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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Lottery Determines Order of Candidates on Recall Ballot; Taylor Steps Down

Aired August 11, 2003 - 22:00 ET

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

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

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone.
We saw a poll today, I think it was one we commissioned that said more than half of those Californians polled said there was at least some chance they would vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. We thought that pretty interesting given the fact that not one person out of 1,000 could tell you what he actually thinks about the issues facing the state.

This isn't a knock on him, he's been out there acting not politicking all these years, but it does say something about the power of celebrity and over the last few days we have seen that power play out in grand style and it is again where we begin the whip tonight, out in California. Thelma Gutierrez leads us off from Los Angeles, Thelma, a headline from you.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Aaron. It was very busy day here in California. A lottery drawing determines the names and the order of the candidates' names on the ballot while the governor takes to the streets to sell his track record.

BROWN: Thelma, thank you, we'll get back to you at the top tonight.

What does Arnold stand for? Dan Lothian has that tonight as best we can tell, Dan a headline.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, out here on the streets if you walked up to anyone they probably would be able to give you a list of the movies that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in. It would be quite different though if you asked them what he stood for, why, because the candidate won't talk about the issues at least not yet -- Aaron.

BROWN: Dan, thank you.

On to the conflict in Liberia, the departure of Liberia's President Charles Taylor, Jeff Koinange is in Monrovia tonight, a different capital this evening, Jeff the headline.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICAN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, a momentous and historic day not only in the history of Liberia but the entire African continent for the man who reneged on promise after promise actually got to keep two in one day -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you.

And, a disturbing story tonight about homeland security whether federal agencies are communicating enough about people on terror watch lists, Jeanne Meserve's beat and Jeanne is here, a headline from you.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, sharing intelligence was supposed to be the top priority after 9/11 but almost two years later the federal government has still not merged a dozen watch lists. One Democratic presidential candidate calls it an intolerable failure -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you, back to you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT the story of one Texas church standing behind their reverend for coming out against the confirmation of a gay Episcopalian bishop.

And, Beth Nissen tonight on people who sacrificed in the war in Iraq, those who haven't received much attention, the wounded of the war, even with terrible injuries many of them say they feel lucky, lucky to be alive.

And the least predictable two and a half minutes in television our look through tomorrow morning's papers tonight, my goodness, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with the campaign to unseat California's governor. Today two things became clear. One, Gray Davis is in big trouble, recent polling showing close to two-thirds of Californians favor a recall. And two, the election itself has at least the possibility of becoming so wrought with confusion that Florida 2000 would look like a finely tuned watch.

State officials introduced a new order to the English alphabet today ensuring randomness in the way candidates are listed on the ballot, a different ballot order in each of the state's 80 voting districts by the way.

We have two reports tonight beginning first with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): It was a six-minute basket spin. It seemed a lot more like a bingo game than a way to figure out the order that candidates should appear on California's recall ballot. The winning letters are W, Q, and O. That will determine the order of names of the nearly 200 potential candidates in each of the state's election districts.

Meanwhile, the person at the center of this political storm was out trying to save his job. He may not be an action hero but in the swarm of high school girls he was the closest thing to a star. For Davis, a welcome start to a full week on the campaign trail. It began at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. RABBI MARVIN HIER, DEAN, SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER: Governor, you can take particular pride in something that you not only were instrumental in funding but care deeply about.

GUTIERREZ: The things he cares deeply about is what Davis says he's already worked on like health care for the working poor.

GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: We have a million children that have health insurance today, children of working families that did not have it.

GUTIERREZ: Davis also touts his work on education, privacy protection, and a statewide anti-hate program for school kids and, yes, he says he's even made good on the budget crisis.

DAVIS: We have the budget crisis resolved. There's no $38 billion problem anymore. We have a balanced budget this year.

GUTIERREZ: For all he says he's done he still had to field stinging questions about all those other people vying for his job, including his lieutenant governor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking of tolerance, how tolerant are you of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante running?

DAVIS: I did not ask a single individual in the Democratic Party not to run.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Even so, the governor continues to slip in the polls and according to a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll, 64 percent of those surveyed said that they would vote to recall Davis while only 29 percent would vote to keep him in office -- Aaron.

BROWN: How, if you know, has that changed since Schwarzenegger announced?

GUTIERREZ: Well, I'll tell you ever since Schwarzenegger announced everything seems to have gone bad for Governor Davis. Schwarzenegger seems to be getting all the limelight, all the cameras.

Case in point, today Aaron we were at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. There were maybe ten cameras there versus the 50 cameras that were out with Schwarzenegger on Saturday and so things don't seem to be going all that well right now.

BROWN: Thelma, thank you very much. Thank you.

On now to Mr. Schwarzenegger and where he stands on the issues. A cynic might say it doesn't matter and it doesn't even take a cynic to recall that every since an ad executive came up with "I like Ike" candidates have been marketed like laundry detergent.

But, even a cynic would concede that consumers still like to know why Brand A trumps Brand X and perhaps voters do too. On the other hand, taking focused positions on key issues may be the thing Mr. Schwarzenegger wants most to avoid.

Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): The media circus surrounding Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign seems to pitch its tent no matter where he shows up. In New York, the gubernatorial hopeful jokingly explained it this way to children at an inner city day camp.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Look at all the press back there. They're all here for you.

LOTHIAN: In fact, the media are here for him, trying to find out where he stands on the issues, how he plans to fix the state's budget problems, questions one caller on L.A. talk radio was asking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold has not said anything about where he stands on all these issues.

LOTHIAN: The candidate's Web site under construction offers little more than where to send donations and, after formally signing up for the race this weekend, Schwarzenegger caught in that media frenzy wasn't ready to divulge much to CNN's Bob Franken.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When are you going to answer our questions, sir? When are you going to talk to us about substance?

SCHWARZENEGGER: We will be rolling it out. Remember, we just started the campaign.

FRANKEN: Do you think it's appropriate not to be prepared when you run for governor to have the substantive answers to questions that might be asked?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Let me make the decisions how we roll out the campaign.

LOTHIAN: Experts say the actor's political picture is out of focus.

RAFE SONSENSHEIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: We haven't filled in all the blanks on abortion, gay right, except that generally he's probably not a right-wing conservative on some of these issues.

LOTHIAN: He supports gay rights, abortion rights, and some gun control, putting him at odds with conservatives but Schwarzenegger was on their side when he voted for the so-called anti-illegal immigrant measure, Prop 187. That could become a liability now that he's casting his life and campaign as the triumph of an immigrant.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I have been received. I have been adopted in America.

LOTHIAN: So far, popularity and enthusiasm have been major assets. He's gracing the covers of national news magazines this week and, according to polls, he's the favorite for the job among California voters.

SEAN WALSH, SCHWARZENEGGER SPOKESMAN: At the end of the day people will know clearly what Arnold's vision is and they will know where he stands on the most important issues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: One political analyst says that in the end voters simply may not care about the issues. They might feel that Governor Davis has done such a bad job that they're angry at him. They'll want to vote him out and they see Arnold Schwarzenegger as a pretty decent replacement with or without the issues -- Aaron.

BROWN: Is there any talk out there that any of the other prominent Republicans who are in will drop out?

LOTHIAN: There's no talk of that right now, Aaron, and as you heard earlier right now all the focus seems to be on Schwarzenegger and he's eating up this attention and avoiding the issues.

BROWN: Thank you, Dan, very much, Dan Lothian.

If you're looking to get a handle on what California voters are up against come October, try doing what the NEWSNIGHT staff did tonight, pick up a Chinese take-out menu, 206 items not counting the lunch specials, it is only slightly less confusing than the recall ballot is apt to be. Good luck finding the Kung Pao chicken you wanted or the washed up sitcom star or the Hollywood action here for that matter.

There is, on the other hand, a basic rule of life that goes like this. The more media says disaster is coming the less likely it is to occur. Jeff Greenfield is here to talk politics, confusion, issues, and other fun and important stuff, nice to have you again.

There has been today all this talk about the ballot and what a mess it's going to be and the voting machines and what a disaster they are going to be, as the resident contrarian in my life weigh in.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, on this one I think that until you get to election day the talk about chaos and circus is probably going to fade away and look kind of silly because eventually there's going to be a debate, either a formal debate or a debate in the state about real stuff.

There aren't going to be 200 people in that debate. There are going to be six or seven. If a news organization holds a debate we already know who the six, possibly seven, candidates will be and I think that Schwarzenegger, who is surrounded by Pete Wilson's staff, knows that he has to show at least enough ankle, if I can put it that way, to be considered credible.

So, that part of the process I think is going to settle down; however, I am not a contrarian about will happen on Election Day because of what you described. I think that ballot is going to be the single biggest potential train wreck we've got coming.

BROWN: Because there are just so many names on it and that in many of these counties are using punch cards that can't handle it.

GREENFIELD: Well, let's go back to Florida. You remember the Florida election.

BROWN: I've heard about it. I've read about it, yes.

GREENFIELD: Yes, it was in all the papers. OK, there were ten people I believe on the presidential ballot in Florida in 2000 and that was enough to force Palm Beach to do the butterfly ballot and up in Volusia County they had a multiple page ballot which confused thousands of voters.

Now, as I understand it, I'm a liberal arts major but, as I understand it a punch card can't hold 200 items. They're going to have to give people two. Now, your voters you're going into a booth confronting something you've never seen before. Is it possible they think they're supposed to punch one name on each punch card in validating the ballot?

I don't want to get us back into that nightmare but this is an election nobody has ever lived through before in the first place with an alphabet nobody has seen before except in really wild nights in the '60s, and a potential mechanical device that nobody's dealt with.

BROWN: Speak for yourself on that by the way.

GREENFIELD: Whatever. I think that could be a really, really potential difficulty and I don't know how they're going to educate the voters about it.

BROWN: Let me play contrarian then.

GREENFIELD: Sure.

BROWN: They have two months in some respects to work some of this out. Now, you can't make the punch card longer but you do have the Florida experience and some time to deal with the hanging chad issue (unintelligible).

GREENFIELD: That issue, you know, California did OK with that in 2002 because people were aware of it. Look, what I'm suggesting is this. This may be a situation where the sheer, logistical reality of 150 people on a ballot for one position, which is something that election registrars have never dealt with much less voters is going to be a difficult problem.

I think we're going to get a serious discussion in California. I think all, you know, with the fascination with porn stars and billboard people and washed up comics and smut kings and I don't know who else is in there I really think that's going to be moved to one side and we're going to hear from Schwarzenegger, Bustamante, Simon, McClintock, Ueberroth, Huffington, maybe Camejo, the Green Party candidate. That's going to be the debate and I think it will be an interesting one but come Election Day I don't know.

BROWN: Let me ask you this. What has surprised you since we last talked on I guess Wednesday night? What has surprised you about the Schwarzenegger moment?

GREENFIELD: I can't say the Schwarzenegger moment has surprised me because that, it turns out, was a perfect storm for the media age, the shocking surprise announcement in an unconventional venue by one of the most famous people in the world who doesn't look like an ordinary candidate. That's Schwarzenegger.

What has surprised me is the way the bottom has fallen out, so far at least, of Davis. I would not have thought that the polls would have cratered as much as they have and that suggests that there may be a dynamic there that we're going to have to watch that the voters of California because they've done something or some of them have it's never been done before may feel a vested interest. This is our election.

BROWN: Right.

GREENFIELD: It's not theirs and I think the whole idea of a revolt against the political class, which Californians have done on and off for the last 25 or 30 years we may be seeing that develop.

BROWN: In a half a minute does that necessarily mean trouble for the Democrats?

GREENFIELD: Yes because everybody understands what to do if they're revolting against the political class. In California, every statewide official is a Democrat.

BROWN: Yes.

GREENFIELD: It doesn't mean Bustamante can't win. It just means that they hill is a really steep one. If they're in a throw the rascals out mood they know who to throw out and they probably also know who to put in and whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger is cool on secondary water subsidies may not be the pivotal issue.

BROWN: If you want to set up a cot in the NEWSNIGHT offices, feel free (unintelligible).

GREENFIELD: I think I'm going to open up that California (unintelligible) we joked about a few months ago, that Santa Barbara (unintelligible) is looking very attractive.

BROWN: I'll bet it is, thank you, see you soon.

On to Liberia next where two images brought hope to many people there today. President Charles Taylor, an indicted war criminal boarding a flight out of the country and, image number two, U.S. warships coming within view of the Liberian coastline. President Bush called Taylor's departure an important step in ending the civil war there but he said nothing about putting large numbers of American troops on the ground. And, Secretary of State Powell said he does not expect a big commitment of U.S. forces.

It's not hard to understand the American reluctance. The Associated Press put out a remarkably sad chronology today, an endless seeming list of coups, executions, rebel offensives and deadly counter attacks. The reason they put it out was to add today to the chronology, August 11, 2003, President Taylor resigns, leaves Liberia.

The hope, of course, is that the time line won't read anything like the past has but few are convinced that Taylor's exit alone will bring peace to a place that desperately needs it.

More now from CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE (voice-over): They came show their support, three African presidents, a whole host of dignitaries and friends, standing room only here to witness a man who had a promise to keep and when the time came for the man in white to address his nation for the last time as president it was vintage Taylor, defiant to the end, blaming the west for his failed presidency.

CHARLES TAYLOR, FMR. LIBERIAN PRESIDENT: I want to be the sacrificial lamb. I am the whipping boy. You know it's so easy to say because of Taylor. There will be no more Taylor after a few minutes.

KOINANGE: In between polite applause, Mr. Taylor sent a word of warning to his fellow African heads of state.

TAYLOR: Liberia is a soft spot. Decisions are not being made in our capitals. They are being made in foreign capitals. You must be careful.

KOINANGE: And he made a promise.

TAYLOR: I will be back.

KOINANGE: He took off his presidential sash and a new president was quickly sworn in.

(on camera): And just like that President Taylor steps down as Liberia's 21st president, the third time ever in this country's 156- year history.

(voice-over): And then the man who had ruled this country for the past six years headed for the airport. Along the way, thousands of Liberians watched, some waving branches, others simply staring.

At the airport more crowds and a plane provided by Nigeria, a quick wave of the white handkerchief and the man who had ruled the nation with an iron fist suddenly became a man without a country driven out by a popular uprising and international pressure. As the jet lifted into the afternoon sky many here left hoping this country can put itself back together again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: Aaron, and late Monday former President Taylor arrived at his new home away from home, Nigeria's capital of Abuja. He leaves behind a country torn apart by war and in desperate need of everything from food, water, and much needed medicines -- Aaron.

BROWN: Is he guaranteed sanctuary there or does he still find himself in some legal jeopardy?

KOINANGE: Some legal jeopardy for sure and from Abuja he's going to go to points unknown. They want to hide him out there for a while, Aaron, just so that the war indictment, the war crimes indictment can blow away but you know it's not going to do that -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you very much, Jeff Koinange tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, nearly two years after 9/11 and the government still hasn't a single list of who it needs to watch out for to prevent another attack.

And, the Episcopal Church where there's a plan to fight back against gays in the priesthood, that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There's an old story about mules and two-by-fours and using one to get the other's attention. You might imagine that when it comes to a tangled bureaucracy responsible for national security, 9/11 would have been the mother of all two-by-fours, a clear message that business as usual doesn't cut it anymore.

Not so according to a report from a government watchdog agency and a presidential challenger who wants something done about it, reporting for us tonight, CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): Two of the September 11th hijackers might have been caught had CIA information about them been shared and their names put on a single government watch list.

But, almost two years later the system for keeping a lookout for suspicious individuals is still broken say the experts with a jumble of watch lists containing different names and information.

DAVID HEYMAN, SR. FELLOW, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: We still would not be able to communicate the appropriate information to appropriate agencies in a timely fashion.

MESERVE: So it could happen all over again?

HEYMAN: Yes.

MESERVE: In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman says the failure to consolidate information onto one watch list is "an intolerable failure" that exposes the American public to an unacceptable risk. Lieberman is asking President Bush to issue an executive order requiring that the list be merged.

According to a recent report from the General Accounting Office there are 12 different watch lists maintained by nine different agencies, including Customs, the Transportation Security Administration, and the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. Some members of Congress are asking Ridge for a concrete timetable for consolidation.

REP. JIM TURNER (D), TEXAS: Surely, almost two years after September 11th of 2001 we could come up with one consistent terrorist watch list.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security says there is no time table for completing what he says is a technologically difficult task but he says progress has been made. There is, for instance, more sharing of names among watch lists. Critics say it's nowhere near enough -- Aaron.

BROWN: I know how dense this is going to sound but why can't they just -- why can't Homeland Security call up Customs and say send over your list, and call up the Transportation send over your list? Why is that so hard?

MESERVE: Well, believe it or not in discussions with an official today he said there may never be just one comprehensive watch list. What they're trying to compile, he says, is a central database and then individual agencies will be able to extract from that the information that's appropriate for them to have.

This person argues that a local cop on the beat, for instance, doesn't have to have the same sort of specific information that consular officials overseas might need when deciding whether or not to issue a visa. So, that dream of one list may never materialize.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you, Jeanne Meserve in Washington tonight.

Quickly a few stories from around the country making news, beginning with plans to mark the second anniversary of 9/11 in Lower Manhattan, we're a month away from that. This is how it looked a year ago.

This year's ceremony will begin at 8:30 in the morning, children reading the names of victims, performing music, and then at sundown you'll see something that looks like that. The tribute of light will return the twin beams that rose from the site six months after the attack. On to the president's choice to replace Christie Whitman at the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will be Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, conservative Republican, close ties to the president, back to his days as the Texas governor, Governor Leavitt is known to share the president's philosophy of giving state and local governments more flexibility in meeting environmental standards.

And, the man at the center of a remarkable moment in the history of sport and oddly enough the Cold War has died. Hockey coach Herb Brooks, he coached the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, the team that shocked the world with the miracle on ice win over the Soviets.

Herb Brooks died today in a car accident. One member of his 1980 team said this today: "All his teams overachieved because Herbie understood how to get the best out of each player and make him part of the team." Herb Brooks was 66.

Yesterday in New Hampshire, the Reverend Gene Robinson received a warm welcome home from Minneapolis where Episcopal leaders confirmed last week, confirmed him last week as the church's first openly gay bishop.

Reverend David Roseberry got the same hero's treatment when he got home as well. His home is in Plano, Texas, and he was warmly received for strongly opposing that confirmation, proof positive of the enormous divide within the Episcopal Church over the issue, reaction from Texas now and CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christ Church in Plano, Texas calls itself the most attended Episcopal Church in the U.S. A week ago its pastor, Reverend David Roseberry thought of himself as just another Episcopalian priest.

REV. DAVID ROSEBERRY, CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Boy, what a week it's been.

LAVANDERA: Now he's known as the man leading the quest to keep homosexuals out of the Episcopal Church's leadership.

ROSEBERRY: I will not be pushed or pulled into an apostate church. I can't do it. These things are too important to me and it's too much of a violation of what I believe and hold sacred.

LAVANDERA: Standing ovations for Reverend Roseberry were common during Sunday's sermon. Parishioners cheered him for resigning as a deputy from the Episcopal General Convention after it approved the nomination of a gay bishop.

JANICE CORDRAY, CHURCH MEMBER: I think he set an example for the entire United States, not just in Episcopal churches but all Christian churches and believers in Christ.

ROSEBERRY: One of the hopes and prayers I have after this debacle in Minneapolis is that it will wake you up. LAVANDERA: Roseberry says some things in the Bible just aren't up for a vote. He welcomes homosexuals to worship but he won't endorse their lifestyle. He sees no contradiction in this. Roseberry believes Jesus lived the same way.

ROSEBERRY: Those arms of love were stretched out really for everyone. His compassion included everyone who would come to him but he did not and he could not endorse all life, all lifestyles.

LAVANDERA: There is a small part of this church that doesn't share Roseberry's conviction.

JOHN MANGINO, CHURCH MEMBER: If the church decides to split and this is the side that is against the bishop we probably would seriously consider leaving the church.

FONDA MANGINO, CHURCH MEMBER: It just comes down to whether we have the same fundamental beliefs as he does.

LAVANDERA: And you're not sure that you do?

F. MANGINO: At this point I would say no.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Because of Reverend Roseberry's position, two homosexual members of his church have already quit but church leaders here insist that in the long run accepting gay spiritual leaders would only cause a much greater defection of members from the Episcopal Church.

ROSEBERRY: Most merciful God we confess that we have sinned against you.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): To prevent that from happening, Roseberry is inviting several thousand conservative Episcopalians to this church in October as he says they will be looking to start a new chapter of the American Episcopal Church.

ROSEBERRY: I want to send a signal to the whole church. It's got their eyes on us that we are not pulling back. We are surging forward into this next stage where God has led us.

LAVANDERA: No one knows what the future will bring but this congregation and its leader feel that they're fighting for the church's soul.

Ed Lavandera CNN, Plano, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT tonight, the Baghdad crime wave which even thousands of police officers seem powerless to stop.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: In the long, hot Iraqi summer, it's been a rough couple of days, even in places we've come to see as relatively calm. Violence broke out over the weekend in Basra, in the southern part of Iraq. This is an area controlled by British forces, who, until now, have been doing their work with far less resistance than in points farther north.

The power shortages, fuel -- or rather, power outages and fuel shortages and the heat, too, too much for some people. They took to the streets, set fires, took potshots at the British. One soldier and at least two Iraqis are now dead.

Situation finally quieted down some this afternoon.

Meantime, in Baghdad, another kind of disorder continues to plague the city.

Here is CNN's Harris Whitbeck.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A suspected carjacker is hustled into a waiting police car outside Baghdad's main hospital. Emergency rooms are filled with victims of muggings and stabbings. At a nearby police station, suspected criminals file in and out.

Common crime is on the rise here, an ugly side effect to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. "Crime was much less prevalent before," he says, "because we had patrols on the streets, and the public could use telephones to report crimes."

Businessman Farid Sagman has suffered the change firsthand. Within a two-week period, his car was stolen at gunpoint and he was robbed by armed men who stormed into his house.

FARID SAGMAN, CRIME VICTIM: They put this on my head. Then this, my nightshirt. They were -- being hit me. And this napkins, they put it...

WHITBECK: These days, shopkeepers say they shutter their stores before darkness brings anarchy.

"There's no safety, there's no stability," he says. "There is crime, and there is murder. It is chaos to an unnatural degree."

While the Iraqi police now have more than 5,000 officers in the streets of the capital, few feel that is enough.

(on camera): Coalition officials say more help is on the way. They say they hope to train close to 5,000 more police officers in the coming months to deal with a reality few here thought they would ever have to cope with.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Quick look at some other stories from around the world that made news, starting in Great Britain with the inquest into the death of David Kelly. Mr. Kelly, you'll recall, was the scientist caught in the middle of the storm over allegations the British government exaggerated the case on Iraqi weapons. He committed suicide after he was named as the source in the story. The inquest is aimed, in part, at finding out who leaked his name.

Next, to Kabul, and a changing of the guard, NATO taking charge of peacekeeping forces there, making it the first operation of its kind for the alliance outside of Europe.

And back in Europe, another punishing day, bad enough to drive Parisians who can into the fountains, worse for Parisians who can't. At least 50 people have died from heat-related illnesses in the last seven days, and it's no different from Amsterdam to Athens.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, more on the California recall. We'll talk with Republican strategist Ed Rollins about the heavyweight in the race, and what he has to do to convince voters he's got the muscle -- get it? -- to be their next governor.

My goodness. This must be NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: I'm Christine Romans with this MONEYLINE update. The Nasdaq today broke a six-session losing streak. The Nasdaq climbed 17 points. The Dow industrials gained 26, the S&P added 3. Martha Stewart's legal problems are hurting her brand. Company profits tumbled 86 percent.

Watch "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," weeknights at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

Now back to NEWSNIGHT with Aaron Brown.

BROWN: And Ed Rollins is here. Morning papers are coming. We'll take a break first. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: For the next seven weeks or so, the political world will belong to California. Would have been true even if Mr. Schwarzenegger had not gotten in the race. With him, it is a slam-dunk.

As Dan Lothian reported earlier, the campaign has said virtually nothing about what Mr. Schwarzenegger actually believes, and that may be pretty sound strategy.

Ed Rollins knows more than this than most of us. He's been running campaigns, almost always for Republicans, for years.

We're pleased to have him with us tonight.

ED ROLLINS, GOP CONSULTANT: Thank you.

BROWN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROLLINS: Nice, nice, nice to be with you.

BROWN: Nice to see you.

Is it necessary for Mr. Schwarzenegger to say, Here is where I stand on secondary waste? Here is where I stand on secondary education?

ROLLINS: No. You know, bottom line is, most voters would be bored to death. He has to certainly sound knowledgeable about some of the issues, and certainly by talking about the problems, he can be very knowledgeable. If he tried to lay out a plan to eliminate the $38 billion budget more effectively than Davis had, people would be bored to death, and obviously it would alienate some groups.

What people want is an outsider to come in and provide leadership, and they think that he can do that. He obviously has got a launch like no one has ever had in American politics, as far as I am concerned...

BROWN: Yes.

ROLLINS: ... and I've been around a long time. There is a movement out there. I think that people will find him a credible candidate. They think he's a no-nonsense guy who basically will live up to the image that he's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the screen.

BROWN: Just on the subject of the launch, which has been fascinating to watch, and I had a couple days off last week, and I was just watching this play out as a civilian. In the absence of 24-hour cable, how different would it be?

ROLLINS: Oh, it'd have been totally different. I mean, obviously, 24-hour cable is around the clock. It's obvious, it's -- the response is quicker. You know, he would have certainly had the play in the California papers, but he's had a play across this country.

I mean, if he was running for a Democratic nomination for president, and had this same kind of launch, he'd be the front-runner today in that field too. I mean, it's -- I've never seen anything like it.

BROWN: How, then, does -- if it's at all possible, do the other Republicans, first of all, in the race, and some of them are very smart and credible and certainly have a lot of money, how do they get air?

ROLLINS: Well, the only way they're going to get air is, they're going to have to buy it. It's -- and obviously, Arnold can buy air. And any of these other candidates, no matter how effective their commercials are, when you have someone that projects as strong an image as he does on television, and California is the ultimate television state, it's going to be hard to beat him.

BROWN: How is this different than -- from the Reagan gubernatorial launch?

ROLLINS: Well, the Reagan gubernatorial launch, Reagan had been around a little bit longer and was viewed, but it was certainly nothing like this. It was -- you did a five-city fly-around, and it was strictly California, and it may have had a little something somewhere in "The New York Times" that Ronald Reagan is running for governor of California.

BROWN: Really, it was...

ROLLINS: It was, it was nowhere, nowhere near like this. He was the darling of the conservatives, obviously.

BROWN: President Reagan had been at the time, he'd been out there on issues. He'd been speak for GE, he was a star at a Republican convention. He had a political identity more so than Mr. Schwarzenegger, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

ROLLINS: He had a political identity. There was another Republican in that, everybody forgets, the mayor San Francisco, a guy named George Christopher, who was sort of the establishment candidate, and Reagan was the conservative candidate. And a lot of the assemblymen, a lot of the state senators who were Republicans, and the Republican establishment, were on that side.

BROWN: Couple of quick things. What are the pitfalls for Mr. Schwarzenegger?

ROLLINS: Pitfalls...

BROWN: What's the danger?

ROLLINS: Well, the danger is that obviously the expectations are high, and he can't do anything foolish. I don't think he will do anything foolish. I think he's a very...

BROWN: What would constitute foolish?

ROLLINS: Well, foolish is some off remark that, worrying about mikes, worrying about -- you know, he has to...

BROWN: Right.

ROLLINS: ... he has to be viewed as serious. I mean, any slip here, he will -- everybody will pounce on him and be replayed a thousand times. I mean, I think the critical thing here is, he's going to have an assault by his own side, and certainly the Davis campaign will run a very tough campaign against him,

But he just has to be above that fray. How do you beat a guy every day who is out there with thousands of people...

BROWN: Yes. ROLLINS: ... kids...

BROWN: Just want to see him.

ROLLINS: Just want to see him. And then you combine that in a television state. Press doesn't matter. Television is what matters in California. And he takes that and puts it on the commercials, and it gets reinforced and reinforced (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: Does he have to debate?

ROLLINS: No. How can you debate 200 people? I mean, it just -- it's -- And his are -- Davis isn't going to debate him one-on-one. Davis didn't want to debate Bill Simon one-on-one, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BROWN: Yes. So different times calls for different strategies. Jeff Greenfield earlier said he's got to show a little ankle out there, he's got to at least give voters a sense that he's capable on (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROLLINS: He has a very smart team. The team that's running his campaign, starting with Pete Wilson, who won four times statewide, twice for U.S. Senate, twice for governor, is his chairman. His chief of staff, Bob White is Arnold's -- is media guy, is Arnold's. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you know, the press secretary is John Walsh. Worked for President Bush. Worked for Pete.

BROWN: Yes.

ROLLINS: They are smart people. And I -- my sense is, like Ronald Reagan, who had been an actor, as everyone knew, Ronald Reagan was used to taking direction. He listened to people. He had his own ideas, but he listened to people. This guy's going to listen to people. He knows these guys are pros...

BROWN: Yes.

ROLLINS: ... and he's going to run a pro campaign. Unlike Bill Simon or Arianna Huffington or someone else, who are new to the game, and they won't listen.

BROWN: Thanks for coming in.

ROLLINS: My pleasure.

BROWN: Assuming you don't get a dog in the sun, I hope you'll come back. And even if you do, I hope you'll come back.

ROLLINS: Great, great, thanks, nice, take care.

BROWN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROLLINS: Good luck on the show.

BROWN: Thank you. Ed Rollins.

As NEWSNIGHT continues, the war wounded and the place where they are healed. A look inside War 57.

A break first from New York. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We honor, all of us, those who have died in Iraq. Whatever your feelings about the war itself, the death of a soldier, young or not so young, as we just saw, is a tragedy.

We have, I'm afraid, paid far less attention to those who have been wounded. There have been a lot of them, and for a variety of reasons, they've gotten less attention than they deserve.

We begin correcting that tonight.

These are not pretty stories. A father who can't hug a child without both arms couldn't possibly be.

Hundreds of the wounded are being treated tonight at Walter Reed Army Hospital, many facing a long and difficult road.

It is a road we started down with them the other day, and as reported tonight by Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are air-evaced here to Walter Reed Medical Center, to Ward 57, the orthopedic ward, where specialists work to heal, to save shattered arms, crushed legs.

1ST LT. RONALD STEPHENS, ACTING HEAD NURSE, WARD 57: We are very busy. Currently, we have 24 beds assigned, and we have 24 beds that are full.

NISSEN: In one of those beds, Specialist Chris Atherton, who lost much of his left arm July 26 when an RPG hit his Humvee.

SPEC. CHRIS ATHERTON: It's a weird feeling, because I feel like I -- my hand's still there, and I can move it. But it's not there.

NISSEN: Just down the hall in Ward 57, Staff Sergeant Ryan Kelly, whose lower right leg was mangled in a bomb attack on his convoy July 14.

STAFF SGT. RYAN KELLY: They attempted to save it, but they weren't able to. They tried for, I think, six hours, is what I was told, and then I -- when I woke up, the leg was gone.

NISSEN: Walter Reed has treated 24 amputees from Operation Iraqi Freedom in the medical center's new $3 million amputee center.

The priority after surgery, quickly replace what's been lost with a state-of-the-art prosthetic limb, custom fit with the help of 3-D computer imaging. Once measured, most amputees get their prosthesis within days.

KELLY: Oh, I'm so excited, because I'm ready to get my leg, ready to get walking again, and ready to get back to work.

NISSEN: Doctors and nurses here say that attitude is common. Amputees are almost incredibly positive, despite grievous injuries.

STEPHENS: I think they would have some anger towards it. But most of them, it doesn't. I mean, they're soldiers.

NISSEN: Anger, bitterness, depression -- all may hit later. But in the weeks after being wounded, most amputees are overwhelmed with their good fortune that their injuries weren't worse.

KELLY: The simple fact that it's a below-the-knee amputation makes me extremely lucky, because I'm only compensating for one joint. I'm -- I got to compensate for an ankle.

NISSEN: The amputees are grateful, as GIs say, to be above ground.

ATHERTON: Oh! Got lucky.

I'm good. I am happy, and I'm alive.

NISSEN: But their lives are drastically different. Amputees go to regular therapy sessions, occupational therapy, psychological therapy. Gradually they give voice to their worries, their fears.

DR. RICK MALONE, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF PSYCHIATRY: A lot of the people who come back having lost limbs, they're afraid of sexuality, for example. What is it going to be like, you know, rejoining their spouse? Another common reaction is, How are my kids going to react?

NISSEN: Specialist Atherton has thought a lot about his 2-month- daughter, born after he was deployed to Iraq. He's sad to think that he'll never hold her in both his arms. He's hoping that won't matter to her.

ATHERTON: I think it'll be the same. I think she'll look at me the same, as a father. And that's what's most important, you know?

NISSEN: Having only one arm won't change his plans to go back to school, become a history teacher. Having only one leg won't change Staff Sergeant Ryan's plans to work as an EMS for a fire department and continue weekend service in the Army Reserve.

KELLY: I'm going to hit a point a few months down the road where I'm going to be walking and doing everything like I used to, and I'm gong to say, you know, No big deal.

NISSEN: Yet Walter Reed staffers say they hope no one shrugs off what these soldiers have been through, what they've suffered.

MALONE: I think that makes a big difference in how they adapt long term. I wonder if five or 10 years from now, you know, people in their hometowns are going to recognize the sacrifice that they made, and there's still going to be that appreciation.

NISSEN: Appreciation for how many lives have been changed, forever reshaped, by the war still being fought in Iraq.

Beth Nissen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Morning papers after the break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Oh, how I missed the sound of the rooster over the last couple of days on the weekend. But, gosh, it's back now. Almost wish I could hear it again, but I know I can't.

Time to check morning -- Time to check morning papers. I was almost...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not doing it.

BROWN: Thank you. Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world.

I love this story, OK? The "San Francisco Chronicle." I love this story because, when you get into the arena, and Mr. Schwarzenegger is into the arena, this is the stuff they find out. "Actor's Poor Voting Record" is the lead in the "San Francisco Chronicle." "Front-runner Candidate Failed to Cast Ballot in 6 of 11 Elections." Pretty detailed look at his voting or lack-of-voting record, including the years he requested an absentee ballot and didn't send them back.

The voting records are public records, and there it is.

Pretty much -- almost all the front page is political, except for Liberia down at the bottom. Schwarzenegger, "Business of Arnold at Center of Diverse Portfolio Including Stocks, Property, and Media." Anyway, the voting record will get people talking. It's a starting point.

"The Oregonian" out in Portland, Oregon. We'll stay out West for a while. Wish we had more West Coast papers, but, hey, they're on deadline, and it's later than us. "Schwarzenegger So Far Long on Public Image, Short on Policy Ideas, Movie Star Turned Candidate for California Governor Offers Nothing in the Way of Solid Concepts." That will bother some people. On the other hand, it's a good way to stay out of trouble.

What did I like about this -- oh, how could I fail? "The Washington Times." How would could I fail? I was a student. "AOL Wants to Cut -- Wants Name Cut from Time Warner." Or is it the other way around? It's always confusing to me here. Anyway, they didn't call me and tell me about that today. I'm a little bit surprised.

How we doing on time? Thirty-nine.

"Chicago Sun Times," by the way, the weather in Chicago tomorrow, "Hubba Hubba." That sounded pretty good, right? That's pretty good weather. We don't get many hubba-hubba days.

"Cop Camera's First Collar," police made first quality-of-life arrest using remote eye in the sky, a man smoking marijuana in a car on the West Side, and they got him.

Twenty seconds? That's it, really? OK.

The "Detroit Free Press" said, "Heat Becomes the New Enemy." And they list all the -- this is in Iraq -- 135 degrees, but it's a dry heat, as they say.

That's morning papers. We'll see you tomorrow, 10:00 Eastern time. Until then, good night for all of us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Taylor Steps Down>

Aired August 11, 2003 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again, everyone.
We saw a poll today, I think it was one we commissioned that said more than half of those Californians polled said there was at least some chance they would vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger. We thought that pretty interesting given the fact that not one person out of 1,000 could tell you what he actually thinks about the issues facing the state.

This isn't a knock on him, he's been out there acting not politicking all these years, but it does say something about the power of celebrity and over the last few days we have seen that power play out in grand style and it is again where we begin the whip tonight, out in California. Thelma Gutierrez leads us off from Los Angeles, Thelma, a headline from you.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Aaron. It was very busy day here in California. A lottery drawing determines the names and the order of the candidates' names on the ballot while the governor takes to the streets to sell his track record.

BROWN: Thelma, thank you, we'll get back to you at the top tonight.

What does Arnold stand for? Dan Lothian has that tonight as best we can tell, Dan a headline.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Aaron, out here on the streets if you walked up to anyone they probably would be able to give you a list of the movies that Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in. It would be quite different though if you asked them what he stood for, why, because the candidate won't talk about the issues at least not yet -- Aaron.

BROWN: Dan, thank you.

On to the conflict in Liberia, the departure of Liberia's President Charles Taylor, Jeff Koinange is in Monrovia tonight, a different capital this evening, Jeff the headline.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICAN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, a momentous and historic day not only in the history of Liberia but the entire African continent for the man who reneged on promise after promise actually got to keep two in one day -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you.

And, a disturbing story tonight about homeland security whether federal agencies are communicating enough about people on terror watch lists, Jeanne Meserve's beat and Jeanne is here, a headline from you.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aaron, sharing intelligence was supposed to be the top priority after 9/11 but almost two years later the federal government has still not merged a dozen watch lists. One Democratic presidential candidate calls it an intolerable failure -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you, back to you and the rest shortly.

Also coming up tonight on NEWSNIGHT the story of one Texas church standing behind their reverend for coming out against the confirmation of a gay Episcopalian bishop.

And, Beth Nissen tonight on people who sacrificed in the war in Iraq, those who haven't received much attention, the wounded of the war, even with terrible injuries many of them say they feel lucky, lucky to be alive.

And the least predictable two and a half minutes in television our look through tomorrow morning's papers tonight, my goodness, all that and more in the hour ahead.

We begin with the campaign to unseat California's governor. Today two things became clear. One, Gray Davis is in big trouble, recent polling showing close to two-thirds of Californians favor a recall. And two, the election itself has at least the possibility of becoming so wrought with confusion that Florida 2000 would look like a finely tuned watch.

State officials introduced a new order to the English alphabet today ensuring randomness in the way candidates are listed on the ballot, a different ballot order in each of the state's 80 voting districts by the way.

We have two reports tonight beginning first with CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): It was a six-minute basket spin. It seemed a lot more like a bingo game than a way to figure out the order that candidates should appear on California's recall ballot. The winning letters are W, Q, and O. That will determine the order of names of the nearly 200 potential candidates in each of the state's election districts.

Meanwhile, the person at the center of this political storm was out trying to save his job. He may not be an action hero but in the swarm of high school girls he was the closest thing to a star. For Davis, a welcome start to a full week on the campaign trail. It began at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. RABBI MARVIN HIER, DEAN, SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER: Governor, you can take particular pride in something that you not only were instrumental in funding but care deeply about.

GUTIERREZ: The things he cares deeply about is what Davis says he's already worked on like health care for the working poor.

GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: We have a million children that have health insurance today, children of working families that did not have it.

GUTIERREZ: Davis also touts his work on education, privacy protection, and a statewide anti-hate program for school kids and, yes, he says he's even made good on the budget crisis.

DAVIS: We have the budget crisis resolved. There's no $38 billion problem anymore. We have a balanced budget this year.

GUTIERREZ: For all he says he's done he still had to field stinging questions about all those other people vying for his job, including his lieutenant governor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking of tolerance, how tolerant are you of Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante running?

DAVIS: I did not ask a single individual in the Democratic Party not to run.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Even so, the governor continues to slip in the polls and according to a new CNN/USA Today Gallup poll, 64 percent of those surveyed said that they would vote to recall Davis while only 29 percent would vote to keep him in office -- Aaron.

BROWN: How, if you know, has that changed since Schwarzenegger announced?

GUTIERREZ: Well, I'll tell you ever since Schwarzenegger announced everything seems to have gone bad for Governor Davis. Schwarzenegger seems to be getting all the limelight, all the cameras.

Case in point, today Aaron we were at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. There were maybe ten cameras there versus the 50 cameras that were out with Schwarzenegger on Saturday and so things don't seem to be going all that well right now.

BROWN: Thelma, thank you very much. Thank you.

On now to Mr. Schwarzenegger and where he stands on the issues. A cynic might say it doesn't matter and it doesn't even take a cynic to recall that every since an ad executive came up with "I like Ike" candidates have been marketed like laundry detergent.

But, even a cynic would concede that consumers still like to know why Brand A trumps Brand X and perhaps voters do too. On the other hand, taking focused positions on key issues may be the thing Mr. Schwarzenegger wants most to avoid.

Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): The media circus surrounding Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign seems to pitch its tent no matter where he shows up. In New York, the gubernatorial hopeful jokingly explained it this way to children at an inner city day camp.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Look at all the press back there. They're all here for you.

LOTHIAN: In fact, the media are here for him, trying to find out where he stands on the issues, how he plans to fix the state's budget problems, questions one caller on L.A. talk radio was asking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Arnold has not said anything about where he stands on all these issues.

LOTHIAN: The candidate's Web site under construction offers little more than where to send donations and, after formally signing up for the race this weekend, Schwarzenegger caught in that media frenzy wasn't ready to divulge much to CNN's Bob Franken.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When are you going to answer our questions, sir? When are you going to talk to us about substance?

SCHWARZENEGGER: We will be rolling it out. Remember, we just started the campaign.

FRANKEN: Do you think it's appropriate not to be prepared when you run for governor to have the substantive answers to questions that might be asked?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Let me make the decisions how we roll out the campaign.

LOTHIAN: Experts say the actor's political picture is out of focus.

RAFE SONSENSHEIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: We haven't filled in all the blanks on abortion, gay right, except that generally he's probably not a right-wing conservative on some of these issues.

LOTHIAN: He supports gay rights, abortion rights, and some gun control, putting him at odds with conservatives but Schwarzenegger was on their side when he voted for the so-called anti-illegal immigrant measure, Prop 187. That could become a liability now that he's casting his life and campaign as the triumph of an immigrant.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I have been received. I have been adopted in America.

LOTHIAN: So far, popularity and enthusiasm have been major assets. He's gracing the covers of national news magazines this week and, according to polls, he's the favorite for the job among California voters.

SEAN WALSH, SCHWARZENEGGER SPOKESMAN: At the end of the day people will know clearly what Arnold's vision is and they will know where he stands on the most important issues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: One political analyst says that in the end voters simply may not care about the issues. They might feel that Governor Davis has done such a bad job that they're angry at him. They'll want to vote him out and they see Arnold Schwarzenegger as a pretty decent replacement with or without the issues -- Aaron.

BROWN: Is there any talk out there that any of the other prominent Republicans who are in will drop out?

LOTHIAN: There's no talk of that right now, Aaron, and as you heard earlier right now all the focus seems to be on Schwarzenegger and he's eating up this attention and avoiding the issues.

BROWN: Thank you, Dan, very much, Dan Lothian.

If you're looking to get a handle on what California voters are up against come October, try doing what the NEWSNIGHT staff did tonight, pick up a Chinese take-out menu, 206 items not counting the lunch specials, it is only slightly less confusing than the recall ballot is apt to be. Good luck finding the Kung Pao chicken you wanted or the washed up sitcom star or the Hollywood action here for that matter.

There is, on the other hand, a basic rule of life that goes like this. The more media says disaster is coming the less likely it is to occur. Jeff Greenfield is here to talk politics, confusion, issues, and other fun and important stuff, nice to have you again.

There has been today all this talk about the ballot and what a mess it's going to be and the voting machines and what a disaster they are going to be, as the resident contrarian in my life weigh in.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, on this one I think that until you get to election day the talk about chaos and circus is probably going to fade away and look kind of silly because eventually there's going to be a debate, either a formal debate or a debate in the state about real stuff.

There aren't going to be 200 people in that debate. There are going to be six or seven. If a news organization holds a debate we already know who the six, possibly seven, candidates will be and I think that Schwarzenegger, who is surrounded by Pete Wilson's staff, knows that he has to show at least enough ankle, if I can put it that way, to be considered credible.

So, that part of the process I think is going to settle down; however, I am not a contrarian about will happen on Election Day because of what you described. I think that ballot is going to be the single biggest potential train wreck we've got coming.

BROWN: Because there are just so many names on it and that in many of these counties are using punch cards that can't handle it.

GREENFIELD: Well, let's go back to Florida. You remember the Florida election.

BROWN: I've heard about it. I've read about it, yes.

GREENFIELD: Yes, it was in all the papers. OK, there were ten people I believe on the presidential ballot in Florida in 2000 and that was enough to force Palm Beach to do the butterfly ballot and up in Volusia County they had a multiple page ballot which confused thousands of voters.

Now, as I understand it, I'm a liberal arts major but, as I understand it a punch card can't hold 200 items. They're going to have to give people two. Now, your voters you're going into a booth confronting something you've never seen before. Is it possible they think they're supposed to punch one name on each punch card in validating the ballot?

I don't want to get us back into that nightmare but this is an election nobody has ever lived through before in the first place with an alphabet nobody has seen before except in really wild nights in the '60s, and a potential mechanical device that nobody's dealt with.

BROWN: Speak for yourself on that by the way.

GREENFIELD: Whatever. I think that could be a really, really potential difficulty and I don't know how they're going to educate the voters about it.

BROWN: Let me play contrarian then.

GREENFIELD: Sure.

BROWN: They have two months in some respects to work some of this out. Now, you can't make the punch card longer but you do have the Florida experience and some time to deal with the hanging chad issue (unintelligible).

GREENFIELD: That issue, you know, California did OK with that in 2002 because people were aware of it. Look, what I'm suggesting is this. This may be a situation where the sheer, logistical reality of 150 people on a ballot for one position, which is something that election registrars have never dealt with much less voters is going to be a difficult problem.

I think we're going to get a serious discussion in California. I think all, you know, with the fascination with porn stars and billboard people and washed up comics and smut kings and I don't know who else is in there I really think that's going to be moved to one side and we're going to hear from Schwarzenegger, Bustamante, Simon, McClintock, Ueberroth, Huffington, maybe Camejo, the Green Party candidate. That's going to be the debate and I think it will be an interesting one but come Election Day I don't know.

BROWN: Let me ask you this. What has surprised you since we last talked on I guess Wednesday night? What has surprised you about the Schwarzenegger moment?

GREENFIELD: I can't say the Schwarzenegger moment has surprised me because that, it turns out, was a perfect storm for the media age, the shocking surprise announcement in an unconventional venue by one of the most famous people in the world who doesn't look like an ordinary candidate. That's Schwarzenegger.

What has surprised me is the way the bottom has fallen out, so far at least, of Davis. I would not have thought that the polls would have cratered as much as they have and that suggests that there may be a dynamic there that we're going to have to watch that the voters of California because they've done something or some of them have it's never been done before may feel a vested interest. This is our election.

BROWN: Right.

GREENFIELD: It's not theirs and I think the whole idea of a revolt against the political class, which Californians have done on and off for the last 25 or 30 years we may be seeing that develop.

BROWN: In a half a minute does that necessarily mean trouble for the Democrats?

GREENFIELD: Yes because everybody understands what to do if they're revolting against the political class. In California, every statewide official is a Democrat.

BROWN: Yes.

GREENFIELD: It doesn't mean Bustamante can't win. It just means that they hill is a really steep one. If they're in a throw the rascals out mood they know who to throw out and they probably also know who to put in and whether or not Arnold Schwarzenegger is cool on secondary water subsidies may not be the pivotal issue.

BROWN: If you want to set up a cot in the NEWSNIGHT offices, feel free (unintelligible).

GREENFIELD: I think I'm going to open up that California (unintelligible) we joked about a few months ago, that Santa Barbara (unintelligible) is looking very attractive.

BROWN: I'll bet it is, thank you, see you soon.

On to Liberia next where two images brought hope to many people there today. President Charles Taylor, an indicted war criminal boarding a flight out of the country and, image number two, U.S. warships coming within view of the Liberian coastline. President Bush called Taylor's departure an important step in ending the civil war there but he said nothing about putting large numbers of American troops on the ground. And, Secretary of State Powell said he does not expect a big commitment of U.S. forces.

It's not hard to understand the American reluctance. The Associated Press put out a remarkably sad chronology today, an endless seeming list of coups, executions, rebel offensives and deadly counter attacks. The reason they put it out was to add today to the chronology, August 11, 2003, President Taylor resigns, leaves Liberia.

The hope, of course, is that the time line won't read anything like the past has but few are convinced that Taylor's exit alone will bring peace to a place that desperately needs it.

More now from CNN's Jeff Koinange.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE (voice-over): They came show their support, three African presidents, a whole host of dignitaries and friends, standing room only here to witness a man who had a promise to keep and when the time came for the man in white to address his nation for the last time as president it was vintage Taylor, defiant to the end, blaming the west for his failed presidency.

CHARLES TAYLOR, FMR. LIBERIAN PRESIDENT: I want to be the sacrificial lamb. I am the whipping boy. You know it's so easy to say because of Taylor. There will be no more Taylor after a few minutes.

KOINANGE: In between polite applause, Mr. Taylor sent a word of warning to his fellow African heads of state.

TAYLOR: Liberia is a soft spot. Decisions are not being made in our capitals. They are being made in foreign capitals. You must be careful.

KOINANGE: And he made a promise.

TAYLOR: I will be back.

KOINANGE: He took off his presidential sash and a new president was quickly sworn in.

(on camera): And just like that President Taylor steps down as Liberia's 21st president, the third time ever in this country's 156- year history.

(voice-over): And then the man who had ruled this country for the past six years headed for the airport. Along the way, thousands of Liberians watched, some waving branches, others simply staring.

At the airport more crowds and a plane provided by Nigeria, a quick wave of the white handkerchief and the man who had ruled the nation with an iron fist suddenly became a man without a country driven out by a popular uprising and international pressure. As the jet lifted into the afternoon sky many here left hoping this country can put itself back together again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOINANGE: Aaron, and late Monday former President Taylor arrived at his new home away from home, Nigeria's capital of Abuja. He leaves behind a country torn apart by war and in desperate need of everything from food, water, and much needed medicines -- Aaron.

BROWN: Is he guaranteed sanctuary there or does he still find himself in some legal jeopardy?

KOINANGE: Some legal jeopardy for sure and from Abuja he's going to go to points unknown. They want to hide him out there for a while, Aaron, just so that the war indictment, the war crimes indictment can blow away but you know it's not going to do that -- Aaron.

BROWN: Jeff, thank you very much, Jeff Koinange tonight.

Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, nearly two years after 9/11 and the government still hasn't a single list of who it needs to watch out for to prevent another attack.

And, the Episcopal Church where there's a plan to fight back against gays in the priesthood, that and more as NEWSNIGHT continues from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: There's an old story about mules and two-by-fours and using one to get the other's attention. You might imagine that when it comes to a tangled bureaucracy responsible for national security, 9/11 would have been the mother of all two-by-fours, a clear message that business as usual doesn't cut it anymore.

Not so according to a report from a government watchdog agency and a presidential challenger who wants something done about it, reporting for us tonight, CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): Two of the September 11th hijackers might have been caught had CIA information about them been shared and their names put on a single government watch list.

But, almost two years later the system for keeping a lookout for suspicious individuals is still broken say the experts with a jumble of watch lists containing different names and information.

DAVID HEYMAN, SR. FELLOW, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: We still would not be able to communicate the appropriate information to appropriate agencies in a timely fashion.

MESERVE: So it could happen all over again?

HEYMAN: Yes.

MESERVE: In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman says the failure to consolidate information onto one watch list is "an intolerable failure" that exposes the American public to an unacceptable risk. Lieberman is asking President Bush to issue an executive order requiring that the list be merged.

According to a recent report from the General Accounting Office there are 12 different watch lists maintained by nine different agencies, including Customs, the Transportation Security Administration, and the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. Some members of Congress are asking Ridge for a concrete timetable for consolidation.

REP. JIM TURNER (D), TEXAS: Surely, almost two years after September 11th of 2001 we could come up with one consistent terrorist watch list.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security says there is no time table for completing what he says is a technologically difficult task but he says progress has been made. There is, for instance, more sharing of names among watch lists. Critics say it's nowhere near enough -- Aaron.

BROWN: I know how dense this is going to sound but why can't they just -- why can't Homeland Security call up Customs and say send over your list, and call up the Transportation send over your list? Why is that so hard?

MESERVE: Well, believe it or not in discussions with an official today he said there may never be just one comprehensive watch list. What they're trying to compile, he says, is a central database and then individual agencies will be able to extract from that the information that's appropriate for them to have.

This person argues that a local cop on the beat, for instance, doesn't have to have the same sort of specific information that consular officials overseas might need when deciding whether or not to issue a visa. So, that dream of one list may never materialize.

BROWN: Jeanne, thank you, Jeanne Meserve in Washington tonight.

Quickly a few stories from around the country making news, beginning with plans to mark the second anniversary of 9/11 in Lower Manhattan, we're a month away from that. This is how it looked a year ago.

This year's ceremony will begin at 8:30 in the morning, children reading the names of victims, performing music, and then at sundown you'll see something that looks like that. The tribute of light will return the twin beams that rose from the site six months after the attack. On to the president's choice to replace Christie Whitman at the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, will be Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, conservative Republican, close ties to the president, back to his days as the Texas governor, Governor Leavitt is known to share the president's philosophy of giving state and local governments more flexibility in meeting environmental standards.

And, the man at the center of a remarkable moment in the history of sport and oddly enough the Cold War has died. Hockey coach Herb Brooks, he coached the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, the team that shocked the world with the miracle on ice win over the Soviets.

Herb Brooks died today in a car accident. One member of his 1980 team said this today: "All his teams overachieved because Herbie understood how to get the best out of each player and make him part of the team." Herb Brooks was 66.

Yesterday in New Hampshire, the Reverend Gene Robinson received a warm welcome home from Minneapolis where Episcopal leaders confirmed last week, confirmed him last week as the church's first openly gay bishop.

Reverend David Roseberry got the same hero's treatment when he got home as well. His home is in Plano, Texas, and he was warmly received for strongly opposing that confirmation, proof positive of the enormous divide within the Episcopal Church over the issue, reaction from Texas now and CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christ Church in Plano, Texas calls itself the most attended Episcopal Church in the U.S. A week ago its pastor, Reverend David Roseberry thought of himself as just another Episcopalian priest.

REV. DAVID ROSEBERRY, CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Boy, what a week it's been.

LAVANDERA: Now he's known as the man leading the quest to keep homosexuals out of the Episcopal Church's leadership.

ROSEBERRY: I will not be pushed or pulled into an apostate church. I can't do it. These things are too important to me and it's too much of a violation of what I believe and hold sacred.

LAVANDERA: Standing ovations for Reverend Roseberry were common during Sunday's sermon. Parishioners cheered him for resigning as a deputy from the Episcopal General Convention after it approved the nomination of a gay bishop.

JANICE CORDRAY, CHURCH MEMBER: I think he set an example for the entire United States, not just in Episcopal churches but all Christian churches and believers in Christ.

ROSEBERRY: One of the hopes and prayers I have after this debacle in Minneapolis is that it will wake you up. LAVANDERA: Roseberry says some things in the Bible just aren't up for a vote. He welcomes homosexuals to worship but he won't endorse their lifestyle. He sees no contradiction in this. Roseberry believes Jesus lived the same way.

ROSEBERRY: Those arms of love were stretched out really for everyone. His compassion included everyone who would come to him but he did not and he could not endorse all life, all lifestyles.

LAVANDERA: There is a small part of this church that doesn't share Roseberry's conviction.

JOHN MANGINO, CHURCH MEMBER: If the church decides to split and this is the side that is against the bishop we probably would seriously consider leaving the church.

FONDA MANGINO, CHURCH MEMBER: It just comes down to whether we have the same fundamental beliefs as he does.

LAVANDERA: And you're not sure that you do?

F. MANGINO: At this point I would say no.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Because of Reverend Roseberry's position, two homosexual members of his church have already quit but church leaders here insist that in the long run accepting gay spiritual leaders would only cause a much greater defection of members from the Episcopal Church.

ROSEBERRY: Most merciful God we confess that we have sinned against you.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): To prevent that from happening, Roseberry is inviting several thousand conservative Episcopalians to this church in October as he says they will be looking to start a new chapter of the American Episcopal Church.

ROSEBERRY: I want to send a signal to the whole church. It's got their eyes on us that we are not pulling back. We are surging forward into this next stage where God has led us.

LAVANDERA: No one knows what the future will bring but this congregation and its leader feel that they're fighting for the church's soul.

Ed Lavandera CNN, Plano, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Coming up on NEWSNIGHT tonight, the Baghdad crime wave which even thousands of police officers seem powerless to stop.

Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: In the long, hot Iraqi summer, it's been a rough couple of days, even in places we've come to see as relatively calm. Violence broke out over the weekend in Basra, in the southern part of Iraq. This is an area controlled by British forces, who, until now, have been doing their work with far less resistance than in points farther north.

The power shortages, fuel -- or rather, power outages and fuel shortages and the heat, too, too much for some people. They took to the streets, set fires, took potshots at the British. One soldier and at least two Iraqis are now dead.

Situation finally quieted down some this afternoon.

Meantime, in Baghdad, another kind of disorder continues to plague the city.

Here is CNN's Harris Whitbeck.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A suspected carjacker is hustled into a waiting police car outside Baghdad's main hospital. Emergency rooms are filled with victims of muggings and stabbings. At a nearby police station, suspected criminals file in and out.

Common crime is on the rise here, an ugly side effect to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. "Crime was much less prevalent before," he says, "because we had patrols on the streets, and the public could use telephones to report crimes."

Businessman Farid Sagman has suffered the change firsthand. Within a two-week period, his car was stolen at gunpoint and he was robbed by armed men who stormed into his house.

FARID SAGMAN, CRIME VICTIM: They put this on my head. Then this, my nightshirt. They were -- being hit me. And this napkins, they put it...

WHITBECK: These days, shopkeepers say they shutter their stores before darkness brings anarchy.

"There's no safety, there's no stability," he says. "There is crime, and there is murder. It is chaos to an unnatural degree."

While the Iraqi police now have more than 5,000 officers in the streets of the capital, few feel that is enough.

(on camera): Coalition officials say more help is on the way. They say they hope to train close to 5,000 more police officers in the coming months to deal with a reality few here thought they would ever have to cope with.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Quick look at some other stories from around the world that made news, starting in Great Britain with the inquest into the death of David Kelly. Mr. Kelly, you'll recall, was the scientist caught in the middle of the storm over allegations the British government exaggerated the case on Iraqi weapons. He committed suicide after he was named as the source in the story. The inquest is aimed, in part, at finding out who leaked his name.

Next, to Kabul, and a changing of the guard, NATO taking charge of peacekeeping forces there, making it the first operation of its kind for the alliance outside of Europe.

And back in Europe, another punishing day, bad enough to drive Parisians who can into the fountains, worse for Parisians who can't. At least 50 people have died from heat-related illnesses in the last seven days, and it's no different from Amsterdam to Athens.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, more on the California recall. We'll talk with Republican strategist Ed Rollins about the heavyweight in the race, and what he has to do to convince voters he's got the muscle -- get it? -- to be their next governor.

My goodness. This must be NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: I'm Christine Romans with this MONEYLINE update. The Nasdaq today broke a six-session losing streak. The Nasdaq climbed 17 points. The Dow industrials gained 26, the S&P added 3. Martha Stewart's legal problems are hurting her brand. Company profits tumbled 86 percent.

Watch "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," weeknights at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

Now back to NEWSNIGHT with Aaron Brown.

BROWN: And Ed Rollins is here. Morning papers are coming. We'll take a break first. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: For the next seven weeks or so, the political world will belong to California. Would have been true even if Mr. Schwarzenegger had not gotten in the race. With him, it is a slam-dunk.

As Dan Lothian reported earlier, the campaign has said virtually nothing about what Mr. Schwarzenegger actually believes, and that may be pretty sound strategy.

Ed Rollins knows more than this than most of us. He's been running campaigns, almost always for Republicans, for years.

We're pleased to have him with us tonight.

ED ROLLINS, GOP CONSULTANT: Thank you.

BROWN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROLLINS: Nice, nice, nice to be with you.

BROWN: Nice to see you.

Is it necessary for Mr. Schwarzenegger to say, Here is where I stand on secondary waste? Here is where I stand on secondary education?

ROLLINS: No. You know, bottom line is, most voters would be bored to death. He has to certainly sound knowledgeable about some of the issues, and certainly by talking about the problems, he can be very knowledgeable. If he tried to lay out a plan to eliminate the $38 billion budget more effectively than Davis had, people would be bored to death, and obviously it would alienate some groups.

What people want is an outsider to come in and provide leadership, and they think that he can do that. He obviously has got a launch like no one has ever had in American politics, as far as I am concerned...

BROWN: Yes.

ROLLINS: ... and I've been around a long time. There is a movement out there. I think that people will find him a credible candidate. They think he's a no-nonsense guy who basically will live up to the image that he's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the screen.

BROWN: Just on the subject of the launch, which has been fascinating to watch, and I had a couple days off last week, and I was just watching this play out as a civilian. In the absence of 24-hour cable, how different would it be?

ROLLINS: Oh, it'd have been totally different. I mean, obviously, 24-hour cable is around the clock. It's obvious, it's -- the response is quicker. You know, he would have certainly had the play in the California papers, but he's had a play across this country.

I mean, if he was running for a Democratic nomination for president, and had this same kind of launch, he'd be the front-runner today in that field too. I mean, it's -- I've never seen anything like it.

BROWN: How, then, does -- if it's at all possible, do the other Republicans, first of all, in the race, and some of them are very smart and credible and certainly have a lot of money, how do they get air?

ROLLINS: Well, the only way they're going to get air is, they're going to have to buy it. It's -- and obviously, Arnold can buy air. And any of these other candidates, no matter how effective their commercials are, when you have someone that projects as strong an image as he does on television, and California is the ultimate television state, it's going to be hard to beat him.

BROWN: How is this different than -- from the Reagan gubernatorial launch?

ROLLINS: Well, the Reagan gubernatorial launch, Reagan had been around a little bit longer and was viewed, but it was certainly nothing like this. It was -- you did a five-city fly-around, and it was strictly California, and it may have had a little something somewhere in "The New York Times" that Ronald Reagan is running for governor of California.

BROWN: Really, it was...

ROLLINS: It was, it was nowhere, nowhere near like this. He was the darling of the conservatives, obviously.

BROWN: President Reagan had been at the time, he'd been out there on issues. He'd been speak for GE, he was a star at a Republican convention. He had a political identity more so than Mr. Schwarzenegger, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

ROLLINS: He had a political identity. There was another Republican in that, everybody forgets, the mayor San Francisco, a guy named George Christopher, who was sort of the establishment candidate, and Reagan was the conservative candidate. And a lot of the assemblymen, a lot of the state senators who were Republicans, and the Republican establishment, were on that side.

BROWN: Couple of quick things. What are the pitfalls for Mr. Schwarzenegger?

ROLLINS: Pitfalls...

BROWN: What's the danger?

ROLLINS: Well, the danger is that obviously the expectations are high, and he can't do anything foolish. I don't think he will do anything foolish. I think he's a very...

BROWN: What would constitute foolish?

ROLLINS: Well, foolish is some off remark that, worrying about mikes, worrying about -- you know, he has to...

BROWN: Right.

ROLLINS: ... he has to be viewed as serious. I mean, any slip here, he will -- everybody will pounce on him and be replayed a thousand times. I mean, I think the critical thing here is, he's going to have an assault by his own side, and certainly the Davis campaign will run a very tough campaign against him,

But he just has to be above that fray. How do you beat a guy every day who is out there with thousands of people...

BROWN: Yes. ROLLINS: ... kids...

BROWN: Just want to see him.

ROLLINS: Just want to see him. And then you combine that in a television state. Press doesn't matter. Television is what matters in California. And he takes that and puts it on the commercials, and it gets reinforced and reinforced (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

BROWN: Does he have to debate?

ROLLINS: No. How can you debate 200 people? I mean, it just -- it's -- And his are -- Davis isn't going to debate him one-on-one. Davis didn't want to debate Bill Simon one-on-one, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BROWN: Yes. So different times calls for different strategies. Jeff Greenfield earlier said he's got to show a little ankle out there, he's got to at least give voters a sense that he's capable on (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROLLINS: He has a very smart team. The team that's running his campaign, starting with Pete Wilson, who won four times statewide, twice for U.S. Senate, twice for governor, is his chairman. His chief of staff, Bob White is Arnold's -- is media guy, is Arnold's. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you know, the press secretary is John Walsh. Worked for President Bush. Worked for Pete.

BROWN: Yes.

ROLLINS: They are smart people. And I -- my sense is, like Ronald Reagan, who had been an actor, as everyone knew, Ronald Reagan was used to taking direction. He listened to people. He had his own ideas, but he listened to people. This guy's going to listen to people. He knows these guys are pros...

BROWN: Yes.

ROLLINS: ... and he's going to run a pro campaign. Unlike Bill Simon or Arianna Huffington or someone else, who are new to the game, and they won't listen.

BROWN: Thanks for coming in.

ROLLINS: My pleasure.

BROWN: Assuming you don't get a dog in the sun, I hope you'll come back. And even if you do, I hope you'll come back.

ROLLINS: Great, great, thanks, nice, take care.

BROWN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ROLLINS: Good luck on the show.

BROWN: Thank you. Ed Rollins.

As NEWSNIGHT continues, the war wounded and the place where they are healed. A look inside War 57.

A break first from New York. This is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We honor, all of us, those who have died in Iraq. Whatever your feelings about the war itself, the death of a soldier, young or not so young, as we just saw, is a tragedy.

We have, I'm afraid, paid far less attention to those who have been wounded. There have been a lot of them, and for a variety of reasons, they've gotten less attention than they deserve.

We begin correcting that tonight.

These are not pretty stories. A father who can't hug a child without both arms couldn't possibly be.

Hundreds of the wounded are being treated tonight at Walter Reed Army Hospital, many facing a long and difficult road.

It is a road we started down with them the other day, and as reported tonight by Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are air-evaced here to Walter Reed Medical Center, to Ward 57, the orthopedic ward, where specialists work to heal, to save shattered arms, crushed legs.

1ST LT. RONALD STEPHENS, ACTING HEAD NURSE, WARD 57: We are very busy. Currently, we have 24 beds assigned, and we have 24 beds that are full.

NISSEN: In one of those beds, Specialist Chris Atherton, who lost much of his left arm July 26 when an RPG hit his Humvee.

SPEC. CHRIS ATHERTON: It's a weird feeling, because I feel like I -- my hand's still there, and I can move it. But it's not there.

NISSEN: Just down the hall in Ward 57, Staff Sergeant Ryan Kelly, whose lower right leg was mangled in a bomb attack on his convoy July 14.

STAFF SGT. RYAN KELLY: They attempted to save it, but they weren't able to. They tried for, I think, six hours, is what I was told, and then I -- when I woke up, the leg was gone.

NISSEN: Walter Reed has treated 24 amputees from Operation Iraqi Freedom in the medical center's new $3 million amputee center.

The priority after surgery, quickly replace what's been lost with a state-of-the-art prosthetic limb, custom fit with the help of 3-D computer imaging. Once measured, most amputees get their prosthesis within days.

KELLY: Oh, I'm so excited, because I'm ready to get my leg, ready to get walking again, and ready to get back to work.

NISSEN: Doctors and nurses here say that attitude is common. Amputees are almost incredibly positive, despite grievous injuries.

STEPHENS: I think they would have some anger towards it. But most of them, it doesn't. I mean, they're soldiers.

NISSEN: Anger, bitterness, depression -- all may hit later. But in the weeks after being wounded, most amputees are overwhelmed with their good fortune that their injuries weren't worse.

KELLY: The simple fact that it's a below-the-knee amputation makes me extremely lucky, because I'm only compensating for one joint. I'm -- I got to compensate for an ankle.

NISSEN: The amputees are grateful, as GIs say, to be above ground.

ATHERTON: Oh! Got lucky.

I'm good. I am happy, and I'm alive.

NISSEN: But their lives are drastically different. Amputees go to regular therapy sessions, occupational therapy, psychological therapy. Gradually they give voice to their worries, their fears.

DR. RICK MALONE, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF PSYCHIATRY: A lot of the people who come back having lost limbs, they're afraid of sexuality, for example. What is it going to be like, you know, rejoining their spouse? Another common reaction is, How are my kids going to react?

NISSEN: Specialist Atherton has thought a lot about his 2-month- daughter, born after he was deployed to Iraq. He's sad to think that he'll never hold her in both his arms. He's hoping that won't matter to her.

ATHERTON: I think it'll be the same. I think she'll look at me the same, as a father. And that's what's most important, you know?

NISSEN: Having only one arm won't change his plans to go back to school, become a history teacher. Having only one leg won't change Staff Sergeant Ryan's plans to work as an EMS for a fire department and continue weekend service in the Army Reserve.

KELLY: I'm going to hit a point a few months down the road where I'm going to be walking and doing everything like I used to, and I'm gong to say, you know, No big deal.

NISSEN: Yet Walter Reed staffers say they hope no one shrugs off what these soldiers have been through, what they've suffered.

MALONE: I think that makes a big difference in how they adapt long term. I wonder if five or 10 years from now, you know, people in their hometowns are going to recognize the sacrifice that they made, and there's still going to be that appreciation.

NISSEN: Appreciation for how many lives have been changed, forever reshaped, by the war still being fought in Iraq.

Beth Nissen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Morning papers after the break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Oh, how I missed the sound of the rooster over the last couple of days on the weekend. But, gosh, it's back now. Almost wish I could hear it again, but I know I can't.

Time to check morning -- Time to check morning papers. I was almost...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not doing it.

BROWN: Thank you. Time to check morning papers from around the country and around the world.

I love this story, OK? The "San Francisco Chronicle." I love this story because, when you get into the arena, and Mr. Schwarzenegger is into the arena, this is the stuff they find out. "Actor's Poor Voting Record" is the lead in the "San Francisco Chronicle." "Front-runner Candidate Failed to Cast Ballot in 6 of 11 Elections." Pretty detailed look at his voting or lack-of-voting record, including the years he requested an absentee ballot and didn't send them back.

The voting records are public records, and there it is.

Pretty much -- almost all the front page is political, except for Liberia down at the bottom. Schwarzenegger, "Business of Arnold at Center of Diverse Portfolio Including Stocks, Property, and Media." Anyway, the voting record will get people talking. It's a starting point.

"The Oregonian" out in Portland, Oregon. We'll stay out West for a while. Wish we had more West Coast papers, but, hey, they're on deadline, and it's later than us. "Schwarzenegger So Far Long on Public Image, Short on Policy Ideas, Movie Star Turned Candidate for California Governor Offers Nothing in the Way of Solid Concepts." That will bother some people. On the other hand, it's a good way to stay out of trouble.

What did I like about this -- oh, how could I fail? "The Washington Times." How would could I fail? I was a student. "AOL Wants to Cut -- Wants Name Cut from Time Warner." Or is it the other way around? It's always confusing to me here. Anyway, they didn't call me and tell me about that today. I'm a little bit surprised.

How we doing on time? Thirty-nine.

"Chicago Sun Times," by the way, the weather in Chicago tomorrow, "Hubba Hubba." That sounded pretty good, right? That's pretty good weather. We don't get many hubba-hubba days.

"Cop Camera's First Collar," police made first quality-of-life arrest using remote eye in the sky, a man smoking marijuana in a car on the West Side, and they got him.

Twenty seconds? That's it, really? OK.

The "Detroit Free Press" said, "Heat Becomes the New Enemy." And they list all the -- this is in Iraq -- 135 degrees, but it's a dry heat, as they say.

That's morning papers. We'll see you tomorrow, 10:00 Eastern time. Until then, good night for all of us.

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