here...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're volunteers of the local Democratic Party.
BASH: ... using the same strategy and technology to find Democratic voters, investing $8 million in turnout but playing catch- up.
KAREN FINNEY, DNC: We had some challenges in 2004 with our database. We've addressed those challenges and we feel very confident in our -- in our voter file.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please vote for Democrat Jim Webb for U.S. Senate.
BASH: Back in Virginia, Democrats use bar codes just like Republicans to track voters. Who needs an extra push? Maybe a ride to the polls?
LARRY BYRNE, DEMOCRATIC FIELD ORGANIZER: In the old days when we used to have to do this, you know, one at a time, we would have never gotten to 100,000 contacts. And we got to 300,000.
BASH: But all the money and fancy microtargeting in the world can't replace moments like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Allen's an idiot. Webb is worse. You could convince me to vote for George Allen if you help me start my lawnmower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I will start your lawnmower.
All the way up. There we go. One vote for George Allen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Be sure to join us at noon today for an hour of special election coverage one day before the vote. We're going to have the head of the DNC, head of the RNC, and all kinds of analysis that you won't want to miss.
We'll be joined by Don Lemon and Fredricka Whitfield, right here in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Two more Americans lose their lives in Iraq. The soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed north of Baghdad.
CNN's Aneesh Raman joins us live from the capital with more on the reaction to the Saddam Hussein sentence.
Good morning to you, Aneesh.
The day after the verdict, give us a sense of the reaction on the ground.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, good morning to you.
First, in the capital, we're just seeing in the past few hours a lifting of that extensive curfew that was put in place early Sunday morning, a ban on all people and vehicles from going out on to the streets. A ban has been lifted, but the capital has one of its own every night, and that kicks in in a few hours. Vehicles will be allowed back on the streets early tomorrow morning.
We have seen reaction though in the past few days. It falls along sectarian lines, which is perhaps not surprising.
North of the capital in Sunni strongholds today, protesters went out on to the streets in vehicles showing posters of Saddam Hussein. They had banners that said, "With blood and our souls we sacrifice ourselves to Saddam."
They contested what they have said from the start is an illegitimate trial borne of an illegal war. And for them, this was not a verdict. It was a day of revenge exacted against the former Iraqi president.
Of course, similar scenes, but opposite remarks coming out of Shia areas. Yesterday, in the Shia area of Sadr City, people defied the curfew that was in place. In Shia areas today they were out on the streets as well.
For them, this was a huge celebration, a day that they had been waiting for years, if not decades, to see Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity, facing the death penalty, death by hanging. They went out on to the streets. But as I said, the exhaustive curfew that was in place in the capital and other parts of the country is just sort of getting lifted. And in terms of any palpable reaction that broadens beyond these specific scenes, we'll have to see what happens in the days ahead -- Tony.
HARRIS: Aneesh, if you would, put us in the room, put us in the courtroom yesterday as that verdict was read. Most of us at home had a camera, we saw the camera fixed on Saddam, and then a split shot of the judge.
Can you talk us -- talk to us about the atmospherics in the courtroom?
RAMAN: Incredibly dramatic. And I've been in a number of these courtroom settings. This one intense as they've ever been.
It was very quick, about 50 minutes for all of the sentences. And Saddam was on trial with seven co-defendants.
When Saddam walks in, you never see it on the video. They hide the identity of the guards that escort him as he enters. He had one on each side.
He immediately sat down, the judge ordered him to stand up to hear the sentence. He refused to do so. And at that point, seven guards then surrounded the docks where Saddam was silting.
Two of them actually went in and physically had to lift them up. He turned to one of them with these fierce eyes and said, "Don't bend my arm, you stupid," trying to project that image of power of the presidency that he clings to throughout these proceedings.
As the sentence was read, one of the guards was in front of him and he was smiling. And it was a very stark moment to see him smiling at Saddam. He was actually chewing gum, showing, one would assume, just how comfortable he was to be in the presence of the former tyrant.
It irritated the defense, who asked that that guard be removed. And as Saddam exited, again, those fiery eyes looking point blank at the Iraqis that were working for the prosecution and for the complainants, the people that brought this case forward, calling them traitors. His last statement, "Long live Iraq!" as he clutched the Koran. Again, trying to keep that image of power that seemed to have dissipated, at least with those guards in the courtroom -- Tony.
HARRIS: And it's probably helpful to remind ourselves that the Iraqi government represents all Iraqis, Sunnis, Shias, Kurds, all of the different groups in Iraq.
What has been the reaction from the Iraqi government to yesterday's verdict?
RAMAN: Well, the Iraqi prime minister came out and said that Saddam's sentencing represents a reckoning with the past, that there will be no more mass graves, no more ethnic cleansing, were the words he used. For many Iraqis, though, those will be lofty promises.
They see some of these things existing still on a low-level scale in areas that they live -- death squads, the sectarian violence, of course. We did also hear, interestingly, from the main Sunni group the Iraqi Islamic Party. They affirm the justice that was handed down against Saddam Hussein.
They didn't come out against the trial, which was interesting. But, of course, the desperate hope is that this trial not only unifies Iraqis, but as you mentioned, a government that on paper is unified but in practice has seen stark divisions within itself.
And the hope is that it will do that. But, of course, the more realistic assumption is at best it will have a marginal impact on the ground given that there's so many other issues Iraqis confront on a daily basis. And at worse, really no impact.
HARRIS: CNN's Aneesh Raman for us in Baghdad.
Aneesh, thank you.
COLLINS: The people, the polls, the power. CNN shines the spotlight on some of the most critical races in tomorrow's elections. We talk with veteran campaign strategists Bill Bennett and Donna Brazile, coming up next in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Fire at Gatorland. Flames and smoke rise high above a Florida tourist attraction.
We will have the latest in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: To the New York Stock Exchange now.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
COLLINS: Inside perspective now from two prominent political strategists. Democrat Donna Brazile is the former campaign manager for the Gore presidential campaign.
Hello to you, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, FMR. GORE CAMPAIGN MANGER: Hello.
COLLINS: And Republican Bill Bennett served in the Reagan administration and later in the White House of George H. W. Bush.
And both are CNN contributors joining us from New York today.
Thanks again, guys, for being with us.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.
COLLINS: I want to go ahead and get to some of these poll numbers, because that's what we do. And we have some new ones today to talk about, one day before the election.
Want to look at the poll of polls, sort of an average of all of those different polls that were conducted. And we look down at the very bottom there and we see this: 53 percent of people polled voting Democrat, 41 percent voting Republican tomorrow.
Bill Bennett, your thoughts?
BENNETT: Well, look at that CNN poll. Look at that. That's 20 points, you know.
I've been reading the polls and reading the papers. Heidi, I think the Democrats are going to win all the seats.
COLLINS: Really? BENNETT: I don't think we have a chance. No, I don't. But, I mean, if you listen...
COLLINS: I was going to say.
BENNETT: If you look at the CNN poll, if you read some of these papers, listen to some of this, you would think it's not a wave, but a tsunami, and we don't stand a chance.
What I think is, the Democrats have an advantage. A lot of circumstances. A lot of -- they've run a lot of good campaigns.
They have a number of people running in some of these House races who, except for the "D," you would think are conservative Republicans. These are in many of the important districts.
COLLINS: Yes.
BENNETT: And the polls -- and the polls are favoring.
What do I think? I think if the Democrats get the House back, they will do so with the benefit of some Republican impersonations.
COLLINS: And Donna, your thoughts, too, now on these numbers. It is interesting, is it not? Bill brings up the moderates in this particular election.
BRAZILE: Well, there's no question that Democrats have been able to capture not just their own base, but also Independents. They're very important in this election cycle. And many of the suburban and exurban districts that Democrats are competitive today, they have run fantastic campaigns.
I've never seen anything like it in my life. They are energized, they're motivated, they're reaching out to Independents. They're going...
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: What's different this time, Donna? What's different?
BRAZILE: Oh, there's no question that the national mood favor change, favor candidates who offer a new direction, candidates who are willing to discuss tough issues like Iraq, like the economy, like healthcare. That's why Democrats are performing well across the country. If you look at right track, wrong direction, Democrats has been able to capitalize on this favorable political environment.
COLLINS: Bill, you're shaking your head.
BENNETT: I think the problem for the Republicans has been not enough issues in which there's a sharp distinction between the Republican and Democrat views. For example, on spending, Republicans have just spent too much. They're doing a Democrat imitation.
On immigration, there hasn't been a unified view. There's one view in the House, another view in the Republican Senate, and then the White House.
The only place where there's a real difference has been on the war. And there, I think, the criticism has been vehement and passionate, sometimes articulate. We have not articulated and made our case as persuasively as it deserves to be made.
COLLINS: Donna, Saddam Hussein getting the death penalty, going to be hanged in Baghdad, in Iraq. Is that going to have any sort of affect on this -- at least on turnout tomorrow?
BRAZILE: No, I don't think so. Look, Saddam Hussein was evil personified. So he will get the justice he deserved.
But look, what the American people want is a solution, an exit strategy, a plan to get our brave men and women back home. And we know that after Tuesday, starting first thing on Wednesday, that the American people will look to Washington to get some results, to get some answers about, you know, when it's appropriate to bring our troops home.
Look, today, "The Army Times, "The Navy Times," "The Marine Times," all of them have called for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. That is -- that's on the American people's minds more than Saddam Hussein getting a justly, you know, verdict in his case.
COLLINS: Yes. But to be fair, we should also mention these are not -- that you mentioned there, they are not official military papers, magazines, and so forth.
BENNETT: That's correct.
COLLINS: But, that being said, Rumsfeld back in the spotlight, Bill?
BENNETT: Well, first of all, congratulations on saying "hanged". Your English teacher would be proud of you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thank you.
BENNETT: Instead of the other word. That's exactly right.
I don't think it makes much difference. However, it is worth remembering that in that resolution voted for by Democrats, the resolution which we went to war, we said that he had violated his people's rights, he was a tyrant, deserved to be overthrown. So justice was done today.
There are some late indications, though, back to your original story, Heidi, your original numbers, that some things seemed to be going in the Republican direction. Whether it's enough to stop this wave remains to be seen. But we shall see. I think there are going to be a couple surprises on the Republican side, too.
COLLINS: Yes. But, Bill, there also has been a lot of talk about a dispirited base. Your thoughts on that? I mean, are people going to be rallying toward the president and toward the Republican Party and really coming out to vote for their party?
BENNETT: Some are. There is a kind of noxious view among some conservatives and Republicans. I guess about 20 percent of my listeners hold to it, that it's time to punish the Republicans for not doing a good job on immigration, not getting enough done, although the House would be the wrong people to punish for that.
And then the notion that there's been too much spending. That is, take out all your complaints by not showing up.
Well, that's only if you think the Democrats will be better on these issues. But I won't deny that it's there. I don't think it's a rationale way to behave, because it will be like the father says, this is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you. It's going to hurt those voters to have a Democrat majority more than it's going to hurt the Republicans who get voted out.
COLLINS: OK.
Guys, you know what? We're going to go to a break. We're going to come back and we're going to talk a little bit more, because I want to talk about some of this campaign financing. Still a lot of money being spent on both sides and what that really means.
We'll talk some more issues here when we come back.
You're watching the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Just one day away from midterm elections. So we want to talk issues now.
We have with us today, Bill Bennett and Donna Brazile. Donna from the left and Bill from the right.
Let's talk about some of the races, guys. I mean, we have some very tight ones.
I'm talking about Missouri, Montana. New Jersey kind of not as tight as we thought it was going to be. Rhode Island sort of a surprise over the weekend. And Tennessee and Virginia.
Can't go through every one of them or we'll run out of time, but what are the standouts to you, Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, first of all, I think that Claire McCaskill is running a fantastic race out in Missouri. The polls today show her up by at least three points.
You know, we have a couple of ballot initiatives on -- in that state, stem cell research. That has drawn a lot of support from all across the country.
Of course, in Virginia, Jim Webb has come on strong in the closing days of the campaign. I think that's going to be a real victory for Democrats.
And look, in Tennessee, some of the polls suggest that Mr. Corker has blown it up, but Harold Ford is still there. Over 800,000 people participated in an early vote, which is a huge turnout. So I think that's also going to be a nail biter and a race to watch on election night.
COLLINS: All right.
And Bill, as I go to you, you know, there's still a lot of money to be spent in this thing. Is it true, you outspend your opponent, you win the race?
BENNETT: No. No, it isn't true. Ask John Connolly way back in that presidential race, spent some kind of -- set some kind of record and got I think one or two votes.
McCaskill has run a good race in Missouri, but I think Talent wins. And I think one of the reasons he wins is because of that stem cell initiative. I think it's going to fail and I think that is going to help Jim Talent.
I disagree with my good friend in Virginia. I think George Allen pulls it out.
And one you didn't mention -- look for this one -- our friend Michael Steele wins in Maryland.
COLLINS: Maryland.
BENNETT: Big win in Maryland.
COLLINS: You think he's going to win, do you?
BENNETT: I do. Now, ask Donna what she thinks.
COLLINS: Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, look, the race has tightened over the last couple of days. Michael Steele was able to get significant endorsements from African-American Democrats in one of the largest counties, PG County.
But I do believe that Anne Arundel County, Howard County, these are the counties that surround Baltimore where Ben Cardin is from. I believe they will ultimately make the difference.
BENNETT: Yes.
BRAZILE: And it's going to be a squeaker, but I give it -- I give the edge to Cardin today.
BENNETT: It is Massachusetts on the Chesapeake, but we're hopeful about Steele.
COLLINS: All right. Let's talk money now a little bit. Not really money, but the economy. Obviously, Republicans pretty darn happy about the 4.4 percent unemployment rate. They're going to be talking about that. And again, as we mentioned, the other side, Democrats, are talking about failures in Iraq.
As we look at all of this midterm, what does it mean for 2008 when we start looking for presidential candidates?
Donna?
BRAZILE: Wide open field. The day after tomorrow we'll be talking about some of the prospective candidates on both sides of the political divide.
Look, there's no question coming out of this race some candidates will be helped by the significant turnout of Democrats across the country. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Wesley Clark, John Edwards -- don't dismiss John Kerry out of hand. Of course, Tom Vilsack, Bill Richardson.
We will offer the American people a wide variety of Democrats. I forgot to mention Russ Feingold.
So this will be a very exciting political season. We'll get an opportunity to talk to the American people about the future, about plans for Iraq, plans to win the war on terror, and, of course, domestic issues here at home.
COLLINS: And Bill, given your projections, if they come true for tomorrow, what will it mean from the Republican side of things for a presidential candidate?
COLLINS: Bill, given your projections if they come true for tomorrow, what will it mean from the Republican side of things for a presidential candidate?
BENNETT: Well, you know it bears out the truth, doesn't it? Now, I think it is almost conventional truth -- if the economy is bad, it can hurt you, if the economy is really good, it may not. We do have peace at home. We do have prosperity, we have been safe since 9/11. These things have not seemed to impacted much yet, but we'll see what happens tonight. That was a heck of a list Donna had. We got a long list, too. We shall see, but I think the issues of security and the war on terror will continue to dominate, unless the economy takes a serious downturn. I don't think anybody sees that happening, therefore it's kind of muted out of the picture.
BRAZILE: I forgot to mention Hillary Clinton and let me just tell you, she has run a fantastic campaign. I've been in New York for a couple of days. I predict that she'll get between 60 to 65 percent of the vote, do better in the suburbs and on Long Island and other places than she did in 2000. And she will of course be the candidate to beat if she decides to run.
COLLINS: All right. I've got to give equal time -- Bill, last word, quick.
BENNETT: Well, I'm glad she mentioned Kerry is not out of the picture. The more we see of John Kerry, the happier we are. Thank you very much.
COLLINS: All right -- to the two of you, thank you so very much. Donna Brazile and Bill Bennett our strategists today. Thanks guys.
HARRIS: All morning long we've been telling you about a spectacular fire at Gatorland, a very popular tourist attraction in the Orlando area. T.J. Holmes is standing by in the NEWSROOM with an update -- T.J.
T.J. HOLMES: Yes, well Tony, we had been seeing and hearing from officials there at Gatorland that they didn't think any of the animals or reptiles have been affected by the fire. But, now we're hearing from the officials there's at Gatorland that indeed they do believe they did lose a couple of animals in this fire, a couple of reptiles there. Actually, specifically two five-foot crocodiles and two eight- foot pythons that were kept nearby in a couple of pens that were close to the building that caught fire this morning. That building is the front building that houses some -- a gift shop, a reception area, and a couple of administrative offices. You're seeing these pictures. We were watching these closely all morning. Firefighters just had a heck of a time trying to get this thing under control. You can even see there, actually there's a big display out front. You can see the teeth there of a big display out front, which was a mock alligator that they had out front that was pretty popular and famous there at Gatorland. This is a park has been there for some 50 years. This is a place that 400,000 visitors go to, a landmark there. Really a place that a lot of people use. The bad news now that we're hearing is that indeed, they do believe they've lost a couple of crocodiles, maybe baby alligators and you're seeing there, snakes as well. But again, AP reporting and quoting an official from Gatorland, saying specifically they believe they did lose two five-foot crocodiles and two eight-foot pythons. Again, they had said earlier that they thought some of the animals really just took off and went their own way when the fire broke out and probably just took care of themselves and protected themselves, but some that were kept in a pen actually at that building, it looks like they may have lost a couple, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, we might consider that a wonderful outcome given those pictures. What a horrible fire the firefighters had to try to bring under control. T.J. Holmes for us in the NEWSROOM. T.J. thank you.
COLLINS: Election Day, fast forward four years, 2008. Presidential possibilities -- two years from now. Anyway, we'll be talking about that, what it means in just a moment.
HARRIS: A dark past, now questions about the future. A closer look at the personal and political implications of one preacher. COLLINS: Children injured in school bus accidents. It happens more often than you might think and in ways you would not expect. Now, new research to tell you about today in the NEWSROOM.
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COLLINS: Want to take you to Rialto, California, some more pictures just coming into us now of a humongous brushfire there. Live pictures coming in from our affiliate KTTV. You know, once again, it's California -- we were just talking about this last week. The deaths of five firefighters in the Esperanza area -- the Esperanza fire. This area we're looking at, about 40 miles northwest of where the first fire took place. And, you can you see, something we learned last week -- the way that fire -- the smoke carries, gives you an idea of wind speed. It's pretty rough. You can see right there, much closer to homes than we were able to see in the other fire. Esperanza seemed a little bit more remote. But now, boy, those homes are right there. We see some of the slurry bombers going by to drop slurry over the top. Rob Marciano joining us now to talk more about the wind conditions. You can't help but notice that, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's pretty evident there with the flames and smoke all blowing at a low altitude in the same direction, giving you an idea of just how fast the winds are going. There's a wind advisory in effect for this area around L.A. and the L.A. basin. Wind advisory in effect until Noon local time today, the Santa Ana winds are blowing. So, a similar situation setting up from what we had just a week and a half ago with that fire in through the Palm Springs area. So, through noon time Pacific today, winds at time, 25 to 40 miles an hour through the canyons with local gusts up to 50. And with winds coming off the east-northeast, down the mountains, from the desert, these are, as you know, dry winds. Some of the locals call them devil winds. When you have flames obviously being fanned by these winds, it's not a good situation. The east winds probably will kick in again tomorrow. But, right now, the National Weather Service in this area, thinking that the wind advisory hopefully will be expiring in just about three hours from now.
COLLINS: When a wind advisory expires as you say, how much does that wind really knock down? Do you think it will make enough of a difference? I'm pretty surprised actually that we just saw an airplane fly through. I'm assuming he's dropping water or slurry over the top of this thing.
MARCIANO: Well, the -- there's not going to be any rain in this area for some time to come. So, we're not looking for a strong push of a marine layer, which is what helped the firefighters get a handle on the last fire that was in Riverside County. So that's not going to happen today. That likely will not happen tomorrow. As we get toward the middle of the week, things will start to change. When this situation sets up it usually does so for at least a day, usually two or three, so we're really getting into the first day of this setup, although it doesn't look nearly as strong as the one a week and a half ago. But, to answer your question, no, winds aren't just going to drop and the rain moves in and this will be done by the end of today. It will probably be an ongoing battle today, tonight, and at least through tomorrow.
COLLINS: There's a helicopter now that we are looking at too, but boy so close to homes that are all over just in the middle of that smoke. So it's a frightening picture. Rob Marciano thanks for the update on that. We'll continue to watch this one for you.
HARRIS: Can you hear it? The clock ticking down to Election Day. A Republican incumbent running behind isn't wasting a single minute. CNN's Bob Franken with the battle in the Buckeye state. Bob, good to see you. Give us sort of the lay of the land of this race as it stands right now, a day before everyone goes to vote.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ohio is known to be a state that's kind of flat in it's topography, but the lay of the land politically, is its got its ups and its downs. The Republicans for the most part have the been the ones who have been down. Although, the polls are showing, that while they're still behind in key races, some of them are closing a little bit. In particular, the Senate race, Mike Dewine, who has been down in the double digits on occasion, the Republican incumbent, is now six to eight points behind depending on which credible poll you're going to believe. He and other members of the GOP say that represents progress. Now, this has to be into the context of the get out the vote effort here -- they call is GOTV. The Republicans have a formidable one here as they do in many parts of the country. And they are hoping for an upset. But, there are so many problems they have here -- some corruption issues, scandal issues, that type of thing, in addition to the usual problems that Republicans are having nationwide like Iraq, that it would be quite the upset. But Republicans are saying that upsets happen in politics and they'd love nothing better than for some sort of upset to happen in Ohio -- Tony.
HARRIS: But, yes, but Bob, that cloud that you refer to, it's there at the statehouse. It's there with Bob Ney. It's a pretty thick cloud.
FRANKEN: It is a pretty thick cloud. The Bob Ney matter, Bob Ney, of course just resigned as a member of Congress from this district. He's been convicted for bribery-related charges and is expecting to go to prison. The party chairman, Bob Bennett said, it's about time, why did he wait so long because he's an embarrassment to the party. There's also, as you pointed out, the statehouse issue -- all kinds of questions about funding, the governor himself, Bob Taft, who is not running for re-election, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was fined $4,000 for failing to report gifts. He's not running, the man who does want to replace him, the secretary of state is way, way, way behind in the polls. Nobody, not even the Republicans, giving him much of a chance -- Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Bob Franken for us in Ohio. And be sure to join us at noon today for an hour of special election coverage, one day before the big vote. We will be joined by Don Lemon and Fredricka Whitfield right here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And now back to some of these live pictures that we are getting in from KTTV in Rialto, California, our affiliate there. And boy, these are some very disturbing pictures. I don't want to speculate, but best I can tell, we are looking at some structures, homes possibly, buildings on fire, burning there. This is, again, Rialto, California, talking about a huge brush fire, with major winds, the Santa Ana winds that are just relentless. Very dry wind that we have heard from Rob Marciano our meteorologist here at CNN. This is an area that's about 40 miles northwest of the fire a week and a half ago. Five firefighters lost their lives battling that one, the Esperanza fire that 'I'm sure you remember. Again, Rialto, California, massive brushfire there. Wind, a major issue, hopefully will be settling down a little bit later today. There's a wind advisory in place as we speak. Just really upsetting pictures there, boy. We're going to continue to watch that one for you and get all the information just as soon as it comes in to us.
HARRIS: Still to come, a dark past, now questions about the future, a closer look at the personal and political implications of one preacher, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: Boy, hard not to take you back and show you. Look at this, filling the frame. Pictures of this outrageous wildfire now -- Rialto, California. And, our affiliate there on the scene, KTLA, providing the helicopter view, the bird's eye view for us right now. This is as you can see, there are some structures in the area. Don't want to be too specific about what they might be. But you can see that this is a wildfire now that's is getting alot of fuel. The helicopters doing the best they can to do what they do in these circumstances, but can you see that the winds, Heidi, are fanning the flames here.
COLLINS: Yes, and before you know, we didn't have as tight of a shot. This is nice to have now. It definitely doesn't look like buildings but some sort of storage facility or something. Across the street is the frightening part, where you can see undoubtedly the whole mass of homes and a community there. Rob Marciano standing by to tell us a little bit more about what we might be seeing here. And certainly, the Santa Ana winds, Rob.
MARCIANO: No doubt about that. Dry east to north-easterly winds, and as they come up over the mountains and down through the canyons, they're forced into what we call adiabattic (ph) warming, meaning just the pressure differences from the high elevations down to the lower elevations will compress that air and heats it up. And it's already coming from a dry area, you know east of the -- east of L.A. and certainly east of the San Bernardinos there are a couple of big deserts. So, we're talking about some dry air as well. This situation may very well calm down a little bit later today, tomorrow, possibly. But then I'm reading now some information and long-range experimental forecast from the storms prediction center in Norman, Oklahoma. They're the ones who put out a fire weather forecast on a daily basis. They'll put out what's -- and they'll highlight areas that they think are critical, critical fire weather area, would indicate something that's bone dry, that will see winds like they're seeing today. They did not put a critical fire weather situation out for today. Likely because the forecast is for these winds to calm down just a little bit as we head through tonight and tomorrow. They may change that given what we're seeing here today. But, what concerns me the most, Heidi, is that if they don't get a handle on this today, tomorrow, the weather situation setting up for the middle and latter part of the week may bring us to a critical fire weather situation Wednesday, Thursday and/or Friday. So that certainly is a concern for us.
COLLINS: Yes. While be talking about these winds, can you give us an idea of the wind speed that we're looking at here, Rob?
MARCIANO: I'm trying to get an observation station close to that area. But judging from what we're seeing here, you can guess, or can you estimate that the winds are likely sustained at 15 to 20 miles an hour, with higher gusts, possibly closer to 30. If you get a wind, you know, over 10 miles an hour, that's -- and it's dry, that's enough to cause problems, and I would believe that this -- these winds right now are blowing higher than that. The winds as we're talking about a week and a half ago, gusting through the canyons there in the San Bernardinos, just to the west of Palm Springs, they at times were gusting to 40, 50 miles an hour. That is possible in some localized areas near this fire, but it doesn't appear that that's the case right here.
COLLINS: Rob, let's go ahead and take a listen, if we could, our affiliate there. We're getting these pictures live now from KTTV. A little earlier there was a helicopter, a pilot overhead. I want to go ahead and listen in to some of his reporting.
UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: That was -- that's the pipe building that we just mentioned. Something just popped there. We don't know if it was a gas line or something like that. But this is on Sierra Avenue. This is just across the street from the Sierra Lakes Golf Club. A bunch of residential areas sandwiched between Sierra Avenue and Citrus Avenue. Right across the street, where you see those fire trucks are at, that is Sierra Avenue, just to the north of the 210 Freeway.
But again, that structure, an abandoned structure, not a home. But no homes, it appears, are on the eastern side of Sierra, Nevada, near that abandoned pipe business there. All the homes are on the west side of Sierra, Nevada, nestled around the Sierra Lakes Golf Course. This is the really only hot spot right now. I'll tell you what, Steve, we're going to stay tight on it, but that is the only area that's burning on it right now. There's some grasses just on the north side, very short grasses, again, almost in a due line, burning south, approaching the 210 Freeway. But it appears that this is what's really going off right now. We're seeing so much flames and so much smoke because it is indeed an abandoned business, a pipe business here.
COLLINS: All right, so that's exactly what we needed to know, an abandoned pipe business. And that, I believe, what we're seeing on fire right now. But again, as we listen to that KTTV helicopter pilot, or reporter, inside, the main concern is obviously those very nearby homes just across that street. So certainly something to continue to watch as those winds just race across all of this. HARRIS: Rob, as we look at this, just trying to give folks a better idea of the communities we're talking about here, we heard the chopper pilot mention the Sierra Lakes Golf Club. But I just pulled up one of the maps here, and Rialto is east of Los Angeles, just to get our bearings here. Just west of Rialto is a community, Fontana, one of the cities there. Rancho Cucamonga is an area that people are familiar with, and then there's the 210 freeway as well. And sort of even east of Rialto is San Bernardino. So that's just a general idea of where this fire is located right now.
Let's take a quick break, and we'll check in with Rob and bring you a further update on the fire. You're in the NEWSROOM.
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Once again, we want to show you these pictures live to us here at CNN of the Rialto Fire. This is an abandoned business that caught fire somehow, still trying to determine a cause. It is burning right now, very near a residential community, just across the streets from the Sierra Lakes Golf Club. Just to give you better bearings on the community here, we're talking about Rialto, which is near Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, California, and it is all east of Los Angeles, very near the 210 Freeway.
We will continue to watch this in the next hour. But coming up in just a moment, an hour of special election coverage.
COLLINS: Yes, just one day before the big vote, we are going to be joined by Don Lemon and Fredricka Whitfield right here in the NEWSROOM. That's after a quick break, everybody.
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