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CNN Live Saturday
John Kerry, John Edwards Hold Political Rally At N.C. State; TSA Rolls Out Registered Traveler Plan In Minneapolis; Track Stars Compete For Chance At Athens Games In Sacramento
Aired July 10, 2004 - 16:00 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What happens when you put 2 politicians, a tarmac and a football together other than a lot of bonding? Ed Henry reports from the Kerry/Edwards campaign trail.
And these are a few of the few, the proud, the Marines back home, if only briefly.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And in 30 minutes, we'll be taking your questions about your credit and your credit report, so call us at 1-800-807-2620 in about 30 minutes, or you can email your questions -- you can begin that now -- dollarsigns@cnn.com.
But first, the headlines.
The fate of a Filipino hostage held in Iraq is unknown, the truck drivers captors have threatened to kill him, unless Philippine troops withdrew from Iraq. Just a short time ago, the Philippines government confirmed a media report that the kidnappers have extended their deadline.
The U.S. Marine who turned up in Lebanon this week after disappearing June 19 in Iraq may be back in the U.S. early next week. That's the word from Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's brother in Utah. A video had shown Hassoun blind-folded with a sword over his head. The marines are debriefing the Lebanese born translator at a U.S. military installation in Germany right now.
Gay marriage is coming out as an election issue. President Bush repeated his support for a constitutional amendment against it in his radio message today. Congress began debate on the proposed amendment yesterday. Democrats accuse Republicans of exploiting same-sex marriage as a wedge issue.
We begin on the campaign trail with a newly minted Democratic presidential ticket. John Kerry and John Edwards are finishing their first joint excursion, the 2 senators are in North Carolina in Raleigh. That's Edwards' home turf. And it's where we find our Ed Henry right now -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. We're coming to you live from Raleigh, the site of a welcome home rally for John Edwards. Organizers expecting several thousand people here on the campus of N.C. State. That's John Edwards' alma mater. His parents are already here. As you mentioned, John Kerry will also be here.
The Democrats very bullish. They think they have a shot now of carrying North Carolina. That has not been in the Democratic column since 1976. Republicans insist that this is still Bush country. But just in case, President Bush was in town. He was actually in Raleigh on Wednesday doing a little campaigning of his own.
As you mentioned, this newly minted Democratic ticket is wrapping up its first week together. They were together this morning in New Mexico. They were on the tarmac tossing around the football a little bit. We can report that there were a few dropped passes. Obviously, still working out the kinds, a little bit, for this new Democratic ticket.
But they also tackled some serious policy issues. Senator John Edwards delivered, this morning, the official Democratic response to President Bush's radio address. And this came after a full day of, really, harsh charges back and forth between the Kerry and Bush camps on the issue of values.
What Senator Edwards said in this radio address is that any discussion of values has to include a discussion of the Enron scandal.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D-NC) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It took three long years to see Ken Lay handcuffed and indicted for what he did. And in November, middle class families will be able to rest assured that John Kerry will look out for their interests, restore corporate responsibility and put our economy back in line with our values.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HENRY: But on this values question, the Bush campaign is still hitting the Democrats very hard about this multimillion dollar fundraiser the other evening in New York, in which some Hollywood celebrities were using some bad language, also some very harsh attacks on the president. So far, the Kerry/Edwards campaign is not apologizing, but I can tell you that last evening Teresa Heinz Kerry actually said quote, "some of the words were ones I would not have used." But again, so far no apology. So the controversy over that continues, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks very much.
Former President Clinton is giving his seal of approval for Kerry's decision to choose Edwards as his runningmate. In an interview with CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Clinton said, "Edwards has all the right credentials."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM CLINTON, FRM. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Edwards ran second in the primary process to John Kerry. And he was energetic and articulate and popular, even with a lot of people that voted for Senator Kerry. People know he has great potential.
Secondly, he was on the intelligence committee. It's not like he has no experience at all.
Thirdly, he is running for vice president with more international experience than President Bush ran for president with just 4 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Christiane Amanpour's full interview with Bill Clinton. That's at 9am Eastern, 6 Pacific right here on CNN.
President Bush is once again focusing on a highly charged issue: He toting a proposed constitutional amendment that would effectively ban gay marriage. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us from the White House with details on that -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. Well, President Bush in his weekly radio address today chose to focus solely on the issue of marriage. It is a topic that he has brought along with him on the campaign trail yesterday during a bus tour through Pennsylvania. The president making mention of it at that time.
But at moment when both he and his Democratic rival, John Kerry, are trying to define for voters what their visions and what their values are, the president wants to rally the conservative base, and to drive home his view that the traditional model of marriage between a man and a woman is one that strengthens families and therefore strengthens society.
Now the president says he sees a vulnerability with the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act signed in to law by President Clinton defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Mr. Bush pointing to the ability of state courts, some of whom he calls activist courts, to strike down the law.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When judges insist imposing their arbitrary will on the people, the only alternative left to the people is an amendment to the constitution. The only law a court can not overturn. A constitutional amendment should never be undertaken lightly, yet to defend marriage, our nation has no other choice.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Hours after that address, in response, the Human Right Campaign issued this statement, which reads, in part quote, "the federal marriage amendment in discriminatory, unnecessary and it undermines our Constitution. President Bush, and his extremist allies, are trying to distract the American people from the serious challenges facing America." Now, John Kerry, who opposes the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, says that he believes that decisions should be left up to the states. That has been his response when asked about this particular topic while he has been out campaigning. John Kerry saying that he believes it should not be a decision for the government, but again should be left up to the states.
But with just under 4 months until the presidential election, this will certainly be a topic that we will likely be hearing about in the weeks ahead -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you.
Conventional wisdom is that most people vote on pocket book issues, but a cleaning woman in Massachusettes suddenly doesn't have to worry about any of those. 67-year-old Geraldine Williams is making plans with the second largest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history: $294 million before taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALDINE WILLIAMS, LOTTERY WINNER: I don't what it is to have money, so I don't know what I'd change. I hope I stay the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, CNN's Alina Cho is in Lowell with more on the woman living your fantasy and mine -- Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it is everyone's fantasy, but it is a dream come true for Geraldine Williams. People here in Lowell couldn't be happier for her. They say it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, and they say, in a sea of bad news, it's nice to have some good news for a change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge, this is like a big, big deal.
CHO (voice-over): The biggest news to hit Lowell, Massachusettes in a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been like a circus.
CHO: Paula Peacock is a neighbor, says Geraldine Williams. Gerry, as she's known around here, is the kind of woman who mows the lawn next to her house even though she doesn't own the property. The kind of woman who called Friday night to ask Peacock to water her garden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought that was really sweet. I'm like you get -- buy anything you want and you want me to water your garden.
CHO: Neighbor Ray Marata (ph) called the 67-year-old grandmother the real deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can throw syrup on anybody, but you don't have to with her. She's just sweet.
CHO: In downtown Lowell, which calls itself an all American city, there's an old five cent bank and a new multimillionaire. People couldn't be happier.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's wonderful. I think it's awesome. She has a whole bunch of grandchildren, and they'll live happily ever after for a very long time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so excited for her, you know what I mean? I'm glad. If it wasn't me, it was somebody from Lowell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Thanks. Good luck.
CHO: At Powers Wine Company, which sold Williams the winning ticket, business is brisk.
JAY PATEL, OWNER, POWER WINE COMPANY: Incredible, I mean people just coming from all over the place. I'm getting calls from out of state to just send the ticket in the mail.
CHO: Back on Williams' quiet street, those who know her say now that she's made it big, they hope she doesn't move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a great neighbor. She's a really great neighbor and you know they're in short supply sometimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Williams has not been home here on this quiet street since the news broke that she was the big lotto winner. And who can blame her, she is not a woman who craves the limelight and she certainly, Fredricka, can afford to stay away as long as she wants.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. And aparrently, Alina, she's been asked, will she clean houses again. What's her reply?
CHO: What do you think, Fredricka? You know what, she indicated, she indicated she probably wouldn't clean houses again. She said she wanted to spend some of the money travelling. She's never had enough money to do that. She, of course, wants to take care of her kids. And maybe take a few golf lessons. But cleaning houses, we'll have to wait and see if she doest that.
WHITFIELD; Well, it seems like she is so loved in that community. It doesn't seem like anyone has been at all jealous or envious of her winnings. But I have a feeling some folks are going to come out of the woodwork though, right? To cosy up and be best friends?
CHO: As far as the jealousy is concerned, not for lack of trying, we asked everyone, aren't you jealous of her? Don't you want a piece of the pie? And time and time again, no, we're not jealous of her, we're very happy that she won the money. If it can't be me, we're glad it's somebody from Lowell. As for people coming out of the woodwork, yes, that is a bit of a negative here. Some of the neighbors who have appeared on television have said that they have received phone calls from as far away as El Paso, Texas, even Florida from people seeking financial help. Of course, she won a lot of money and some people want a piece of it -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD; All right. Alina Cho in Lowell, Massachusettes.
Well, Miss Williams may not have concerned herselves (sic) with a credit score, but should you? That's our topic today on "Dollar Signs" so call us with your credit questions at 1-800-807-2620, or email us at dollarsigns@cnn.com. That's in about 20 minutes from now.
But first, we're going to tell you about the marines who have just come home from Iraq.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's vacation time for many Americans, but when it's over, most of you won't be going to work in Iraq, right? Well, this morning, our Maria Hinojosa was catching a flight from Atlanta to New York, LaGuardia Airport when she unexpectedly ran into a group of soldiers headed home to New York for 2 weeks of R&R.
Hinojosa noticed many people don't know what to say to troops when they see them at the airport. Well, she decided to talk to them and hear their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! Oh, hi, baby. Hi, Mommy. Give Daddy a kiss. I love you.
MARIA HINOJUSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You're a police officer...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HINOJUSA: ...on the streets of New York and you've been doing what for the past three months?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been patrolling the streets of Baghdad. There's quite a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I finally get to see my daughter, Eva Rose.
HINOJUSA: And she was born?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was born the Fourth of July, Fourth of July. She's Daddy's baby, born for all of the troops out in Iraq. And in support of Iraq, she decided to come out and support us. It's a great day.
HINJUSA: How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel numb right now. I just felt excited, beyond excited. I can't even explain how I feel right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just -- I'm going to show up to the house and surprise the family. They don't know I'm coming. They still think I'm in Iraq somewhere. I'm actually going to call them on the phone and tell that I'm in a big firefight and then I'm going to hang up the phone. And then I'm going to ring the bell. It's going to be fun. They'll love it. They're up to stuff like that, devious.
HINOJUSA: How do you relax just for two weeks knowing that you're going to go back to maybe seeing combat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean you really can't. All you can do is spend as much time with your family and try to enjoy the things that you're used to, but you really can't.
HINOJUSA: And there are a lot of things that you can't talk to your family about, what you're seeing over there. How do you handle with keeping a lot of this inside, you can't talk about it? How do you handle it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean I just try not to really open my mouth too much because, if I tell them everything, it's like they're going to be worried even more, you know, so I just try to keep it positive, try to tell them the good stuff, and hopefully it will be over soon, and I get to come home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: For one boy, going to Iraq means going home. Ali Amir (ph) is leaving the United States after a month that changed his life. The 14-year-old lost his hand after picking up a grenade in Iraq. A nonprofit group that helps injured children in war-torn countries brought him to the U.S. for the treatment. He was fitted with a prosthetic hand and spent the past few weeks learning how to use it.
Well, the boy is returning to a country plagued by more violence. There was yet another attack on Iraq's infrastructure today: a bomb exploded at a pipeline that carries natural gas from the city of Kirkuk to a power station. The attack will likely effect electricity supplies in the northern part of that country.
And U.S. Marines clashed with insurgents in the city of Ramadi. The fighting began when attackers fired on the Americans from a taxi stop. The marines returned fire and killed 2 enemy fighters.
Back in this country, a new program is offering frequent fliers a way to bypass the long lines that go with all the heightened security at American airports. But there's a catch, it calls for surrendering some personal information. And our Sean Callebs is in Washington with details on the TSA's new program -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Indeed, a lot of people are willing to make that trade-off. If you spend a lot of time travelling through airports, you have no doubt had to accept the trade-off. Increased security, in the wake of 9/11, translates into more waiting time in security lines.
Recently, these frequent fliers in Minnesota were waiting in long lines. The reason, to avoid standing in winding security lines in the future.
Let me explain here. Minneapolis is the first airport in the nation undergoing a test program called "Registered Traveler." Those who sign up must submit to digital fingerprint scans, iris scans and exhaustive background checks. Now, if they are approved by the government, these passengers are then cleared to move through an express security line.
They won't get held up in long lines, often snarled by passengers who don't travel much and forget to do such things as take keys and coins out of their pockets, or remove shoes that could trigger medal detectors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR HATFIELD, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMIN.: We're confindent that the way the pilot's been designed, we can maintain the same high level of security, we can offer customer service benefit. And in fact, there's an opportunity to improve security, if can sort of separate that crowd that's at the screening checkpoint out, reduce the size of the haystack, if you will, and help focus our efforts in a smaller area, while still continuing to screen all those registered travelers, at least a primary screening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: In the coming weeks, the program with also start at airports in Los Angeles, Houston, Boston and Washington D.C. Also beginning this week, the Transportation Security Adminstration mandated that all airport restaurant and shop employees must go through metal detectors. Until now, they were able to go avoid the screening while passengers, flight attendents and pilots had to wait to go through the metal detectors.
Some lawmakers are also appalled that thousands of employees who work on the tarmac maintaining aircraft, or stocking and cleaning passenger jets, don't have to go through metal detectors. They believe this is a potential huge security risk. And Fredricka, they say they want the TSA to initiate a change and do it soon.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sean Callebs in Washington, thanks for that report.
Well, elsewhere across America: in New Mexico, the nation's top nuclear lab is investigating the disappearance of classified data from its computers. The Los Alamos National Laboratory this week found materials were missing from a program that helps keep weapons in the U.S. stockpile safe and reliable.
Rock singer Courtney Love is in a New York hospital, and an arrest warrant is out for her in California. Love failed to show at a Los Angeles courtroom yesterday for arraignment on an assault charge. Hours later, witnesses saw her on a stretcher being put into an ambulance outside her Manhattan apartment. All this on her 40th birthday.
Love's attorney says she was confused about her court date in L.A.
The 17-year cicadas are no longer filling air with their droning love songs and littering the ground with their carcasses throughout the MidAtlantic region and the Mid West, but billions of eggs have been left behind in tree branches to ensure their return in 2021.
Bad joke caught on tape, or a case of malicious intent. California's education secretary Richard Riordan is under pressure to resign after making a controversial commment to a 6-year-old girl. CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): California's Education Secretary Richard Riordan, was at the Santa Barbara Library to encourage kids to read when a six-year-old girl in the audience named Isis, asked a question.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Did you know that my name actually means an Egyptian goddess?
RICHARD RIORDAN, CA. EDUCATION SECRETARY: It means stupid, dirty girl?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No.
RIORDAN: What does it mean? UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Egyptian goddess.
RIORDAN: Is that what that means? That's nifty.
BUCKLEY: "Nifty" not the reaction of the governor who appointed Riordan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who issued a statement saying the comment was unacceptable in any context. Some are going further.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALEL: We would like to see the governor take responsibility and ask Mr. Riordan to leave.
BUCKLEY: From the "Sacramento Bee," "California shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason." But columnist Dan Walters believes Riordan meant no harm.
DAN WALTERS, COLUMNIST: Dick Riordan, I don't think, he has a mean bone in his body. He was making a joke he thought she would get. That's my interpretation of it. It was a terrible joke and she didn't get it. And it sounded awful.
BUCKLEY: Riordan's response "I teased a little girl about her name," he said in a statement, "I immediately apologized to her and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding." Riordan is a wealthy former mayor of Los Angeles who has donated millions to education and years to helping children.
(on camera): But his reputation for sometimes politically incorrect humor has long-caused political advisors to wince. And this time no one is laughing about the joke of the name of a six-year-old girl.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Marion Jones is in California at the Olympic track trials. We'll have a report.
And don't forget "Dollar Signs" at 4:30 Eastern. We're talking about credit reports and credit scores. Email your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com, or call us at 1-800-807-2620. Call us in 8 minutes. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: "Dollar Signs" is about to begin. Don't forget to email your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com, or call us at 1-800-807- 2620. We're talking about credit and your credit scores.
In Sacramento, track and field athletes are competing for spots on the U.S. Olympic team, but some of those athletes are being dogged by allegations of drug abuse. CNN sports Josie Burke has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Defending Olympic 100 meter gold medallist Maurice Green has one wish at the track and field Olympic trials to see the drug scandal go away.
MAURICE GREEN, OLYMPIC CONTENDER: I just wish it would get over with as soon as possible so our sport can move on.
BURKE: Five athletes fighting doping bans from the United States Anti-Doping Agency are competing for spots in Athens. None of the cases appear close to settlement. The uncertainty has cast a shadow over the entire sport. At the one time every four years when track and field is supposed to enjoy being the focus of the sports world.
GREEN: They're talking about this athlete is under suspicion, this athlete has said that, this athlete has done that and everything else. So, I mean, it's very hurtful.
CHRISTIAN CANTWELL, OLYMPIC CONTENDER: The length that they're going to get these people out, the people who were cheating us out of our spotlight, great, get them out. Hang them all.
BURKE: The athlete who maybe under the most scrutiny at the trials in Sacramento is the sports most recognizable figure Marion Jones. There have been a flurry of rumors, but no charges against Jones. But having her name in any way linked to the scandal has all athletes feeling the sting of suspicion.
JOHN CAMPEL, SPINTER: Right now any time somebody runs a very, very fast time, they'll say, what? Is he on performance enhancing drugs?
BURKE: The United States Olympic Committee is hoping the U.S. team comes away with 100 medals in Athens. If the athletes being pursued by doping authorities can't participate, track and field may still make a significant contribution toward that goal.
The U.S. captured 20 medals on the track in Sydney. This year the team is so deep, it could match that. The biggest loss would come if Jones doesn't take part in the long jump where she is the only American woman ranked in the top 20 worldwide.
CRAIG MARBACK, CEO, U.S. TRACK & FIELD: I assure you, among those other 1,000 athletes we have the elements of a great Olympic team. Including in the events in which those six athletes compete.
GREEN: No matter what happens with the people who are in trouble, it will still be the United States. We're still the best track and field team in the world.
BURKE (on camera): What happens if any of the athletes under suspicion make the team? Even though the United States must submit its final roster by July 21st, the International Olympic Committee will allow substitutions under exceptional circumstances before the games begin.
Of course, there is no guarantee that all the cases will be decided by then.
Josie Burke, CNN, Sacramento.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: "Dollar Signs" is coming up. Do you know the score of your credit report? Are you in excellent shape, or do you need improvement? We're taking your calls at 1-800-807-2620. We're also taking your emails at dollarsigns@cnn.com. That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired July 10, 2004 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What happens when you put 2 politicians, a tarmac and a football together other than a lot of bonding? Ed Henry reports from the Kerry/Edwards campaign trail.
And these are a few of the few, the proud, the Marines back home, if only briefly.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And in 30 minutes, we'll be taking your questions about your credit and your credit report, so call us at 1-800-807-2620 in about 30 minutes, or you can email your questions -- you can begin that now -- dollarsigns@cnn.com.
But first, the headlines.
The fate of a Filipino hostage held in Iraq is unknown, the truck drivers captors have threatened to kill him, unless Philippine troops withdrew from Iraq. Just a short time ago, the Philippines government confirmed a media report that the kidnappers have extended their deadline.
The U.S. Marine who turned up in Lebanon this week after disappearing June 19 in Iraq may be back in the U.S. early next week. That's the word from Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's brother in Utah. A video had shown Hassoun blind-folded with a sword over his head. The marines are debriefing the Lebanese born translator at a U.S. military installation in Germany right now.
Gay marriage is coming out as an election issue. President Bush repeated his support for a constitutional amendment against it in his radio message today. Congress began debate on the proposed amendment yesterday. Democrats accuse Republicans of exploiting same-sex marriage as a wedge issue.
We begin on the campaign trail with a newly minted Democratic presidential ticket. John Kerry and John Edwards are finishing their first joint excursion, the 2 senators are in North Carolina in Raleigh. That's Edwards' home turf. And it's where we find our Ed Henry right now -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. We're coming to you live from Raleigh, the site of a welcome home rally for John Edwards. Organizers expecting several thousand people here on the campus of N.C. State. That's John Edwards' alma mater. His parents are already here. As you mentioned, John Kerry will also be here.
The Democrats very bullish. They think they have a shot now of carrying North Carolina. That has not been in the Democratic column since 1976. Republicans insist that this is still Bush country. But just in case, President Bush was in town. He was actually in Raleigh on Wednesday doing a little campaigning of his own.
As you mentioned, this newly minted Democratic ticket is wrapping up its first week together. They were together this morning in New Mexico. They were on the tarmac tossing around the football a little bit. We can report that there were a few dropped passes. Obviously, still working out the kinds, a little bit, for this new Democratic ticket.
But they also tackled some serious policy issues. Senator John Edwards delivered, this morning, the official Democratic response to President Bush's radio address. And this came after a full day of, really, harsh charges back and forth between the Kerry and Bush camps on the issue of values.
What Senator Edwards said in this radio address is that any discussion of values has to include a discussion of the Enron scandal.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS, (D-NC) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It took three long years to see Ken Lay handcuffed and indicted for what he did. And in November, middle class families will be able to rest assured that John Kerry will look out for their interests, restore corporate responsibility and put our economy back in line with our values.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HENRY: But on this values question, the Bush campaign is still hitting the Democrats very hard about this multimillion dollar fundraiser the other evening in New York, in which some Hollywood celebrities were using some bad language, also some very harsh attacks on the president. So far, the Kerry/Edwards campaign is not apologizing, but I can tell you that last evening Teresa Heinz Kerry actually said quote, "some of the words were ones I would not have used." But again, so far no apology. So the controversy over that continues, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks very much.
Former President Clinton is giving his seal of approval for Kerry's decision to choose Edwards as his runningmate. In an interview with CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, Clinton said, "Edwards has all the right credentials."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM CLINTON, FRM. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Edwards ran second in the primary process to John Kerry. And he was energetic and articulate and popular, even with a lot of people that voted for Senator Kerry. People know he has great potential.
Secondly, he was on the intelligence committee. It's not like he has no experience at all.
Thirdly, he is running for vice president with more international experience than President Bush ran for president with just 4 years ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Christiane Amanpour's full interview with Bill Clinton. That's at 9am Eastern, 6 Pacific right here on CNN.
President Bush is once again focusing on a highly charged issue: He toting a proposed constitutional amendment that would effectively ban gay marriage. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us from the White House with details on that -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. Well, President Bush in his weekly radio address today chose to focus solely on the issue of marriage. It is a topic that he has brought along with him on the campaign trail yesterday during a bus tour through Pennsylvania. The president making mention of it at that time.
But at moment when both he and his Democratic rival, John Kerry, are trying to define for voters what their visions and what their values are, the president wants to rally the conservative base, and to drive home his view that the traditional model of marriage between a man and a woman is one that strengthens families and therefore strengthens society.
Now the president says he sees a vulnerability with the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act signed in to law by President Clinton defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Mr. Bush pointing to the ability of state courts, some of whom he calls activist courts, to strike down the law.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When judges insist imposing their arbitrary will on the people, the only alternative left to the people is an amendment to the constitution. The only law a court can not overturn. A constitutional amendment should never be undertaken lightly, yet to defend marriage, our nation has no other choice.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Hours after that address, in response, the Human Right Campaign issued this statement, which reads, in part quote, "the federal marriage amendment in discriminatory, unnecessary and it undermines our Constitution. President Bush, and his extremist allies, are trying to distract the American people from the serious challenges facing America." Now, John Kerry, who opposes the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, says that he believes that decisions should be left up to the states. That has been his response when asked about this particular topic while he has been out campaigning. John Kerry saying that he believes it should not be a decision for the government, but again should be left up to the states.
But with just under 4 months until the presidential election, this will certainly be a topic that we will likely be hearing about in the weeks ahead -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you.
Conventional wisdom is that most people vote on pocket book issues, but a cleaning woman in Massachusettes suddenly doesn't have to worry about any of those. 67-year-old Geraldine Williams is making plans with the second largest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history: $294 million before taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALDINE WILLIAMS, LOTTERY WINNER: I don't what it is to have money, so I don't know what I'd change. I hope I stay the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, CNN's Alina Cho is in Lowell with more on the woman living your fantasy and mine -- Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it is everyone's fantasy, but it is a dream come true for Geraldine Williams. People here in Lowell couldn't be happier for her. They say it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, and they say, in a sea of bad news, it's nice to have some good news for a change.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge, this is like a big, big deal.
CHO (voice-over): The biggest news to hit Lowell, Massachusettes in a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been like a circus.
CHO: Paula Peacock is a neighbor, says Geraldine Williams. Gerry, as she's known around here, is the kind of woman who mows the lawn next to her house even though she doesn't own the property. The kind of woman who called Friday night to ask Peacock to water her garden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought that was really sweet. I'm like you get -- buy anything you want and you want me to water your garden.
CHO: Neighbor Ray Marata (ph) called the 67-year-old grandmother the real deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can throw syrup on anybody, but you don't have to with her. She's just sweet.
CHO: In downtown Lowell, which calls itself an all American city, there's an old five cent bank and a new multimillionaire. People couldn't be happier.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's wonderful. I think it's awesome. She has a whole bunch of grandchildren, and they'll live happily ever after for a very long time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so excited for her, you know what I mean? I'm glad. If it wasn't me, it was somebody from Lowell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Thanks. Good luck.
CHO: At Powers Wine Company, which sold Williams the winning ticket, business is brisk.
JAY PATEL, OWNER, POWER WINE COMPANY: Incredible, I mean people just coming from all over the place. I'm getting calls from out of state to just send the ticket in the mail.
CHO: Back on Williams' quiet street, those who know her say now that she's made it big, they hope she doesn't move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a great neighbor. She's a really great neighbor and you know they're in short supply sometimes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Williams has not been home here on this quiet street since the news broke that she was the big lotto winner. And who can blame her, she is not a woman who craves the limelight and she certainly, Fredricka, can afford to stay away as long as she wants.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. And aparrently, Alina, she's been asked, will she clean houses again. What's her reply?
CHO: What do you think, Fredricka? You know what, she indicated, she indicated she probably wouldn't clean houses again. She said she wanted to spend some of the money travelling. She's never had enough money to do that. She, of course, wants to take care of her kids. And maybe take a few golf lessons. But cleaning houses, we'll have to wait and see if she doest that.
WHITFIELD; Well, it seems like she is so loved in that community. It doesn't seem like anyone has been at all jealous or envious of her winnings. But I have a feeling some folks are going to come out of the woodwork though, right? To cosy up and be best friends?
CHO: As far as the jealousy is concerned, not for lack of trying, we asked everyone, aren't you jealous of her? Don't you want a piece of the pie? And time and time again, no, we're not jealous of her, we're very happy that she won the money. If it can't be me, we're glad it's somebody from Lowell. As for people coming out of the woodwork, yes, that is a bit of a negative here. Some of the neighbors who have appeared on television have said that they have received phone calls from as far away as El Paso, Texas, even Florida from people seeking financial help. Of course, she won a lot of money and some people want a piece of it -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD; All right. Alina Cho in Lowell, Massachusettes.
Well, Miss Williams may not have concerned herselves (sic) with a credit score, but should you? That's our topic today on "Dollar Signs" so call us with your credit questions at 1-800-807-2620, or email us at dollarsigns@cnn.com. That's in about 20 minutes from now.
But first, we're going to tell you about the marines who have just come home from Iraq.
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WHITFIELD: It's vacation time for many Americans, but when it's over, most of you won't be going to work in Iraq, right? Well, this morning, our Maria Hinojosa was catching a flight from Atlanta to New York, LaGuardia Airport when she unexpectedly ran into a group of soldiers headed home to New York for 2 weeks of R&R.
Hinojosa noticed many people don't know what to say to troops when they see them at the airport. Well, she decided to talk to them and hear their stories.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god! Oh, hi, baby. Hi, Mommy. Give Daddy a kiss. I love you.
MARIA HINOJUSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You're a police officer...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HINOJUSA: ...on the streets of New York and you've been doing what for the past three months?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been patrolling the streets of Baghdad. There's quite a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I finally get to see my daughter, Eva Rose.
HINOJUSA: And she was born?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was born the Fourth of July, Fourth of July. She's Daddy's baby, born for all of the troops out in Iraq. And in support of Iraq, she decided to come out and support us. It's a great day.
HINJUSA: How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel numb right now. I just felt excited, beyond excited. I can't even explain how I feel right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just -- I'm going to show up to the house and surprise the family. They don't know I'm coming. They still think I'm in Iraq somewhere. I'm actually going to call them on the phone and tell that I'm in a big firefight and then I'm going to hang up the phone. And then I'm going to ring the bell. It's going to be fun. They'll love it. They're up to stuff like that, devious.
HINOJUSA: How do you relax just for two weeks knowing that you're going to go back to maybe seeing combat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean you really can't. All you can do is spend as much time with your family and try to enjoy the things that you're used to, but you really can't.
HINOJUSA: And there are a lot of things that you can't talk to your family about, what you're seeing over there. How do you handle with keeping a lot of this inside, you can't talk about it? How do you handle it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean I just try not to really open my mouth too much because, if I tell them everything, it's like they're going to be worried even more, you know, so I just try to keep it positive, try to tell them the good stuff, and hopefully it will be over soon, and I get to come home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: For one boy, going to Iraq means going home. Ali Amir (ph) is leaving the United States after a month that changed his life. The 14-year-old lost his hand after picking up a grenade in Iraq. A nonprofit group that helps injured children in war-torn countries brought him to the U.S. for the treatment. He was fitted with a prosthetic hand and spent the past few weeks learning how to use it.
Well, the boy is returning to a country plagued by more violence. There was yet another attack on Iraq's infrastructure today: a bomb exploded at a pipeline that carries natural gas from the city of Kirkuk to a power station. The attack will likely effect electricity supplies in the northern part of that country.
And U.S. Marines clashed with insurgents in the city of Ramadi. The fighting began when attackers fired on the Americans from a taxi stop. The marines returned fire and killed 2 enemy fighters.
Back in this country, a new program is offering frequent fliers a way to bypass the long lines that go with all the heightened security at American airports. But there's a catch, it calls for surrendering some personal information. And our Sean Callebs is in Washington with details on the TSA's new program -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Indeed, a lot of people are willing to make that trade-off. If you spend a lot of time travelling through airports, you have no doubt had to accept the trade-off. Increased security, in the wake of 9/11, translates into more waiting time in security lines.
Recently, these frequent fliers in Minnesota were waiting in long lines. The reason, to avoid standing in winding security lines in the future.
Let me explain here. Minneapolis is the first airport in the nation undergoing a test program called "Registered Traveler." Those who sign up must submit to digital fingerprint scans, iris scans and exhaustive background checks. Now, if they are approved by the government, these passengers are then cleared to move through an express security line.
They won't get held up in long lines, often snarled by passengers who don't travel much and forget to do such things as take keys and coins out of their pockets, or remove shoes that could trigger medal detectors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR HATFIELD, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMIN.: We're confindent that the way the pilot's been designed, we can maintain the same high level of security, we can offer customer service benefit. And in fact, there's an opportunity to improve security, if can sort of separate that crowd that's at the screening checkpoint out, reduce the size of the haystack, if you will, and help focus our efforts in a smaller area, while still continuing to screen all those registered travelers, at least a primary screening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: In the coming weeks, the program with also start at airports in Los Angeles, Houston, Boston and Washington D.C. Also beginning this week, the Transportation Security Adminstration mandated that all airport restaurant and shop employees must go through metal detectors. Until now, they were able to go avoid the screening while passengers, flight attendents and pilots had to wait to go through the metal detectors.
Some lawmakers are also appalled that thousands of employees who work on the tarmac maintaining aircraft, or stocking and cleaning passenger jets, don't have to go through metal detectors. They believe this is a potential huge security risk. And Fredricka, they say they want the TSA to initiate a change and do it soon.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sean Callebs in Washington, thanks for that report.
Well, elsewhere across America: in New Mexico, the nation's top nuclear lab is investigating the disappearance of classified data from its computers. The Los Alamos National Laboratory this week found materials were missing from a program that helps keep weapons in the U.S. stockpile safe and reliable.
Rock singer Courtney Love is in a New York hospital, and an arrest warrant is out for her in California. Love failed to show at a Los Angeles courtroom yesterday for arraignment on an assault charge. Hours later, witnesses saw her on a stretcher being put into an ambulance outside her Manhattan apartment. All this on her 40th birthday.
Love's attorney says she was confused about her court date in L.A.
The 17-year cicadas are no longer filling air with their droning love songs and littering the ground with their carcasses throughout the MidAtlantic region and the Mid West, but billions of eggs have been left behind in tree branches to ensure their return in 2021.
Bad joke caught on tape, or a case of malicious intent. California's education secretary Richard Riordan is under pressure to resign after making a controversial commment to a 6-year-old girl. CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): California's Education Secretary Richard Riordan, was at the Santa Barbara Library to encourage kids to read when a six-year-old girl in the audience named Isis, asked a question.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Did you know that my name actually means an Egyptian goddess?
RICHARD RIORDAN, CA. EDUCATION SECRETARY: It means stupid, dirty girl?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: No.
RIORDAN: What does it mean? UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Egyptian goddess.
RIORDAN: Is that what that means? That's nifty.
BUCKLEY: "Nifty" not the reaction of the governor who appointed Riordan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who issued a statement saying the comment was unacceptable in any context. Some are going further.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALEL: We would like to see the governor take responsibility and ask Mr. Riordan to leave.
BUCKLEY: From the "Sacramento Bee," "California shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason." But columnist Dan Walters believes Riordan meant no harm.
DAN WALTERS, COLUMNIST: Dick Riordan, I don't think, he has a mean bone in his body. He was making a joke he thought she would get. That's my interpretation of it. It was a terrible joke and she didn't get it. And it sounded awful.
BUCKLEY: Riordan's response "I teased a little girl about her name," he said in a statement, "I immediately apologized to her and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding." Riordan is a wealthy former mayor of Los Angeles who has donated millions to education and years to helping children.
(on camera): But his reputation for sometimes politically incorrect humor has long-caused political advisors to wince. And this time no one is laughing about the joke of the name of a six-year-old girl.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Marion Jones is in California at the Olympic track trials. We'll have a report.
And don't forget "Dollar Signs" at 4:30 Eastern. We're talking about credit reports and credit scores. Email your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com, or call us at 1-800-807-2620. Call us in 8 minutes. We'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: "Dollar Signs" is about to begin. Don't forget to email your questions to dollarsigns@cnn.com, or call us at 1-800-807- 2620. We're talking about credit and your credit scores.
In Sacramento, track and field athletes are competing for spots on the U.S. Olympic team, but some of those athletes are being dogged by allegations of drug abuse. CNN sports Josie Burke has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSIE BURKE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Defending Olympic 100 meter gold medallist Maurice Green has one wish at the track and field Olympic trials to see the drug scandal go away.
MAURICE GREEN, OLYMPIC CONTENDER: I just wish it would get over with as soon as possible so our sport can move on.
BURKE: Five athletes fighting doping bans from the United States Anti-Doping Agency are competing for spots in Athens. None of the cases appear close to settlement. The uncertainty has cast a shadow over the entire sport. At the one time every four years when track and field is supposed to enjoy being the focus of the sports world.
GREEN: They're talking about this athlete is under suspicion, this athlete has said that, this athlete has done that and everything else. So, I mean, it's very hurtful.
CHRISTIAN CANTWELL, OLYMPIC CONTENDER: The length that they're going to get these people out, the people who were cheating us out of our spotlight, great, get them out. Hang them all.
BURKE: The athlete who maybe under the most scrutiny at the trials in Sacramento is the sports most recognizable figure Marion Jones. There have been a flurry of rumors, but no charges against Jones. But having her name in any way linked to the scandal has all athletes feeling the sting of suspicion.
JOHN CAMPEL, SPINTER: Right now any time somebody runs a very, very fast time, they'll say, what? Is he on performance enhancing drugs?
BURKE: The United States Olympic Committee is hoping the U.S. team comes away with 100 medals in Athens. If the athletes being pursued by doping authorities can't participate, track and field may still make a significant contribution toward that goal.
The U.S. captured 20 medals on the track in Sydney. This year the team is so deep, it could match that. The biggest loss would come if Jones doesn't take part in the long jump where she is the only American woman ranked in the top 20 worldwide.
CRAIG MARBACK, CEO, U.S. TRACK & FIELD: I assure you, among those other 1,000 athletes we have the elements of a great Olympic team. Including in the events in which those six athletes compete.
GREEN: No matter what happens with the people who are in trouble, it will still be the United States. We're still the best track and field team in the world.
BURKE (on camera): What happens if any of the athletes under suspicion make the team? Even though the United States must submit its final roster by July 21st, the International Olympic Committee will allow substitutions under exceptional circumstances before the games begin.
Of course, there is no guarantee that all the cases will be decided by then.
Josie Burke, CNN, Sacramento.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: "Dollar Signs" is coming up. Do you know the score of your credit report? Are you in excellent shape, or do you need improvement? We're taking your calls at 1-800-807-2620. We're also taking your emails at dollarsigns@cnn.com. That's straight ahead.
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